As most people were either decompressing from the madness that was NWSL weekend or settling in for some Sunday Night Football, LAFC were sending out a statement as they made one of the biggest announcements of their season. Late Sunday evening the team announced the club had parted ways with now former Head Coach, Marc Dos Santos. This is the first time the club has parted ways with a coach in the middle of a season, making Dos Santos the first-ever LAFC coach not to see a full season at the helm.
A statement from the Club. pic.twitter.com/7J3ZAGb4F8
— LAFC (@LAFC) September 28, 2026
The statement seen on social media is the same statement the club sent out to media members. A statement that was short, to the point, and aside from the typical corporate speak about taking time for a thorough coaching search, nothing about the future of the club just yet. The statement in full reads: “Marc has given a great deal to this club over the years, and we are grateful for his commitment, care and contributions to LAFC,” said President of Soccer Operations John Thorrington. “We wish Marc and his family all the best moving forward.”
The club also stated they will announce interim coaching plans soon, as they begin the search for their new head coach. Perhaps the only surprise to this announcement is that it happened not just in the middle of the season, but with less than 10 matches to go while the team sit in a playoff position. That said, this season hasn’t been the prettiest, nor has it been the most fun for fans watching. Since August 9th the team have won just one MLS regular season match, and while they haven’t been losing, they have seen their place in the standings go from comfortably hosting a playoff match, to now having to fight just to keep their place in the postseason.
Last season, the team finished with 65 goals scored, 12 of which coming from new arrival Heung-Min Son, this season the team has netted just 43 goals, so far their lowest tally since the shortened 2020 season where they scored 47 in 20 matches. It was obvious from early on that things wouldn’t work long-term under Marc Dos Santos, but it is surprising to see it not last for a season. While things haven’t been great lately, this is still a team in the playoffs as it stands, so it will be interesting to see how much a change like this affects them going forward. The silver lining, we are in the middle of a long international break, so if the team can decide on an interim quickly, they can get some valuable training days in before the restart of the season, and the final push before the MLS Cup Playoffs.