Curt Onalfo discusses his vision for the New England Revolution
FOXBORO -- After a difficult and turbulent 2023 season, the New England Revolution are moving toward the future. On Thursday, they took the interim tag off Curt Onalfo and officially named him the club's sporting director.
Onalfo takes over after serving as New England's technical director for four years, where he oversaw personnel and scouting operations while also leading the club's very successful Pro Player Pathway.
Shortly after Thursday's announcement, WBZ-TV's Dan Roche caught up with Onalfo for an exclusive 1-on-1 to get his vision on the future of the New England Revolution.
Onalfo on finding the next head coach of the New England Revolution
Finding a new head coach is the first order of business of Onalfo, and he said the club will begin interviewing candidates in the next couple of weeks. He highlighted what he's looking for in the next leader for the team.
"Strong leadership. A really good understanding of our league. Tactically good on both sides of the ball, and a track record of having success, or the potential of having success in our league," said Onalfo.
A dozen clubs are looking for a new head coach this offseason, but Onalfo doesn't believe that will hurt New England's chances of finding the right guy.
"It won't be difficult at all," he said. "It's a highly desirable job with a very good roster. We have a great club with a great history and its a beautiful place to life. We are inundated with resumes and we have enormous interest. I don't have a concern there at all. We'll hire a great coach that will help lead us on the field."
Onalfo shares his thoughts on the Revolution roster
"We made a lot of decisions over the last week or so and are in a very good place as we position ourselves to hire a coach. Once a coach gets on board we'll make sure we have the same alignment and continue to do what we can to make our roster better," said Onalfo. "We have a very good roster. We obviously have areas we can get better at, and we want to be the best in every area on the field. That's our goal and I'm very optimistic and extremely excited."
Onalfo says the Kraft family is committed to winning a title
"The alignment I have with the Krafts is a very good one. They're extremely supportive and they want a successful team," explained Onalfo. "Robert, every time I see him, he wants to win a championship. He always says to me, 'how can we get an advantage?' That's how I come to work today, [thinking] how can we get an advantage and how can we win a championship for this organization?"
Onalfo shares his message to the Revolution fanbase
"Continue to be really excited. Buy more tickets and tell your friends we're building something special here. The difference between winning and losing is very slight. We will hit the ground running, we are going to have an exciting product on the field that is going to win games, and our goal is to get better every day. When you do that over time, that's when you build something special.
"We want to position ourselves to win a championship. It doesn't happen overnight and we have to work each day at it, and that's my job as the leader of the soccer side of this organization to get us there. We have great alignment with the owners, we have awesome fans, and we're going to do some special things here and have great memories."
