Bruce Arena Resigns as Head Coach of Revolution Amid MLS Investigation into Conduct

Bruce Arena's tenure as head coach of the New England Revolution has come to an end.

The Revolution announced Saturday that Arena had resigned from his position with the club. It also said in the statement that Curt Onalfo would continue to serve as interim sporting director and Richie Williams would continue to serve as interim head coach.

Arena said in a statement, per the Associated Press:

"The investigation has been a hard and difficult process, for me and my family, but hearing from so many who have been part of my career truly has been gratifying and has helped make this decision easier. I know that I have made some mistakes and moving forward, I plan to spend some time reflecting on this situation and taking corrective steps to address what has transpired. And while this has not been an easy decision, I am confident that it is in the best interest of both the New England Revolution organization and my family that we part ways at this time."

The news comes after The Athletic's Pablo Maurer and Tom Bogert reported Saturday that Arena's tenure as head coach of the Revolution was "likely to end" amid an investigation into his conduct.

Major League Soccer announced on Aug. 1 that it had opened an investigation into Arena and placed him on administrative leave following allegations that he made "insensitive and inappropriate remarks."

The Revolution also released a statement at the time saying "the organization takes any allegations of workplace misconduct extremely seriously and is working closely with the League and fully cooperating with its investigation."

Neither the Revolution nor MLS released further details into the investigation, and more than one month passed with no news on Arena's status with the team.

Williams, who has been coaching the Revolution on an interim basis since Arena was placed on leave, filed complaints against Arena that are part of the league's investigation into his conduct, according to The Athletic.

The investigation also includes comments Arena allegedly made to his coaching staff "behind closed doors," according to The Athletic.

Arena, Williams and Onalfo "have clashed during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, those sources said, over differences between the club's sporting direction and tactics," The Athletic wrote.

Arena and Onalfo have also collided over player signings and the latter "had largely been marginalized from player personnel decisions" prior to Arena being placed on administrative leave, per The Athletic.

Several Revolution players had voiced their support of Arena over the last month, but most did so while requesting anonymity, per The Athletic. Team captain Carles Gil told The Athletic in August that his experience with the head coach "has been very good."

"Every coach I've had has helped me in some way; with Bruce, I have a great relationship," Gil said. "I'm the captain of this team, so I try to represent the entire dressing room when I speak to him, and honestly, I have a very good relationship with him."

One player told The Athletic last month that Arena is "the last player's coach" in the league.

Arena had been head coach of the Revolution since 2019, and the team made the playoffs in three of his first four seasons at the helm.

New England's best season under Arena came in 2021 when it finished atop the MLS standings for the first time in its history with a 22-5-7 (W-L-T) record before suffering a quarterfinal loss in the MLS Cup Playoffs.

The Revolution entered Saturday's game against Minnesota United second in the Eastern Conference with a 13-5-8 record. Arena hadn't been on the sideline since a July 26 win over San Luis in the Leagues Cup.

Arena, a former two-time coach of the United States men's national team, is the winningest coach in MLS history and a four-time MLS Coach of the Year. He won three MLS Cup titles as head coach of the LA Galaxy (2011, 2012, 2014) and two as head coach of D.C. United (1996, 1997).

The 71-year-old closes his tenure in New England with a 60-31-42 MLS record.

According to The Athletic, Arena met with MLS Commissioner Don Garber on Tuesday in regards to the investigation and was also at Gillette Stadium on Thursday to speak with the Kraft family, which owns the Revolution and NFL's New England Patriots.