🇨🇦 Leading Soccer in The Six: Toronto FC GM Jason Hernandez

A conversation with Toronto FC's Jason Hernandez on his path from player to General Manager

 

IN THIS ISSUE

  • 🤝 Introduction: Cups on the horizon!

  • 👨‍🎓 Soccer Thought Leader: Jason Hernandez, Toronto FC

  • ⚽️ Soccer Jobs: The latest and greatest

  • 📰 Extra Extra: Another World Cup in the U.S.?!

INTRODUCTION

Greetings, Pathwayers! 👋!

It’s Cup Season! While Carabao Cup just wrapped and Champions League and Europa League are in full swing overseas, there is plenty of action happening stateside.

For those keeping track at home:

Not to mention the Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup Finals, Leagues Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup are all quickly approaching. All that on top of MLS, NWSL, and USL (Championship and League One) action. Whew.

With so much happening, how do sporting departments manage expectations throughout the season and plan ahead?

We were thrilled to chat with Toronto FC’s General Manager, Jason Hernandez, to learn how he and his team approach goal setting and how he’s leaning on his own professional playing experience to foster stronger player relationships.

And, as always, we’ve included links to the best and most interesting new jobs in soccer and links to this week’s must-read articles.

Scroll down to check ‘em out. ⬇️

-Nolan Sheldon, Co-Founder & CXO

SOCCER THOUGHT LEADER: JASON HERNANDEZ, TORONTO FC

“One thing I would say is try to be on the front foot in wrapping your mind around what you are passionate about.”

Jason Hernandez has seen the growth of MLS up close and personal. After an impressive 14-year playing career (and winning multiple trophies), Jason is now seven years into his second career as an executive, currently serving as General Manager of Toronto FC.

Combining all of that experience, Jason is capable of drawing upon a serious bank of knowledge.

We sat down with Jason in early March, just as a new MLS season began. In our conversation, we covered his playing career, the transition to his post-playing career, and went deep on his vision and work at Toronto FC (among many other topics).

I hadn’t yet met Jason prior to our chat, but throughout our shared years within MLS, I had only heard positive things about him as a man, as a leader, and as a thoughtful and dedicated professional - and our conversation only solidified and strengthened that reputation. It is clear to see why he is so highly-regarded throughout the league.

I left the conversation extremely impressed by his deep knowledge of MLS, his vision for Toronto FC, and his detailed approach to building a successful club.

I believe this interview has a bit of something for everyone - I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

-Nolan Sheldon, Co-Founder & CXO

Questions and answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity (and any emphasis below is ours)

PATHWAY: Jason, how did you get started in the sport? At what age did you feel as though you could really pursue playing soccer as a career?

JASON: We'll go all the way back [laughs]! I'm a son of Puerto Rican parents who came and established themselves in New York City. Being Puerto Rican, baseball and boxing were the sports that ruled the house, so I grew up a baseball player. Funny enough, I changed schools in middle school and the school that I went to had a predominantly Colombian demographic. Obviously the sport of choice in Colombia is much different – it's football. They would play soccer during recess and after school, so I just threw myself into it to socialize and make friends, but I was terrible. I was quite bad at it to start.

It was something that I became obsessed with very quickly. I think with a lot of competitive people, when you find out you're not good at something and people tell you that, it really drives you to become obsessive about it. It sparked a passion in me and sparked my imagination and really I took off. I fell in love with the sport.

I was quite fortunate growing up in New Jersey that there is a pocket where a lot of footballers come from. I was able to connect with some people who were able to put me in the right environments and that allowed me just to grow quickly. I was able to get a scholarship to Seton Hall University, who were in the Big East at the time and was quite good. I was really fortunate that I was able to link up with one of the best coaches I ever had – Manfred Schellscheidt. To get four years there and play with some great players and really have a nice college career, you're hopeful to get an opportunity in the MLS Draft. I actually didn't go in the first draft, I went in the Supplemental Draft. I was pretty fortunate to do that. 

PATHWAY: So after 14 years in MLS, how did playing for a number of different clubs and coaches shape the way in which you look at your position now as General Manager?

JASON: The 14 years that I spent in MLS – from 2005 to 2018 – were some of the most dynamic and rapidly evolving in the sport when you think about where the league was when I joined. Many of us were playing in either hybrid university stadiums or NFL venues that were half empty from when I started to now 80% of the teams having their own soccer-specific stadiums and having established markets by the time I finished.

The type of players and the level of play that was coming into MLS and the goals of the league all evolved so quickly. For me personally, it was a very fulfilling and fruitful ride to see the sport grow.

All of it was like being in the passenger seat of the car for 14 years to seeing it now having a chance to be at a club and being behind the wheel. I think it gives me a really cool and unique lens into trying to do the job.

