Tate Matthew Schmitt (born May 28, 1997) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a defender for

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Nashville, Tennessee. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team spent two seasons in the USL Championship before joining ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

Career

Youth, college, and amateur

Schmitt played two seasons at

Desert Vista High School Desert Vista High School is a public high school located in the Ahwatukee area of Phoenix, Arizona. Opened in 1996, it is the second Tempe Union High School District (TUHSD) school in Ahwatukee and serves approximately 3,000 students. Academ ...

prior to joining the

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

Arizona academy. Schmitt played four years of

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

between 2015 and 2018, scoring 26 goals and tallying 17 assists in 80 appearances. He was named to the 2015 ACC All-Freshman Team and the TopDrawerSoccer.com Freshman Best XI Second Team. As a junior he was named to the All-ACC Second Team and the

United Soccer Coaches The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

All-South Region Third Team. His senior season saw him make the All-ACC First Team, TopDrawerSoccer.com Best XI Second Team, and United Soccer Coaches All-South Region First Team. Schmitt helped the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

win the 2018 ACC men's soccer tournament, with Schmitt being named tournament MVP. Schmitt also played with

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

side

FC Tucson FC Tucson is an American soccer club based in Tucson, Arizona that plays in USL League Two. The club has an amateur women's team, FC Tucson Women, that play in the WPSL. Organized in 2010, the club first fielded a team in March 2011, then joine ...

while at Louisville.

Professional

Real Salt Lake

On January 3, 2019, Schmitt signed as a Homegrown Player for

. Schmitt made his RSL and MLS debut on March 23, getting the start in a 2–1 loss against

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. It was establi ...

. He ended his rookie season with 8 total appearances for RSL, 6 MLS appearances, plus an appearance each in the

Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

and

Leagues Cup The Leagues Cup is an annual soccer competition between clubs from Major League Soccer (MLS), the main soccer league in the United States, and Liga MX, the main soccer league in Mexico. It is hosted in Canada and the United States. It began in ...

. Schmitt primarily played for RSL's

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

affiliate,

Real Monarchs Real Monarchs is a professional soccer club playing in the MLS Next Pro, a third division league of American soccer. The team is an affiliate of the Major League Soccer (MLS) club Real Salt Lake. Real Monarchs are based in the Real Salt Lake ...

. He scored 2 goals and had an assist in 15 regular season games for the Monarchs, while adding 1 goal and 3 assists in 4 playoff games, helping the Monarchs win the 2019 USL Championship Playoffs. In a shortened 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Schmitt made 4 appearances for RSL. On June 10, 2021, Schmitt was loaned to his hometown club Phoenix Rising. On June 12 he made his debut and scored his first goal for Phoenix in a 3–1 win over the

Tacoma Defiance The Tacoma Defiance, formerly Seattle Sounders FC 2, are an American professional soccer team based in the Puget Sound region in Tukwila, Washington, United States. The team competes in MLS Next Pro, a league in the third tier of the United Sta ...

. Schmitt ended the regular season with 22 appearances, 2 goals, and 1 assist, helping Phoenix finish 1st in the Western Conference. Rising lost in the first round of the playoffs on penalties to

Rio Grande Valley FC Rio Grande Valley FC, also known as RGVFC or Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, was an American professional soccer team based in Edinburg, Texas operated by Lone Star, LLC. They joined the USL Championship in the 2016 season. The team served as a hy ...

. Following the 2021 season, Schmitt's contract option was declined by Salt Lake, but was re-signed on January 19, 2022. He scored his first goal for RSL on March 11, finding the right side netting in the 90+3rd minute to beat the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

3–2. Schmitt ended the regular season with 14 appearances and 2 goals, helping RSL finish 7th in the Western Conference, qualifying for the playoffs. RSL lost in the first round on penalties to

Austin FC Austin FC is an American professional soccer club based in Austin, Texas. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 2018, the club began play in the 2021 season. Their home stadium is Q ...

, with Schmitt missing the decisive penalty in the shootout. Following the 2022 season, his contract option was declined by Salt Lake.

Houston Dynamo

On February 17, 2023, Schmitt signed with the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

. He made his Dynamo debut and scored his first goal for the club on February 26 in a 2–1 loss to

FC CIncinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

in the opening match of the season. Schmitt started the first five matches of the 2023 season at left back for the Dynamo, but he unfortunately sustained a knee injury while playing against the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

on April 1, which would require surgery and keep him out for the remainder of the season. Schmitt made his return to action in Houston's opening competitive fixture, against

St. Louis City SC St. Louis City Soccer Club (stylized as St. Louis CITY SC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in St. Louis. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Con ...

in the

CONCACAF Champions Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

on February 20, 2024. Schmitt was generally second-choice at left back behind

Franco Escobar Franco Nicolás Escobar (born 21 February 1995) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo. Club career Newell's Old Boys Escobar began his career in the Newell's Old Boys aca ...

during the 2024 season, making 17 appearances and four starts in the league. For the second time in three seasons, Schmitt missed the decisive penalty in the shootout which saw his team eliminated in the first round, this time against the Seattle Sounders.

Nashville SC

On May 21, 2025, Schmitt signed a one year contract with

Career statistics

''As of February 26, 2023''

Honors

Real Monarchs *

USL Cup The USL Cup is an annual soccer competition in men's domestic American soccer. The USL Cup is currently known as the USL Jägermeister Cup after its title sponsor, Jägermeister. The competition is open to all clubs in USL Championship and US ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Personal life

Schmitt was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona to RuthAn and Gil Schmitt. His brother Reid played for

and

Phoenix FC Phoenix FC was an American professional soccer team based in Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix. The team was a member of the USL Pro, USL Professional Division, the third tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team's colors were red and white. History ...

while his brother Andrew played collegiately for the

Fort Lewis Skyhawks The Fort Lewis Skyhawks are the athletic teams that represent Fort Lewis College, located in Durango, Colorado, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Skyhawks compete as members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference for all 11 varsi ...

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitt, Tate 1997 births Living people American men's soccer players Men's association football forwards FC Tucson players Homegrown Players (MLS) Houston Dynamo FC players Louisville Cardinals men's soccer players Real Salt Lake players Real Monarchs players Phoenix Rising FC players Soccer players from Phoenix, Arizona USL Championship players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players MLS Next Pro players Desert Vista High School alumni 21st-century American sportsmen Houston Dynamo 2 players Nashville SC players