After 15 years of a consistent playoff appearance, three Lamar Hunt trophies, and an MLS Cup in 2013, this past week marked the end of Peter Vermes’s tenure in Kansas City.
Vermes was the longest-tenured coach in the MLS who has been fending off the inevitable after last year’s poor performance of eight wins, 19 losses, and seven draws.
Vermes served as the team GM and manager, and though his managing decisions served the team well, his GM decisions did quite the opposite.
Sporting Kansas City had an aging roster with no actual attack or creativity.
Despite the poor performance last season and abysmal start to 2025, there is much to look back at in Vermes’s tenure.
Looking back to Peter Vermes’s Tenure
2012, 2015, and 2017 were highlights in Vermes’s run with the team, thanks to being crowned Lamar Hunt US Open Cup champions in those seasons.
Fans will appreciate the US Open Cup runs. Nothing will match the MLS Cup in 2013. Sporting Kansas City fought through slippery fields and cold weather to be champions after going through 10 frames in a shootout over Real Salt Lake.
This thriller played in front of the Kansas City supporters was the only time Kansas City reached the heights of MLS Cup Champions, the team’s first title was early in the team’s history in 2000.
Vermes played on that 2000 team, which put him in a class of his own as the only one in the MLS to win the cup as a player and a coach.
11 current coaches played in the MLS, including Former USMNT manager and current Chicago Fire manager Greg Berhalter, the long-tenured Orlando City Manager Oscar Pareja, and last year’s champion, LA Galaxy’s Greg Vanney.
An Everlasting Impact and Legacy
Vermes was recognized for his tactical decisions that focused more on possession, spreading out the field, and indirect play despite the MLS tradition of direct play with a condensed formation.
The MLS adapted and evolved during his tenure as head man in Kansas City. In his first year in 2009, Sporting Kansas City changed their name from being previously known as the Kansas City Wizards.
The league only had 15 teams; it has now expanded to 30 teams and has done so rapidly.
David Beckham was with the LA Galaxy, went to Milan, then returned to LA before leaving for Paris.
Vermes set the standard on how to build a competitive team that was disciplined and had a strong youth system.
Vermes This is a standard that was followed by Minnesota United FC, who joined the league in 2017.
Minnesota, despite struggling as a franchise early on, have been playing good this season.
It is a surging team early in the season and surprising fans as a possible contender for the MLS Cup.
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What’s next for Sporting Kansas City
Sporting Kansas City haven’t been in this position in the modern MLS, and that alone could cause this rebuild and coaching search to be longer than hoped for the club.
Kerry Zavagnin will take the reins as interim head coach.
He was teammates with Vermes on the MLS Cup-winning team in 2000 and served a variety of different roles with the team, including working in scouting and then working his way up to assistant manager.
Zavagnin was one of many people who are on staff and directly hired by Vermes.
It will be a long search for who will take over the long term for the club with a slew of former MLS managers available.
It will be a league talking point, as Kansas City can take its time to hire a candidate before other struggling clubs depart from their managers further down the season.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / Agencia-MexSport
Recording Date: 26.02.2025