FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Marko Mitrović has officially arrived in New England and already the new gaffer feels like the right fit. Recently announced as the club’s 10th head coach, Mitrović was introduced to local press on Wednesday morning and the energy was high as he warmly and excitedly greeted staff and media at his new home in Foxborough.
Holding doors for staff members and telling stories as he toured the grounds, the former United States Under-20 manager is a down-to-earth, experienced leader ready to make a difference for the Revolution.
“It's great to meet you all here, and see so many people,” Mitrović said in his introductory remarks. “It tells me that I'm in the right place, because when I see that so many people care about this club and support this club, it means that we are in the right spot, in the right place, moving forward.”
It wasn’t just the support from media and staff that made Mitrović feel instantly welcome; in fact, he emphasized that he knew that New England was the right landing spot from the moment the formal interview process began.
While the exhaustive search for a new head coach was a detailed process – taking sporting director Curt Onalfo and other front office staff more than eight weeks to thoroughly reach a decision – for Mitrović, it never felt like a hiring, it felt like an onboarding.
“Somehow, from the very beginning, I felt it was the right decision for me,” he said. “Again, when I see so many people here – media, that you take your time, and that you're supporting this team the way you support, all the staff here, people at our training facility – it just gives me so much confidence that our ambitions are in alignment.”
Since first coming to the United States in 2016, working as an assistant coach for Chicago Fire FC under fellow Serbian Veljko Paunović (and where he coached midfielder Matt Polster), Mitrović has had his sights set on becoming an MLS head coach.
The United States was the sixth country that Mitrović’s family settled in, and for them, it was sixth time's the charm. Mitrović could tell instantly that this was their place. Although he left briefly through his 2020-22 tenure with Reading FC in the English Championship, prior to returning to join U.S. Soccer, his family remained in Chicago. Now, the Mitrović clan is excited to grow their American roots in a new region of the country.
“I think I finished two great cycles with U.S. Soccer. We had the [2024] Olympic Games, we had the [2025 FIFA] Under-20s World Cup. Actually, my objective was, even before that, to get to this position,” he explained. “It connected with my love for the league that I got during the four seasons with Chicago Fire. It was kind of an organic decision for me. ‘Okay, this is my objective down the road.’ I got that opportunity with U.S. Soccer, which I believed in that moment would help me to grow as a coach and as a person, and would help me to get the opportunity with New England that I have right now.”
Onalfo revealed on Wednesday that longtime connection Mitrović was one of his first thoughts when it came to hiring a new coach for the Revolution. One of his first calls was to U.S. Soccer to inquire about Mitrović, but as he was preparing to lead the U.S. Under-20s at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the process had to wait.
Mitrović guided the U.S. to the tournament quarterfinals, steering a roster that included New England’s own Peyton Miller. With Miller and the U-20s, Mitrović helped the United States top their group and break records with their high-scoring performances.
“You could just see from the beginning, like he talked about it, it was easy. It was an onboarding,” Onalfo confirmed. “It's important that he understands the players that we have, the quality that's on the field, and that he's going to be able to work with those. During the process, it just was crystal clear that there was a great chemistry, and a strength of character and confidence that he's going to step in and just do an incredible job.”
When asked about his approach and how he wants the team to play under his system, Mitrović said mindset must come before tactics. Highlighting his strength of character, he stressed that building a winning team begins long before players step onto the training pitch.
“Before we go to any tactics, we have to have fighting spirit. We have to understand that we go out there to give everything we have, and that's, for me, non-negotiable,” he said.
It’s that fighting spirit that informs his coaching philosophy.
“I will use one word, it's attack. We will attack with the ball, and we will attack the ball when we don't have the ball, and we will be very aggressive with that,” he explained.
After two difficult years without playoff soccer in Foxborough, that’s exactly what fans, staff, and players want to hear: a coach who is just as hungry for wins as they are.
Although first impressions paint him as an extremely pleasant person off the pitch, it’s clear that Mitrović has one vision for how to be on it: ruthless.
“We're very fortunate to have this, I'll call him a young man, as a head coach of our team. He's super talented and he's ready for this opportunity. So, let's do it,” Onalfo concluded.
