List of D.C. United head coaches

{{Short description|none}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2013}}

D.C. United has had several head coaches since the inaugural 1996 Major League Soccer season. The club has had seven permanent head coaches. Bruce Arena was the club's inaugural coach in 1996, leaving his position coaching the men's soccer team at the University of Virginia. In 1998, after winning two MLS Cups and the 1996 U.S. Open Cup, Arena left to coach the United States men's national soccer team.{{cite web|url=https://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/news/newsid=887744.html |title=America’s one and only United |work=FIFA |date=September 24, 2008 |access-date=September 6, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081028134441/http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/news/newsid%3D887744.html |archive-date=October 28, 2008 }} Thomas Rongen then left his head coach position with the New England Revolution to come to D.C. Rongen led D.C. to another MLS cup in 1999 but was replaced by Ray Hudson in 2002, who was hired after the contraction of his Miami Fusion F.C. that year.{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/09/sports/soccer-major-league-soccer-eliminates-two-teams.html |title= Major League Soccer Eliminates Two Teams |first= Jack |last= Bell |date= January 9, 2002 |work= The New York Times |access-date= September 6, 2009}}

Hudson saw D.C. United fall to last in the table in 2002 and lose in the first round of the playoffs in 2003. Former Chicago Fire player Piotr (Peter) Nowak was then hired to replace Hudson, and led D.C. United to their fourth MLS Cup in 2004.{{cite news |url= http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=287909&root=mls&cc=5901 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120629070032/http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=287909&root=mls&cc=5901 |url-status= dead |archive-date= June 29, 2012 |title= Newest coaches will be under pressure |first= Marc |last= Connolly |work= ESPN Soccernet.com |date= January 8, 2004 |access-date= September 6, 2009}} Nowak left on December 21, 2006, for an assistant coaching position on the U.S. men's national team. Tom Soehn, another former Chicago Fire player, was hired next, and was the first American to coach the team since Bruce Arena. He left the team at the end of the 2009 season.{{cite news |url= http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/soccer/story/1313936.html |title=Soehn will not return to D.C. United |work= The Miami Herald |agency= The Sports Network |date= November 3, 2009 |access-date=November 3, 2009}} {{dead link| date=June 2010 | bot=DASHBot}} On December 28, 2009, D.C. hired former Kansas City Wizards manager Curt Onalfo as their sixth head coach.{{cite news |url= http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/29/former-player-onalfo-named-uniteds-coach/ |title= Ex-D.C. player Onalfo named United's coach |work= The Washington Times |date= December 29, 2009 |access-date= January 14, 2010 |first= Drew |last= Hansen}} On August 4, 2010, Onalfo was dismissed as head coach of D.C. United and former player Ben Olsen was named interim head coach.{{cite news |url= http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2010/08/dc_united_fires_curt_onalfo.html |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130205193101/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2010/08/dc_united_fires_curt_onalfo.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= February 5, 2013 |title= D.C. United fires Coach Curt Onalfo |first= Steven |last= Goff |work= The Washington Post |date= August 4, 2010 |access-date= August 4, 2010}} On November 29, 2010, Olsen was named head coach on a permanent basis.{{cite news|url=http://www.dcunited.com/press-release/2010/11/ben-olsen-named-dc-united-head-coach |title=Ben Olsen named D.C. United Head Coach |date=November 29, 2010 |access-date=November 30, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203182649/http://www.dcunited.com/press-release/2010/11/ben-olsen-named-dc-united-head-coach |archive-date=December 3, 2010 }} After a string of losses during the 2020 season, Ben Olsen was replaced by Chad Ashton on October 8, 2020.{{Cite web |url=https://www.dcunited.com/post/2020/10/08/dc-united-announce-departure-head-coach-ben-olsen |title=D.C. United Announce the Departure of Head Coach Ben Olsen|date=October 8, 2020}} Aston's tenure as interim coach ended at the conclusion of the 2020 season, and D.C. appointed Hernán Losada as permanent head coach on January 18, 2021.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=January 18, 2021|title=D.C. United Name Hernán Losada as Head Coach|url=https://www.dcunited.com/post/2021/01/18/dc-united-name-hern-n-losada-head-coach|access-date=January 18, 2021|website=D.C. United}}

On July 12, 2022, former Manchester United and DC United star Wayne Rooney came back to DC as their manager.