CHESTER, Pa. – On Thursday, Major League Soccer announced that Philadelphia Union head coach Bradley Carnell has been named the 2025 Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year, becoming the 30th coach in league history to win the award.

Carnell, who was named a finalist for the honor alongside Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s Jesper Sørensen and San Diego FC’s Mikey Varas, received 37.78 percent of the vote, which is determined by MLS club technical staffs, media members, and current MLS players.

In total, Carnell finished first in both the player vote (32%) and club vote (48%), and second in the media vote to Sørensen (33.33%).

While this is his first time winning the award, it’s the second time in the Philadelphia manager’s career that he has been a finalist. Back in 2023, during his first season with St. Louis CITY SC, Carnell finished second in the final vote to eventual winner Pat Noonan of FC Cincinnati.

He joins former Union manager Jim Curtin as the second Philadelphia Union coach to win the award; Curtin captured the honor twice, in 2020 and 2022.

In 2025, Carnell oversaw a club-record 20 wins in the regular season, went undefeated in 16 of 17 home matches, and is currently riding a 16-match home unbeaten streak through the regular season and the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs.

Additionally, Carnell utilized 29 different lineup combinations throughout the regular season, which contributed to 18 different goal scorers — including seven players who notched their first career MLS goal.

Carnell joins Kai Wagner and Jakob Glesnes, who on Wednesday were named to the MLS Best XI and were both finalists for Defender of the Year, as the Union continue to be recognized for their 2025 Supporters’ Shield-winning season.

While the honors are well-deserved, the club knows there’s still work to be done as they await the winner of Charlotte FC versus NYCFC on Friday evening to determine their opponent in the MLS Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Semifinal, scheduled for the weekend of November 22–23 at Subaru Park.

Main article photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union