D.C. United agrees to terms with Coach Troy Lesesne

United officials said they did not want to comment. Lesesne could not be immediately reached for comment.

Lesesne (pronounced Le-sane) agreed to a three-year guaranteed contract, said one person close to the team, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the deal.

Lesesne will become United’s third full-time head coach since Ben Olsen was fired late in the 2020 season.

Initially hired by the Red Bulls as an assistant in 2022, Lesesne received wide praise for recalibrating the team last season following Gerhard Struber’s dismissal two months into the campaign.

He posted a 10-9-4 record, including three victories to end MLS’s regular season, then oversaw a first-round playoff victory against Charlotte. Across all competitions, he had a 14-10-8 mark.

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The Red Bulls declined to renew Lesesne’s contract. Before joining the Red Bulls, he coached second-division New Mexico United for three years. He was also an assistant at second-tier clubs in Charleston, S.C., and Charlotte.

Lesesne’s hiring came the same day Rooney was fired by Birmingham City, the English club he joined after leaving Washington. His low-key background comes in stark contrast to Rooney’s when United hired him in the summer of 2022. The English former superstar rejuvenated interest in the organization but failed to lead the team to a playoff berth. United has missed the playoffs four consecutive years and hasn’t won a postseason game since 2015.

Last season, United faded down the stretch and finished 10-14-10, 12th in the 15-team Eastern Conference.

Lesesne’s hiring brings another young element into the upper levels of United’s technical staff. In November, 37-year-old Ally Mackay was named general manager and became one of the youngest decision-makers in the league.

D.C. United’s new GM has a massive task ahead. ‘It’s part of the allure,’ he says.

Mackay’s coaching search included former MLS coaches Robin Fraser, Domènec Torrent and Caleb Porter (who was hired recently by the New England Revolution); U.S. men’s national team assistant B.J. Callaghan; and former Salvadoran national team coach Hugo Pérez.

According to two people, Mackay also spoke informally with Bruce Arena, the most successful coach in U.S. pro soccer history whose tenure at New England ended last summer amid an MLS investigation of inappropriate remarks in the workplace.

The final candidates were Lesesne, Fraser, Torrent and Pérez, one person said.

Torrent, 61, seemed well-positioned for the job after serving…