Former U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) captain Michael Bradley will be the next head coach of the New York Red Bulls II (NYRB II), taking over for Ibrahim Sekagya, who was promoted to first team assistant coach.
“As I’ve mentioned a few times in the in the last week or so, this is a dream opportunity for a young coach to be at this club, to be inside of the Red Bull family. I couldn’t be more excited,” he said at a recent press conference held at the Red Bulls training facility in Whippany.
Bradley is a native of Princeton, New Jersey and the son of New Jersey native and former USMNT head coach Bob Bradley.
“I’ve been back many times, but I’ve not lived here. New Jersey is still always for me, home. When you go around the world and people ask you where are you from yeah, for me I was born here and it’s still the area where I have such strong roots.” – NYRB II head coach Michael Bradley
Bradley returns to the club who drafted him in 2004 as a 16-year-old. Now he will be tasked with developing players, many of whom are teenagers, with NYRB II.
New York Red Bulls Sporting Director Julian De Guzman sat next to Bradley during the press conference and had this to say about his new hire.
“This is a huge, huge moment for New York Red Bulls…But most importantly, this is a leader, a leader that we welcome to our Red Bull family, somebody who will bring lots of history based on his career and how it started, and this is where he started. So full circle and a great story to tell, but also the fact that this is somebody who’s super ambitious to take this next step in his career, and we are extremely proud to welcome Michael Bradley here.” – New York Red Bulls Sporting Director Julian De Guzman
Since October of 2023, Bradley was an assistant on his father’s staff at Stabaek, a team that plays in the Norwegian First Division. NYRB II will be his first head coaching job, but he brings with him vast experience as a player.
Bradley was drafted by the Metrostars in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft at the age of 16. He played two seasons in his home state before going to Europe for nine years and playing for such clubs as Borussia Monchengladbach and US Chievo Verona. He returned to MLS in 2014 with Toronto FC playing there for 10 seasons and winning the 2017 MLS Cup and Supporter’s Shield.
Bradley captained the USMNT for 44 matches during his career and won two Gold Cups in 2007 and 2017, while making eight total appearances in the FIFA World Cup. In 2015, Bradley was named US Soccer Player of the Year.
What got the ball rolling was Vedad Ibisevic leaving his role as first team assistant coach on June 10. The Red Bulls II coach at the time, Ibrahim Sekagya was promoted immediately to fill Ibisevic’s role and less than one week later Michael Bradley was hired to take over the managerial duties with the Baby Bulls.
De Guzman shed some light on how the New York Red Bulls front office identified Bradley as a prospect for the Red Bulls II head coaching job.
“As an organization, feeling that there would be some movement coming up in the summer, starting in January, also learning the fact that Vedad (Ibišević) was ready to move on, and created an opportunity for Ibrahim (Sekagya) to jump in there. We started that process, looking for possible coaches to come in, at Red Bull II very early in the year, and the moment you come across an individual like Michael, it’s quite clear and easy to say, this is a top, top candidate to bring in, and it’s a decision that makes complete sense.”
Bradley also spoke on the phone with Red Bull Soccer Technical Director Mario Gomez and had multiple meetings with De Guzman and New York Red Bulls Head of Sport Jochen Schneider.
Another thing that the NYRB II have been doing, which makes sense has been building a strong team with players from different backgrounds.
This season, NYRB II have featured 15 players from foreign backgrounds and 15 from the United States. American who have appeared in 10 or more games this season with the Baby Bulls include forward Tanner Rosborough and goalkeeper Aidan Stokes, who was raised in Totowa, New Jersey.
Michael Bradley gave credit to De Guzman for putting together such a versatile team which currently sits atop the MLS NEXT Pro standings.
“The mix of this squad is so interesting. Julian (De Guzman) and the staff here have done a really good job of bringing in some talented international players who are close to taking their next step and then you combine that with the core of young academy players and I think it’s just a really interesting mix of talent and backgrounds.”
Bradley is just 37 years old and is slightly young by head coaching standards. For perspective, first team head coach Sandro Schwarz is 46 and Sekagya is 44.
Most of the squad Bradley will be managing are under the age of 20 and these are important formative years in their development and the former USMNT captain described what he will have like to have done for these Baby Bulls a few years from now.
It’s two-fold. The first part is now, as a young coach, having the opportunity to be on the field every single day with a group of my own and to take my ideas for the game, my ideas of culture and environment, and now bring them together in a way where the football comes to life for the group, and that now we can continue…And the second part is the talented young players that you get to work with. There’s no better age than the age of these players. They’re so close to now taking the next step in their football career. Some of them have had the taste already of first team football of now the next level, and they come in every day just so eager and so motivated to work, to train. And so it’s how can I help them even more?
Recent former NYRB II players who are currently on the first team roster include Ronald Donkor, 17-year-old Julian Hall, Omar Valencia and Mohammed Sofo. Can Michael Bradley keep the good work that Ibrahim Sekagya started with the Baby Bulls? Time will tell.
