Report: Dynamo hiring Paulo Nagamura as head coach

The Houston Dynamo are reportedly hiring Paulo Nagamura as the club’s new head coach. Glenn Davis first reported the news and Lester Gretsch and Michele Giannone have also confirmed this report.

Nagamura, who turns 39 in March, has been the coach of Sporting Kansas City’s USL team since 2017. Before becoming a coach Nagamura spent a good portion of playing career in Major League Soccer inlcuding stints with LA Galaxy, Toronto FC, Chivas USA, and Sporting Kansas City.

The Brazilian spent years coaching in the SKC system under the well-respected Peter Vermes. Sporting KC have a number of players on their current MLS roster who played for the USL side under Nagamura including goalkeeper John Pulskamp, midfielder Felipe Hernandez, midfielder Cameron Duke, and defender Kaveh Rad.

Nagamura’s MLS experience and more importantly his experience under Vermes, surely played a key part in getting the Dynamo head coach job. The ability to coach players on the USL level that then transition to solid MLS players in the same system says a lot about a manager’s ability.

Time will tell if Nagamura was a good hire but it looks like the wait for Dynamo fans is over. We will have more on the hire once it becomes official.