It’s Official: Heaps named Head Coach

The New England Revolution announced Tuesday morning that the club had named Jay Heaps as head coach. Heaps, who played 11 years in Major League Soccer as a defender, including nine with the Revs before retiring in 2009, becomes the sixth coach in Revolution history.

Jay Heaps was named head coach of the Revolution on Tuesday. (Photo by Art Donahue/artdonahue.com)

“I am thrilled to accept this position,” Heaps said. “Throughout my playing career and with my involvement with the team after I retired, I’ve made no secret about my commitment to the Revolution, and I’m honored to be entrusted with this responsibility as head coach. I’d like to thank the Kraft family, Brian Bilello and Mike Burns for believing in me, and in the vision I have for the club as we move ahead. We have a strong base to build on, but we also have a lot of work to do as we look ahead to 2012.”

Heaps, a Nashua, N.H., native and Longmeadow, Mass., product, is the first native New Englander to lead the Revs as head coach. He was recently inducted into the New England Soccer Hall of Fame.

Despite his impressive playing credentials in MLS, Heaps lacks any professional coaching experience or coaching license, but impressed the Krafts during the interview process.

“During the interview process, Jay impressed Robert and me with his knowledge of how to build a roster and how teams can gain and maintain a competitive advantage,” said Revolution Investor/Operator Jonathan Kraft. “We are convinced that he will work well with General Manager Mike Burns and President Brian Bilello to rebuild the Revolution into a championship-contending team.”

Heaps, who in addition to working at Morgan Stanley has spent the past two years as the Revs color commentator on the team’s TV and radio broadcasts, becomes the second youngest active head coach at 35 years old. He had previously played for the Revs from 2001 till 2009 becoming the longest-tenured Revolution player, ever.

“Every day, Jay set a positive example when he was one of our players: he gave everything he had on the field, no matter if it was a game or a training session, and then was a leader in the locker room and in the community,” Revolution General Manager Michael Burns said. “We believe Jay is the right person to lead us as our head coach and we’re very excited to get him in and involved. We have a lot of work to do to prepare for 2012.”

Heaps, who started in all four of the Revolution’s MLS Cup appearances (2002, 2005-2007), won the U.S. Open Cup with the team in 2007 and the SuperLiga in 2008. He also made four appearances for the U.S. Men’s National Team in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

His previous coaching experience comes as a volunteer assistant coach at Boston College (2004) and Northeastern University (2005-2006).

“As we began the search for our new coach, we had a strong idea about the qualities we were looking for in our next head coach,” Revolution President Brian Bilello said. “As we went through a comprehensive search and spoke with candidates with a variety of backgrounds and experiences, Jay stood out with his vision for the team, his desire to move the club into the future and for his positive attitude about impacting change. Coupled with everything we already knew about him personally and his competitive traits we’ve always admired and respected, he emerged as our clear favorite and number one choice as our next head coach.”

Heaps will begin his coaching duties immediately and will be formally presented before the media in a press conference on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 10 a.m.