Troy Lesesne ( ; born October 27, 1983) is an American

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 ...

coach who is the head coach of

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 ...

club

D.C. United D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

Career

Born in West Columbia, South Carolina, Lesesne played four years of college soccer at the

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th-oldest institution of higher lea ...

, helping them to 47 wins and a 2004

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

2nd Round Tournament appearance after winning the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

Championship. He graduated from the Department of Communication with a Bachelor of Arts in 2004 and a Masters of Arts in communication in 2010. He was named a

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 ...

NSCAA Division I All American following his senior season.

Professional

In August 2005, Lesesne signed with the

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

where he made 38 appearances in two seasons and helped the team progress to the

United Soccer League Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) as its premier league for men above USL League One. Operating under a f ...

semifinals in 2006.

Coaching career

From 2005 to 2014 Lesesne spent ten years as an Assistant Coach for the

where he helped the program compile an 82–76–14 record, along with a

regular-season championship and a second-round

Tournament appearance in 2010. During his tenure, he was named one of the top-20 assistant coaches in the nation by CollegeSoccerNews.com in 2011 and 2013 and was also selected to the inaugural

NCAA “Top 30 Under 30” coaches program in 2013. In 2014, Lesesne ascended from the college game to the professional coaching ranks spending the season as assistant coach and liaison with the

as part of their

and

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

affiliation, serving as technical staff working with players on loan from the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

. The Battery finished the 2014 campaign fifth in the regular-season standings, earning the club a spot in the playoffs. In 2015, Lesesne was named the first assistant for the new expansion

team,

Charlotte Independence Charlotte Independence is an American soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, that plays in the USL League One, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid. The Independence currently play their home games at American Legion Memoria ...

, where he spent four years coaching under Mike Jeffries. He assisted in the team qualifying for back-to-back playoffs in 2016 and 2017, along with advancing to round 16 in the

Lamar Hunt U.S. 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 ...

in the club's inaugural season, which was the furthest for any lower league team. On August 13, 2018, Lesesne was announced as the first Head Coach and Technical Director of the new

expansion club,

New Mexico United New Mexico United is an American professional soccer team based in Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U. ...

. During his tenure with

, the club posted a 34W-29D-25L record with two playoff appearances in 2019 and 2020. In 2019,

advanced to the Quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. In 2020 the club secured its first playoff win and Lesesne was named USL Co-Coach of the Year. Lesesne also played an integral role in helping

establish the Diversity Fellowship Program and a fully-funded youth academy, which produced its first-ever homegrown signing in Cristian Nava in 2021. He declined the club's contract extension offer and announced his resignation on November 5, 2021. On January 25, 2022, Lesesne joined

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

as an assistant coach. On May 8, 2023, he was named head coach for the remainder of the 2023 season after the Red Bulls and

Gerhard Struber Gerhard Struber (born 24 January 1977) is an Austrian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of EFL Championship club Bristol City. Playing career As a midfielder, Struber spent most of his career at SV Austria Sal ...

mutually parted ways. On November 14, 2023, it was announced that the Red Bulls would not be renewing Lesesne's contract, rather looking for coaches that maximize the change in approach with their youth players. The Red Bulls also fired sporting director Denis Hamlett the same day. On January 10, 2024, it was announced that Lesesne had signed a three-year contract with

to serve as the club's head coach.

Managerial statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesesne, Troy Living people American soccer coaches New Mexico United coaches 1983 births People from West Columbia, South Carolina Sportspeople from Lexington County, South Carolina Soccer players from South Carolina Sportspeople from Columbia, South Carolina Charleston Cougars men's soccer players Charleston Cougars men's soccer coaches Charleston Battery players Charleston Battery coaches Charlotte Independence coaches New York Red Bulls head coaches Men's association football midfielders American men's soccer players D.C. United head coaches