Austin FC introduced Khaled El-Ahmad as its new chief soccer officer on Tuesday. He didn't provide confirmation on outbound moves, but gave some sense of who he'd be as the club's sporting director.
Presenting Khaled El-Ahmad as Austin FC's new chief soccer officer and sporting director on Tuesday morning, club CEO Andy Loughnane declared him the "first choice" for filling the post vacated three months prior, with praise reminiscent of the head-coach-in-waiting he'll soon be paired with.
"He is extraordinarily pragmatic," Loughnane said. "That is one of the things that stands out as part of our process, and, to me, that is an important characteristic."
Club chairman Anthony Precourt revealed other facets of what made El-Ahmad stand out as as candidate.
"I haven't met someone as thorough as him in terms of his planning," Precourt said. "He's just thought of every aspect; I was impressed from day one about how we're going to play, what type of culture we're going to have, what type of people are we going to have, how are we going to spend, how are we going to embrace analytics. He's very very prepared for this move to Austin and very confident about what he can do."
In the press release that dropped minutes before El-Ahmad took the stage in Q2 Stadium's press conference room, the club noted:
In his new role, El-Ahmad will oversee all functions of Austin FC’s Soccer Operations, including roster construction and management, scouting and recruitment, player development, and the Club’s complete player pathway from the Academy through Austin FC II to the First Team. He will report directly to Austin FC Chief Executive Officer Andy Loughnane.
El-Ahmad will lead Austin FC’s sporting leadership group, working closely with Andrew DiLallo, Dean Costalas and Ethan Finlay as the Club continues to build a modern, integrated Soccer Operations structure. Jim Curtin, previously announced as Austin FC’s next Head Coach, will report directly to El-Ahmad when he joins the Club following the conclusion of Austin FC’s 2026 MLS season. El-Ahmad will work closely with Curtin to establish a shared sporting vision and create an environment where coaching, recruitment and player development are fully aligned.
DiLallo, a longtime fixture in the Verde front office, and Finlay, who played at Austin FC between 2022 and 2024 and served as a rep for the MLS Players Association, will provide the brand of institutional knowledge that El-Ahmad would be important, while Costalas connects the 2026 edition of the club to Jim Curtin, who was named head coach in June but won't officially captain the ship until December.
For the time being, El-Ahmad will work with interim head coach Davy Arnaud, who was also identified in Tuesday's press conference as the club's interim chief soccer officer — and theoretically the architect of two outbound moves that as of Tuesday were not yet confirmed.
'This is not a reset'
"This is not a reset," El-Ahmad said of what his arrival represents. "This is an evolution. The goal is not for this to be a City Football Group 2.0 or a Philly 2.0 or a Minnesota 2.0. This is how can we together, along with the fans, get the uniqueness of this community, the fans, the ownership, the colleagues to create Austin FC as we move forward. We should all dream big. I don't talk about winning because we're all in this to win, and that pressure is something that all excites us."
As for his new co-workers, he had a similarly reassuring answer.
"It's a collaborative model. But ultimately, the final decision sits with me," he said. "But if you have a good culture, there is no one-man decision. You come to a decision as a group. There should be tension because tension is good. That's what creates growth, in my opinion. I'm looking forward to both learn from Jim and Davy and Andrew and Ethan and Dean and everyone else to push this club forward. And we're going to have collaborative conversations. I'm kind of quite excited about that. I don't necessarily think we should all be aligned all the time. It's that the various experiences that I think are gonna make us very successful and powerful. As long as for me, fundamentally, are you surrounded by good people? And if that's yes, everything else will fall in place."
And his statement about how he conceives the club was telling.
"I'm super impressed with the people, the welcome we've received, and I just want to get going. I'm quite excited to keep meeting everyone and really aligning the club from top to bottom to make sure we achieve great things. And I've said this from day one, from when we first spoke. For me, there is only one thing, and that is Austin FC.
"There is no first team, there's no second team, there's no academy, there's no business, there's no sports," he said. "We're all one club, one color, one tree, and I hope during my tenure everyone gets to feel that because I think that's my main responsibility: To get everyone to push in the right direction. When we do that, winning will come."
Following transfer decorum
I tested the waters to see if El-Ahmad would confirm the transfer rumors that the players in question unusually activated on Saturday night by saying goodbyes in front of Austin media members — Jayden Nelson, reportedly going to Bolton Wanderers F.C. in the English championship, and CJ Fodrey, rumored to be headed to Falkirk FC in the Scottish Premiership.
"I like the question," he told me. "Means you're curious and interested in what the club does. Keep up that good job. But I think the club will have a policy that when a deal is done, it will first and foremost be presented on official club channels."
(Keep that in mind if you're a subscriber checking your inbox or a lurker or internet preferer checking verdeallday.com about, let's say, 9 am on Wednesday morning.)
(Also, perhaps Precourt hinted that inbound players could be coming in this window. We shall see.)
How data figures in
We know that El-Ahmad is a fan of data analytics and worked with American Soccer Analytics to provide insights about his players, opponents, and possible signings when he was steering Minnesota United FC. To him, data is important but not the whole ball of wax.
"In general, I look at data as part of the decision-making process," he clarified. "It's not data versus no data. What's the most important is that we make the right decision, and so data is part of that process to get to the right decision. We are going to use and utilize the various physical data, on-board data, defensive data that will guide us into getting the best possible decision.
"But it's not just data, and we sign a player because of that," he said. "It all has to come together. But I look at it from all perspectives. Injury records, how are we using data in terms of measuring the player loads ... and I don't want data just to be a word. What it is, it's part of the decision-making process. The most important thing is that we make the right decision."
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts.
Austin media learned Saturday night that Jayden Nelson was set to depart Austin FC. The destination appears to be Bolton Wanderers F.C. in England, though the club has not yet confirmed the move.
