FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (January 8, 2024) – The New England Revolution today announced several updates to the first team technical staff for the 2024 season. New Head Coach Caleb Porter has added his longtime assistant Pablo Moreira as Assistant Coach, along with former Revolution player Blair Gavin, who most recently served as head coach of FC Tulsa in the USL Championship after assisting Porter with the Columbus Crew. Returning to the club to join Porter’s staff are Kevin Hitchcock as Goalkeeper Coach and Clint Peay, the former head coach of Revolution II from 2020-23, as Assistant Coach.
Sporting Director Curt Onalfo also announced two promotions within the front office, elevating Chris Tierney to Assistant Sporting Director and Remi Roy to Technical Director. Tierney is entering his sixth season in the front office after an 11-year playing career from 2008-18, all with New England. Roy, previously the team’s Director of Scouting & Player Personnel for six years, is entering his 15th season in New England, the first eight of which were as an assistant coach.
In addition, Federico Pizzuto has been hired as the club’s new Director of Sports Performance after six seasons in a similar role with the Columbus Crew, where he helped the team win two MLS Cup championships, the first coming under Porter in 2020. Michael Steidle joins Pizzuto’s staff as the First Team Strength & Conditioning Coach after six seasons with Sporting Kansas City.
Moreira, 38, is a two-time MLS Cup winner as an assistant coach, helping Porter guide teams to the pinnacle with Portland (2015) and Columbus (2020). Prior to his time with the Crew, Moreira spent five years with the Timbers from 2013-17, first as a video analyst before being promoted to the assistant role in 2014. The Montevideo, Uruguay native also worked alongside Porter at the University of Akron, where he was Director of Soccer Operations for the Zips from 2011-13. Moreira played his collegiate soccer at Akron from 2003-07, including two seasons under Porter, helping the team win back-to-back regular season Mid-American Conference championships (2006, 2007) and two MAC tournament titles (2004, 2007).
Gavin, 35, arrives in New England after one season as Head Coach of FC Tulsa, where he led the team to a 10-9-16 record in the USL Championship. He was previously with the Columbus Crew as a first-team video analyst before being promoted to assistant coach after his first season. Gavin was an assistant coach with Phoenix Rising FC from 2018-20, where he contributed to one of the most dominant squads in USL Championship history, posting a 54-16-14 record and reaching the playoffs each year during his three-season tenure. He helped the team to the USL Championship Final in both 2018 and 2020, the second time as the club’s interim head coach. He also guided the team to the Conference Semifinals in 2019, the same year in which the club set an American soccer record with 20 consecutive wins.
As a player, the Phoenix, Ariz. native, spent part of the 2012 season as a member of the Revolution, playing in two games. His career as a midfielder also spanned time at Chivas USA, Seattle Sounders FC, Phoenix Rising, Atlanta Silverbacks FC, and Portland Timbers 2.
Hitchcock and Peay both return to the Revolution coaching staff for their sixth and fifth seasons, respectively, in the New England organization. Hitchcock joined the team in 2019 and quickly made an impact at the goalkeeping position, resulting in three consecutive top-two finishes in MLS Goalkeeper for the Year voting: Matt Turner (2020 and 2021) and Djordje Petrovic (2022). His guidance helped both players ascend to starting roles in the English Premier League, where they remain now, and Turner earn the starting job for the U.S. Men’s National Team at the 2022 FIFA World CupTM in Qatar. The longtime Chelsea goalkeeper, who won two FA Cups with the Blues, carries an extensive coaching background spanning more than 20 years in England, Qatar, and India.
Peay was the head coach of New England’s developmental side, Revolution II, for its first four seasons from 2020-23, before being elevated to the first team staff midway through the 2023 season. Prior to arriving in New England, he worked as an assistant at North Carolina FC and as a head coach in the U.S. Youth National Team setup and the University of Richmond.
Pizzuto, a native of Calabria, Italy, will head New England’s sports performance program. Before his tenure in Columbus, where he helped the squad win a pair of MLS Cup titles, Pizzuto served as the Performance Director for Porto FC’s Youth Academy from 2016-18, where he worked with the age groups from Under-15 to Under-19 with the first-division club. He was previously the strength and conditioning coach for Porto FC’s academy from 2015-16. Before Porto, he worked with multiple Olympic medalists as an endurance coach for high-level runners from 2011-15. He graduated cum laude from the Università degli Studi di Roma in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in physical activity and sport science. In 2015, Pizzuto earned his master’s degree in high-performance training from the Universidade do Porto.
Here is an overview of the Revolution’s updated first team staff for the 2024 season. Additional changes to the Revolution II coaching staff will be communicated in the near future prior to the start of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season.
