Michael Bradley Appointed Red Bulls Head Coach

On Monday, Dec. 15, Michael Bradley was announced as the new head coach for Red Bull New York. The former USMNT great is going back to where it all started.

The appointment of Bradley comes after the 38-year-old led New York Red Bulls 2 to its first ever MLS Next Pro championship in October. The USMNT great took over the Baby Bulls midway through their 2025 campaign, helping them finish atop the Eastern Conference standings and eventually bringing the club an MLS Next Pro Cup.

Son of former USMNT boss and legendary coach, Bob Bradley, Michael has limited experience in the coaching realm outside of his successful, yet short stint with RBNY II. Prior to his time with Red Bull, Bradley had a temporary assistant coaching position with the Canadian national team and former Red Bulls manager Jesse Marsch, as well as an another short-lasting assistant role under his father at Stabaek in Norway.

In an exclusive interview with New York Post Sports, RBNY head of sport Julian de Guzman revealed that Bradley was one of five candidates considered for the role of replacing recently fired manager Sandro Schwarz. The list was reduced down to three before Bradley was announced as the new coach on Monday morning.

This comes following reports in early December that Bradley had emerged as a clear frontrunner for the Red Bulls head coaching position.

Bradley began his professional career as a draftpick for the Metrostars, coached at the time by his father. Michael would later go on to play for Bob during his illustrious international career, most notably at the 2010 World Cup where he scored a crucial goal against Slovenia.

After two seasons in his home state of New Jersey with the Metrostars, Bradley ventured into European club football, making stops in the Netherlands with Heerenveen, Germany with Borussia Monchengladbach, England with Aston Villa and Italy with AS Roma. 

Bradley played out the bulk of his career with Toronto FC from 2014 until his retirement in 2023. He was Toronto's captain for nine seasons.

Bradley was honored ahead of the USMNT's friendly against Korea Republic at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Sept. 6. His 151 caps are the third most in U.S. men's history, behind only Cobi Jones (164) and Landon Donovan (157). His 48 games with the captain's armband are the third most all-time as well, only behind Carlos Bocanegra (64) and Tony Meola (55).

As a player, Bradley's career accomplishments are among the best in American history. An MLS Cup champion in 2017 with Toronto FC, two-time Gold Cup champion with the USMNT and now a trophy in his first professional head coaching job, the young Princeton, NJ native will embark on an intriguing managerial career.

Michael and Bob will be the first-ever father/son pair of coaches in MLS history and the first to ever coach the same club. Michael will have big shoes to fill in terms of matching the managerial resume of his father and it starts in 2026: his first season coaching in MLS with Red Bull New York.