John Herdman keeping busy while he looks for the next coaching job

Toronto FC head coach John Herdman reacts during the first half of an MLS soccer match against the Colorado Rapids, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Commerce City, Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

John Herdman has been busy since stepping down as Toronto FC coach on Nov. 29.

He has been involved with daughter Lilly’s under-14 soccer team, spent time working on an high-performance app called “Live to Win” as well as mentoring coaches and doing some World Cup-related work for Sky Sports in England.

Herdman, who turns 50 next month, is also looking for his next coaching job but says the time and position have to be right.

“There’s been a lot of opportunities over the last seven months,” he said in an interview. “But I made a commitment to (wife) Clare that we just be patient, (that) we look and pick the right opportunity. There’s been some good ones, but location, timing, just weren’t right.”

He says the interest has been global, including club and international opportunities in Europe.

“I think we’re open-minded,” he said. “I wanted this time to just reset, and again put some energy into my family, put some energy into some other things and just breathe. And then be ready to see what is the best opportunity. I think there were some good opportunities but the timing just didn’t feel right. It felt like I was rushing into things at a time that I needed just to take some time.”

“When it comes, it could be the U.K., could be Europe, could be North America — men’s, women’s, international, club,” he added. “We’re looking at all the opportunities at the moment.”

Herdman recently talked to Plymouth Argyle, a team in England’s third tier. The job went to 35-year-old Tom Cleverley, the former Manchester United, Everton and Watford midfielder who was fired as Watford coach last month after a 14th-place finish in the second-tier Championship.

Herdman is headed back to the United Kingdom this week and plans to talk to another club, as well as catch up with Dan Ashworth, chief football officer of England’s Football Association.

“I’m not out of the game, that’s for sure,” he said. “I’m looking and I’m speaking to different people. You just have to get the right (job). That’s what I’ve learned. At my age now … I think I know myself. I’ve had some good experiences. I know what the right opportunity can look like, something that’s transformative.”

He says his family will “embrace” the right choice.

The hiatus from coaching is his first in more than 30 years. But it hasn’t slowed him down.

“I’ve been busy as hell, to be honest,” Herdman said with a chuckle. “I’ve just treated it like I’m still at work. Just getting up and really smashing every day. I’ve enjoyed it, really enjoyed it. Even though it hasn’t been football per se, I’ve stayed bloody busy.”

Herdman, an accomplished public speaker, estimates he has done some 200 corporate talks over the last 13 years. His app, which should be out later this summer, allows him to house such content while creating a leadership training program on “how to unlock potential.”

“There’s a few things I’m looking to bring out in the summer while I’m not on the sidelines,” he said. “Hopefully I get some things out before I get back in to my real passion.”

Last week, he delivered a virtual keynote address on transformational leadership at an annual conference of NHL coaches in Toronto.

“Life outside of football, it’s been good,” he said brightly. “I was nervous at how it was going to feel on daily basis. But I’ve enjoyed it.”

When Herdman left TFC, he said it was “the right time for me to step away from the club, as the organization defines its vision for the future.”

His departure was linked by many to the Canada Soccer investigation arising from the drone-spying scandal at the Paris Olympics that cost women’s coach Bev Priestman her job. Priestman, assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joey Lombardi were handed one-year suspensions from FIFA and are no longer with Canada Soccer.

In March, a disciplinary committee into Herdman concluded with the former Canada coach receiving a written admonishment.

The disciplinary hearing, conducted by a three-person panel independent of Canada Soccer, came after Herdman was cited in the report by Sonia Regenbogen of the law firm Mathews, Dinsdale and Clark into the spying scandal.

The Regenbogen report, commissioned by Canada Soccer and released in a redacted form in November, concluded that it was clear the “practice of conducting surreptitious surveillance of opponents” predated the Paris Olympics.

Herdman is looking forward not back these days.

“That chapter is closed,” he said.

“The support from players past and present behind the scenes who came forward to support me and defend our culture was overwhelming,” he added. “And to be honest, humbling. Really humbling.

“It showed for me, you talk about brotherhood and sisterhood, it was real. In difficult times, people come together. Just a massive thanks to the players and staff that supported me through that period.”

Asked if he believes that he did nothing wrong, Herdman replied: “I’ll keep saying this. The chapter is well and truly closed. I made my case very clearly to Canada Soccer and their response was not even a yellow card … That was the outcome, a letter of admonishment.”

Herdman took over the Canadian women’s team in 2011 and switched to the Canadian men in January 2018. He quit Canada Soccer in August 2023 to take over Toronto FC.

He led the Canadian women to two Olympics, winning bronze in 2012 and 2016 and took the Canadian men to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar — their first trip to the sport’s showcase since 1986.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2025.