North Carolina Courage fires head coach Sean Nahas

CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- The North Carolina Courage announced Wednesday night that it has fired head coach Sean Nahas.

The NWSL women's soccer team said it terminated Nahas' contract effective immediately.

"The North Carolina Courage remain focused on the continued development of the team and maintaining a professional, competitive environment for players, staff, and supporters," the team said in a statement.

During a Thursday news conference, Sporting Director and Chief Soccer Officer Ceri Bowley spoke briefly about the change in leadership.

"In situations like this, there's always a multitude of factors that are considered," Bowley said. "And a multitude of factors were considered in this situation. The standards of this club are extremely high, and it felt that there was reasons we needed to make a change in order to uphold the standards of what we expect of North Carolina Courage."

Though no one reason was given for Nahas' dismissal, the Courage have struggled this season, sitting in ninth place in the standings, just outside of playoff qualification. The team has won just five times in 14 games, with five losses and four draws.

"The expectation when I was appointed was that I come in to try to raise the standards," said Bowley, who joined the team in April. "I will continue to look for ways that we can be better -- that includes looking at myself, and obviously the expectations we have of staff is to continue to drive the performance and develop this club, to be a club that competes to win."

The Courage revealed Nahas was present at Wednesday's practice before he was fired.

On Saturday, the team elaborated on the decision, saying "the termination stemmed from a combination of compounding performance issues, culture issues, and a perceived lack of fit that created an environment that club leadership felt was untenable to the point that change was necessary at the head coaching position."

On June 8, the Courage said on social media that Nahas would not be with the team for that day's road game at Washington because of "unforeseen medical reasons."

The team also said assistant coach Nathan Thackeray would assume head coaching duties and added that "we appreciate respect for Sean's privacy and look forward to having him back with the team soon."

The team confirmed Thursday that the firing and the medical leave were not connected.

Nahas, who is the brother of UNC women's soccer head coach Damon Nahas, took over as interim coach of the Courage in 2021 after head coach Paul Riley was fired in the wake of allegations of misconduct and sexual coercion.

Thackeray will serve as acting head coach moving forward.