Stewart Mairs, Sean Howe depart D.C. United amid front office changes

“The club thanks both Stewart and Sean for their contributions and efforts during their time with the Black-and-Red and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors,” United said in a statement. Club officials did not want to comment.

Mairs joined United in 2016 as director of soccer strategy and analysis before becoming the technical director in 2019. He worked closely with Kasper on roster decisions and the youth pathway to the first team.

Howe spent three seasons with United after leaving a similar role with Atlanta. He was brought to Washington by Lucy Rushton, United’s general manager in 2021 and ’22. She was fired after the 2022 season and is now general manager of Bay FC, an NWSL expansion team based in San Jose.

D.C. United’s new GM has a massive task ahead. ‘It’s part of the allure,’ he says.

Mackay is expected to begin hiring additional staff in the coming weeks.

His top priority, though, is conducting a search for a head coach to replace Wayne Rooney, who departed after the season. Mackay said last week that he is aiming to begin interviews this week and make an offer by Christmas.

Potential candidates include former MLS head coaches Robin Fraser (Colorado), Giovanni Savarese (Portland), Bruce Arena (D.C., New York Red Bulls, Los Angeles Galaxy and New England Revolution) and Caleb Porter (Portland, Columbus).

Also under consideration, according to one person familiar with the search, is Domènec Torrent, who guided New York City FC to MLS’s second-best regular season record in 2019.

Since leaving NYCFC, the 61-year-old Spaniard has coached Brazil’s Flamengo and Turkey’s Galatasaray. Between 2007 and ’18, Torrent was a chief assistant to Pep Guardiola at FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

According to another person familiar with the process, United might also consider Mark Warburton, who has coached Scotland’s Glasgow Rangers and England’s Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Queens Park Rangers. Most recently, he was a West Ham assistant before departing last summer.

United was 10-14-10 this season and missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. It has not won a postseason game since 2015 and last won MLS Cup in 2004.