Austin FC only managed one goal despite a very back-and-forth match against the Union. Focus now turns to a very important Leagues Cup knockout match on Wednesday.
Austin FC matched a headed corner kick goal with one of their own to go into halftime even. Though Verde looked likelier to score in the second half, neither team did.
Presenting Khaled El-Ahmad as Austin FC's new chief soccer officer and sporting director on Tuesday morning, club CEO Andy Loughnane declared him the "first choice" for filling the post vacated three months prior, with praise reminiscent of the head-coach-in-waiting he'll soon be paired with.
"He is extraordinarily pragmatic," Loughnane said. "That is one of the things that stands out as part of our process, and, to me, that is an important characteristic."
Club chairman Anthony Precourt revealed other facets of what made El-Ahmad stand out as as candidate.
"I haven't met someone as thorough as him in terms of his planning," Precourt said. "He's just thought of every aspect; I was impressed from day one about how we're going to play, what type of culture we're going to have, what type of people are we going to have, how are we going to spend, how are we going to embrace analytics. He's very very prepared for this move to Austin and very confident about what he can do."
In the press release that dropped minutes before El-Ahmad took the stage in Q2 Stadium's press conference room, the club noted:
In his new role, El-Ahmad will oversee all functions of Austin FC’s Soccer Operations, including roster construction and management, scouting and recruitment, player development, and the Club’s complete player pathway from the Academy through Austin FC II to the First Team. He will report directly to Austin FC Chief Executive Officer Andy Loughnane.
El-Ahmad will lead Austin FC’s sporting leadership group, working closely with Andrew DiLallo, Dean Costalas and Ethan Finlay as the Club continues to build a modern, integrated Soccer Operations structure. Jim Curtin, previously announced as Austin FC’s next Head Coach, will report directly to El-Ahmad when he joins the Club following the conclusion of Austin FC’s 2026 MLS season. El-Ahmad will work closely with Curtin to establish a shared sporting vision and create an environment where coaching, recruitment and player development are fully aligned.
DiLallo, a longtime fixture in the Verde front office, and Finlay, who played at Austin FC between 2022 and 2024 and served as a rep for the MLS Players Association, will provide the brand of institutional knowledge that El-Ahmad would be important, while Costalas connects the 2026 edition of the club to Jim Curtin, who was named head coach in June but won't officially captain the ship until December.
For the time being, El-Ahmad will work with interim head coach Davy Arnaud, who was also identified in Tuesday's press conference as the club's interim chief soccer officer — and theoretically the architect of two outbound moves that as of Tuesday were not yet confirmed.
'This is not a reset'
"This is not a reset," El-Ahmad said of what his arrival represents. "This is an evolution. The goal is not for this to be a City Football Group 2.0 or a Philly 2.0 or a Minnesota 2.0. This is how can we together, along with the fans, get the uniqueness of this community, the fans, the ownership, the colleagues to create Austin FC as we move forward. We should all dream big. I don't talk about winning because we're all in this to win, and that pressure is something that all excites us."
As for his new co-workers, he had a similarly reassuring answer.
"It's a collaborative model. But ultimately, the final decision sits with me," he said. "But if you have a good culture, there is no one-man decision. You come to a decision as a group. There should be tension because tension is good. That's what creates growth, in my opinion. I'm looking forward to both learn from Jim and Davy and Andrew and Ethan and Dean and everyone else to push this club forward. And we're going to have collaborative conversations. I'm kind of quite excited about that. I don't necessarily think we should all be aligned all the time. It's that the various experiences that I think are gonna make us very successful and powerful. As long as for me, fundamentally, are you surrounded by good people? And if that's yes, everything else will fall in place."
And his statement about how he conceives the club was telling.
"I'm super impressed with the people, the welcome we've received, and I just want to get going. I'm quite excited to keep meeting everyone and really aligning the club from top to bottom to make sure we achieve great things. And I've said this from day one, from when we first spoke. For me, there is only one thing, and that is Austin FC.
"There is no first team, there's no second team, there's no academy, there's no business, there's no sports," he said. "We're all one club, one color, one tree, and I hope during my tenure everyone gets to feel that because I think that's my main responsibility: To get everyone to push in the right direction. When we do that, winning will come."
Following transfer decorum
I tested the waters to see if El-Ahmad would confirm the transfer rumors that the players in question unusually activated on Saturday night by saying goodbyes in front of Austin media members — Jayden Nelson, reportedly going to Bolton Wanderers F.C. in the English championship, and CJ Fodrey, rumored to be headed to Falkirk FC in the Scottish Premiership.
"I like the question," he told me. "Means you're curious and interested in what the club does. Keep up that good job. But I think the club will have a policy that when a deal is done, it will first and foremost be presented on official club channels."
(Keep that in mind if you're a subscriber checking your inbox or a lurker or internet preferer checking verdeallday.com about, let's say, 9 am on Wednesday morning.)
(Also, perhaps Precourt hinted that inbound players could be coming in this window. We shall see.)
How data figures in
We know that El-Ahmad is a fan of data analytics and worked with American Soccer Analytics to provide insights about his players, opponents, and possible signings when he was steering Minnesota United FC. To him, data is important but not the whole ball of wax.
"In general, I look at data as part of the decision-making process," he clarified. "It's not data versus no data. What's the most important is that we make the right decision, and so data is part of that process to get to the right decision. We are going to use and utilize the various physical data, on-board data, defensive data that will guide us into getting the best possible decision.
"But it's not just data, and we sign a player because of that," he said. "It all has to come together. But I look at it from all perspectives. Injury records, how are we using data in terms of measuring the player loads ... and I don't want data just to be a word. What it is, it's part of the decision-making process. The most important thing is that we make the right decision."
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts.
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