The offseason is heating up quickly for FC Cincinnati with the 2022 preseason looming.
Following the Tuesday confirmation of Dominique Badji joining the roster, news broke of additions to FC Cincinnati's first-team coaching staff, which were confirmed by The Enquirer via multiple sources.
Joining Noonan on the bench as assistants in 2022 will be former MLS Cup-winning head coach Dominic Kinnear, former Los Angeles FC assistant Kenny Arena, and Paul Rogers, the former Houston Dynamo FC head of goalkeeping.
Also joining Noonan as an assistant is Ricardo Páez, an in-house hire for FC Cincinnati, a former academy coach for the club and a member of the interim staff that helped close out the 2021 season following the September departure of now-former head coach Jaap Stam.
In an offseason interview with The Enquirer, Páez, of Venezuela, affirmed his desire to eventually move beyond the academy ranks with his eventual goal being to manage at the international level.
The Athletic first reported the news of FC Cincinnati's coaching staff being finalized on Tuesday.
The 2022 season marks Noonan's first year in charge of an MLS club, and he won't lack for experience on his staff.
Kinnear, previously won two MLS Cup championships with Houston, and prior to that won a Supporters Shield with San Jose Earthquakes.
Most recently, Kinnear served Los Angeles Galaxy in two separate stints as an assistant and later as a caretaker manager.
Arena is the son of famed American head coach Bruce Arena, who Noonan has served as an assistant coach and has expressed admiration.
Arena joins FCC after serving on now-former LAFC head coach Bob Bradley's staff. Prior to that, he worked under his father with the U.S. men's national team and the Galaxy.
Rogers is a long-time goalkeeping coach from the Houston organization where the England native served under Owen Coyle, Wilmer Cabrera and Tab Ramos, among others.
Like seemingly every move FC Cincinnati's made this offseason, MLS experience is a common theme for the club's new coaches.
The club's moves to emphasize proven MLS methods started late in the 2021 season with the hiring of former Philadelphia Union technical director Chris Albright as general manager. Albright has since ushered in a wave of MLS-proven commodities, both in the front office, on the coaching staff, and in several roster moves.