PATHWAY: What phase would you say the League is in when it comes to roster building? Which teams are doing it really well in terms of roster building and what are they capturing?

JASON: I think the best teams are the ones that find sporting success and have a vision for something that is repeatable and sustainable. Right now, I think John Thorrington and LAFC have done a really strong job of defining their identity and strategy in the West. They want to have one or two marquee players that the market will know. They want to call in the engine and the workhorses to fill out the middle of the roster. They are also being very intentional with their acquisitions - young players that can come in and show themselves for 18-24 months, they move them on, and the club makes a profit to reinvest.

For the last four or five years, Columbus has done the same in the East. I think Tim Bezbatchenko had a very strong hand in that and I believe Issa Tall will follow suit as you have young players come through their environment. You have young players you've invested in that are assets, you have proven guys in the middle of the roster that you spend money on. Then, you have a handful of “big spend” guys that can deliver.

PATHWAY: The club recently hired Robin Fraser as the next head coach of Toronto FC. What is it about Robin that told you he was the guy to lead the team into the future? What were the most important qualities for the new head coach?

JASON: We got a new CEO, Keith Pelley, and he tasked me with the job to say “Jason, look, we've seen clubs come and go where first team manager comes in, he has his ideas, maybe it works for a little bit, maybe it doesn't, you scrap 'em. Now the new manager comes in and he has his ideas and you get into the cycle of trying to steer the entire club to accommodate the manager in the moment.”

That's actually a world we've lived in probably for the last four to five years whereby we bring a manager in and the whole club would twist and turn in an effort to accommodate the manager. What does the manager want? Okay, that's how we recruit now, that's how the second team plays now, and that's how the academy will train now. All of that is to say the head coaching space is dynamic.

For us, the idea was to take a step back. What does TFC want to be? What are the types of players we want to bring in? What type of football do we want to play now? Who's the right guy to execute and amplify that? With that understanding, we want to be a team that's going to play the football that we believe our market is going to want to see. We feel we have a very fertile homegrown territory, so a coach who has brought in young players, gotten wins with them on the field practically week to week, and then the club was able to move them on. 

We also need a coach that understands the MLS landscape. What you have today may not be ideal for how your vision of football is, but we have a team that understands the tools that we have in the toolbox. How are you going to get the most out of this group until the next window and the team looks a little bit different until the following window, then maybe the team looks actually more how we want it to look. We have to get from A to C, but we can't skip B.

Robin comes to us as someone who has the highest level of respect, pedigree, and integrity in MLS. I thought he was the perfect fit. I actually thought he was the only fit. Getting a chance to speak to him and let him know about our project - this is the vision, this is what we would be asking of him - he felt very strongly that he was the right fit and it's the right moment. I think all of those things spoke to what we're trying to be, not only the near term, the medium term, and the long term. It felt like it was a slam dunk.

PATHWAY: You were drafted by the MetroStars and were traded after a year. How did that specific experience of being traded by your hometown team, the business side of this sport shape the way in which you want to manage your roster?

JASON: To make a long story short, I ended up at the MetroStars after I was invited to two training camps after my college career. A couple weeks go by and the MetroStars pick me during the Supplemental Draft before the [New England] Revs.

My first season goes as it does for most young players from the Supplemental Draft – very much on the outside of the roster looking in and playing a ton of reserve matches. With about two months to go in the season, Bob Bradley called me into the office and said, “Jason, we've seen your work in the reserve league. We're ready to give you a chance, you'll be debuting on the weekend.” This was like on a Monday, then the next day I walked in and Bob Bradley had been released. I'm thinking “oh my gosh, I was just about to debut.” 

Now, the expansion draft was coming up. Bob Bradley left the MetroStars and took the Chivas USA job who had the number one pick in the Draft. He swapped down to six with the MetroStars so they could select Marvell Wynne. Chivas USA selected Sacha Kljestan with the sixth pick in the Draft and then myself later on.

It was a moment in time where I recognized that's the business. I didn't have an agent. I basically got a voicemail from my GM at the time telling me I had been traded, I'm going across the country and leaving my hometown club. It was bittersweet. Bitter because I finally broke through in my hometown club and I was going to get to play in front of my friends and family for many years. The sweet part was having a former coach who clearly believed in me. I'm going with one of my great friends here and we're going to go on this journey together.

It was very quick for me to understand that this is a business. If a club feels that there's something in its best interest, they're going to do what they have to do. At the same time, there's a right and wrong way to go about things. To think that was the way I found out my career would change forever was tough - and it's certainly something that never left me. It's something that I try to keep in the forefront of my mind when talking to players and trying to do it in a way that's authentic and honest.

