New Galaxy coach Greg Vanney has brought three of his assistant coaches at Toronto FC to Los Angeles.
The former TFC assistants are Dan Calichman, Nick Theslof and Jason Bent.
Calichman and Theslof were with Vanney when he took over as Toronto coach in August 2014 and have ties to Vanney that go back decades. Bent was a holdover on the TFC coaching staff when Vanney succeeded the fired Ryan Nelsen.
The Galaxy also hired Kevin Hartman as goalkeeping coach. Hartman, who had served as the club's academy director, is the Galaxy's all-time leader in goalkeeper appearances (243) and also played alongside Vanney.
Vanney was named head coach of the Galaxy on Jan. 5.
Calichman, who played alongside Vanney in Los Angeles from 1996 to 1998 before moving to the New England Revolution, was head coach of the men's soccer team at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif., from 2004 to 2014 before joining Toronto.
Vanney played at UCLA with Theslof, who went on to work with Jurgen Klinsmann at the German national team and Bayern Munich. Theslof was also an assistant coach and technical director at Chivas USA while Vanney was assistant coach and technical director of the youth academy there.
Theslof coached at the TFC academy prior to joining the first team coaching staff.
Bent, a former Canadian international, joined the Toronto coaching staff in 2011 after spending the previous three seasons working with the TFC academy.
Vanney, who stepped down as Toronto coach on Dec. 1, originally joined TFC in December 2013 as the club’s assistant general manager and academy director. He was named head coach the next year after Nelsen was fired with 10 games remaining in the season.
Bent was the only member of Nelsen's coaching staff who survived the firing.
Chris Armas, who succeeded Vanney as Toronto head coach, has yet to announce his coaching staff.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2021
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
