The US Women’s National Team has been without a permanent head coach since Vlatko Andonovski stepped down following an underwhelming performance this summer at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The Athletic reports today that OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey is among the candidates on the shortlist for that role. Other names on the list reportedly include Australia WNT head coach Tony Gustavsson and Juventus Women coach Joe Montemurro.
In addition to her club accolades, Harvey has past experience working within the USSF system – In 2017 she was interim head coach for the US U23 WNT, between departing then-Seattle Reign FC and being hired by Utah. After leaving Utah, she coached the U20 WNT squad in 2020 before the Covid pandemic led to the cancellation of that year’s U20 World Cup. With the U20s, she coached future senior USWNT players including Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Naomi Girma. She also served as an assistant to Andonovski in 2020 and at the Olympics in 2021 before her return to OL Reign that summer.
Assistant USWNT coach Twila Kilgore has been serving as interim head coach for the last two rounds of international friendlies. USSF is aiming to hire a permanent replacement before the final 2023 international window, which starts on Nov. 27, in order to give the new coach sufficient time to prepare the roster for the 2024 Olympic games. The 2023 NWSL season ends with the championship game on November 11, after which an expansion draft will take place to seed the rosters of the Utah Royals and Bay FC.
Harvey is currently under contract with OL Reign through the 2025 NWSL season.
