Bradley Carnell Named 2025 Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year

Carnell earns first Coach of the Year honors after leading Philadelphia to the 2025 Supporters’ Shield in his debut season with the club

Major League Soccer today announced Philadelphia Union head coach Bradley Carnell as the 2025 Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year.

Named Philadelphia Union head coach in January of this year, Carnell took a Union squad that finished 23rd in the overall league standings last season and led the group to a Supporters’ Shield title with a league-high 66 points in 2025. Among all clubs in 2025, Philadelphia had the largest points increase from 2024 (+29), which was six more points than the next-closest club (Chicago Fire FC, +23).

Carnell set a club record with 20 wins in the regular season, went undefeated in 16 of 17 home games, and is currently riding a 16-game home unbeaten streak through the regular season and Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs.

Most impressively, Carnell cultivated a holistic team approach that was reflected in Philadelphia starting 25 different players throughout the season across 29 unique starting lineups. Carnell’s system created attacking opportunities across the roster, with 18 different players scoring the team’s 57 goals in the regular season, including seven who scored their first MLS goal.

On the other side of the ball, Carnell’s defense that featured two MLS Best XI selections in Jakob Glesnes and Kai Wagner, stifled attacks by allowing a league-best 35 goals against and tied for the league-low with 349 shots against (Columbus Crew).

Named MLS Coach of the Week four times in the 2025 season, Carnell became just the third coach in MLS history to lead multiple clubs to at least 55 points in his debut season with the team, having previously done so with St. Louis CITY SC in 2023.

In addition to their success in MLS competition, Philadelphia advanced to the semifinals of the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, falling to the eventual champions Nashville SC.

Prior to joining Philadelphia, Carnell served as head coach for St. Louis CITY SC during the team’s inaugural 2023 season. He was named a finalist for the Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year that season after leading the expansion side to a No. 1 finish in the Western Conference with a regular-season record of 17-12-5.

Previously, Carnell also served as an assistant manager and an interim head coach with the New York Red Bulls from March 2017 to January 2022. As interim head coach from Sept. 5 to Nov. 19, 2020, Carnell went 6-3-5 in 14 matches to lead New York to their 11th straight postseason appearance, and as an assistant manager, he helped guide the Red Bulls to the 2018 Supporters’ Shield.

A former defender, Carnell played professionally for 18 years from 1993 to 2011, most notably collecting three goals and nine assists in 134 matches between VfB Stuttgart (1998-2003) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (2003-2005). Internationally, Carnell represented South Africa in 42 national team appearances from 1997-2010, including three starts in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and four starts in the 2002 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The 2025 Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year award honors the best head coach in MLS during the 2025 regular season. The award was voted on by MLS club technical staff, media, and current MLS players. Below is a breakdown of the voting results, with Carnell emerging ahead of fellow finalists Jesper Sørensen of Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Mikey Varas of San Diego FC for the award.