PATHWAY: As we speak today, the MLS season has just started. As a GM, what do you look at as early indicators of the team, players, and coaches being on track? 

JASON: There are a couple indicators. I think one is just the energy in the building. If you have a situation whereby you're not getting the chemistry, culture, or fit right, I think you can feel it straight away.

Two, I like to look at the body language when the coach is speaking. As far as are people listening, are people perked up?

Third, is just practically comparing the vision to how it actually looks. We have all these ideas on whiteboards and computers, but when you're talking in preseason and the first game, how do the ideas that the coach has, we have as a front office, and for players we've selected look? Are they delivering in the way that we had imagined?

You don't expect it to look like a perfect picture by the first game. You actually probably don't expect it for a few games. But, are the ideas and concepts there? Do we think there's a foundation there? 

PATHWAY: I want you to think back to when you transitioned from being a player to being a part of the front office. If you could do one thing differently, what would it be and what's one thing you got right in that transition? What would your advice be to those soon-to-retire players?

JASON: One thing I would say is try to be on the front foot in wrapping your mind around what you are passionate about. It's really difficult to do because when you're a player, you don't yet know. You can say you want to get into scouting, or be in the GM role, or be in technical development - but it's really hard unless you actually get your hands on it to get a chance to understand.

I would argue that if you are a player, let's say in the 10th year of your career, the average player comes in and puts in about four hours of work and leaves, but I would argue that you should stick around. Ask to be a helping hand for three hours out of the week; Offer to spend some time in the scouting department and see what tasks they give you; Offer to shadow the academy director to see what they are doing. The people in these spaces want to be open to providing opportunities, but they need to know what you want, what you are passionate about, and how you want to provide value.

That was something I didn't necessarily do in my last year, but it accelerates the process if you can do it while you're still playing.

PATHWAY: Can you give us a look at the day in the life as GM of Toronto. What is the one thing you always dedicate time to?

JASON: On a normal day, I probably arrive at the office maybe around 7:15 in the morning. My mother-in-law is a very passionate Christian woman - and she’s given me a daily devotional book that has a reading that I spend the first 20 minutes of the day with because there is a level of grounding and appreciation and thoughtfulness.

Then, I’m really just trying to be as connected with as many different departments as possible and having touch points throughout the day. Obviously TFC is part of a bigger entity - Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. I have the folks downtown that I need to make sure I'm connected with so that they feel informed and dialed in into what we're doing here. We are part of a bigger machine so I'm probably a little bit of an outlier as far as the things I probably need to keep mindful of just given this setup.

PATHWAY: What are your habits that allow you to stay sharp and on top of your game?

JASON: I think the one thing that I would point to that gives me the most energy and helps me to be sharp is really the folks I've surrounded myself with. My support group, or kind of the committee of folks that I have around me, are my trusted team.

Sean Rubio is our Technical Director, Tiago Aguiar, who's our Head of Scouting, and Arthur Casupanan, who's our Director of Strategy and Roster Compliance - these types of folks who have a diverse pedigree and are diverse in thought and nature when you talk about their backgrounds.

I think we've created a really strong dynamic where I have empowered them to tell me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear. This level of healthy, constructive conversations has given me the ability to make the best decisions. It's not necessarily something that's driven by me, but it's actually the folks and the environment that we've created that's helped me to stay as sharp as I can be.

PATHWAY: What's a tool or resource that you would recommend to somebody that's focused on building their career?

JASON: Honestly, the thing that has become the most fruitful for me in a professional space is identifying the best mentor possible. I've learned more from Keith Pelley in the 10 months he’s been here than I probably have learned in multiple years at the club as far as just being around him, listening to him, and seeing how he's managing some of the things that are on his table. Clearly, the biggest influential piece for me is finding a mentor and getting the right one.

Thanks to Jason for taking the time to chat with us. You can connect with him on LinkedIn - and be sure to follow Toronto FC’s 2025 MLS campaign with MLS Season Pass on Apple TV (subscription required).

Jason (left) standing with TFC Head Coach Robin Fraser
(via Jason Hernandez)

NEW SOCCER JOBS

As always, we’ve posted a handful of new soccer jobs for your consideration. We’ve highlighted a few trends worth noting.

U.S. Soccer continues to add talent prior to the Federation’s full move to Atlanta:

MLS clubs and the MLS league office have both posted leadership roles in the past week:

Now under a single ownership group, Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC are very active in the job market, with four new postings in the last week:

And last, but not least, go work with friend-of-the-newsletter Ben Olsen in Houston:

ICYMI: MUST-READ ARTICLES

📰 Extra! Extra! 

Here are a few of the recent headlines that caught our attention:

ALSO…

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SEE YOU SOON, SOCCER FRIENDS