On Wednesday afternoon, North Carolina Courage coach Sean Nahas posted a picture of himself standing with Courage players and staff members at WakeMed Soccer Park on his Instagram story. All were wearing raincoats and smiling despite the weather.
Hours later, the Courage released a statement announcing his firing.
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In a weekly media availability on Thursday, Courage chief soccer officer Ceri Bowley gave little insight into why the move was made.
Bowley did not speak to whether the firing was performance-based. Bowley and team representatives were cryptic when asked about why the firing came at this point in the season. A rough count of the times the terms "multiple factors" or "multitude of factors" were used came to 14 instances.
“[There are] multiple factors that go into such a decision,” Bowley said. “And clearly, we’re looking forward to finishing the season strong. We’re on the cusp of the playoffs, so our primary focus is to finish the season strong and hopefully at the end of it achieve our goals.”
A team official said Nahas was at the team's practice session on Wednesday, but did not share any more details about exactly when a decision was made.
Nathan Thackeray, who entered his eighth season as an assistant with the Courage this year, will be acting head coach.
Nahas had coached since October 2021 when he took over for embattled coach Paul Riley, who was accused of misconduct in a league-wide report.
“In this situation, the standards of this club are extremely high and it was felt that there was reasons that we needed to make a change in order to uphold the standards that we expect of the North Carolina Courage,” Bowley said.
Bowley joined the Courage in April and at that time told WRAL’s Chris Lea, “It's about working with good people in an organization that wants to do things the right way, that wants to be unique in the way that they do things as well.”
On Thursday, Bowley said he’s tasked with creating the best surroundings for players and staff going forward. The Courage have five wins, four losses and five ties in 14 NWSL games this season. At 19 points, North Carolina is tied with Gotham FC for the eighth and final playoff spot, though Gotham currently would qualify for the playoffs.
The unexpected firing also came after Nahas appeared on 99.9 The Fan's "The Adam Gold Show" earlier Wednesday.
"We have a great culture," Nahas said on the show. "They've been training really well. At some point, you want to get into a rhythm. I'd rather be in the position we are now than in a different position, especially since we started with a little bit of a struggle at the beginning of the year to try to find our identity. I think we'll be OK at the end of the day."
Nahas, 47, is the brother of UNC women's soccer coach Damon Nahas and has been involved with Capital Area Soccer League for many years.
In June, Nahas missed a game due to an "unforeseen medical issue." The Courage most recently played the San Diego Wave to a 0-0 tie on Saturday after several weeks off from an international break. The next home game is Aug. 16 against Portland.
“I would say the performance of this club rests on my shoulders and the players and the staff that we have are professionals,” Bowley said. “They will do everything that they can, just as they show every day, to create the best environment and to create an environment to go on the pitch and win games. That’s our primary focus in everything that we do.”
The Courage play the Houston Dash on the road Friday night.