Chris Leitch has served as the club’s general manager since November 2021. Leitch has held a variety of roles with the Earthquakes since 2009, including player (2009-11), technical director (2012-21), interim general manager (2016), and head coach (2017).
Contact Chris Leitch at cleitch@sjearthquakes.com
Leitch played in Major League Soccer for 10 years, including stints with the Columbus Crew (2002, 2006), NY/NJ MetroStars (2003-05), New York Red Bulls (2007-08) and San Jose Earthquakes (2009-11). During his 10 seasons, Leitch made 196 appearances, logged over 15,000 minutes played, and tallied 14 assists. He was named the MetroStars’ Defender of the Year in 2005 and the Quakes’ Defender of the Year in 2009. He played every minute of the Red Bulls’ postseason run in 2008, leading the team to its first MLS Cup appearance in club history. He also helped Columbus win their first and only U.S. Open Cup title in 2002. Soon after his retirement following the 2011 season, Leitch was hired as technical director for the Earthquakes Academy. Under his guidance, the Quakes signed Tommy Thompson to the first Homegrown Player contract in club history in 2014. While retaining the same title of technical director, Leitch added responsibilities with the First Team in 2015.
In August of 2016, Leitch assumed the role of interim general manager following the departure of John Doyle. During his four months as interim general manager, Leitch hired Ian Russell as head coach of the team’s new USL Championship affiliate Reno 1868 FC and signed defender Nick Lima to a Homegrown Player contract. Russell would lead Reno to the USL Championship playoffs in each of his four seasons, earning 2020 Co-Coach of the Year honors, while Nick Lima was a finalist for MLS Rookie of the Year in 2017 and earned nine caps for the U.S. National Team. Leitch was also influential in the team’s selection of future U.S. National Team midfielder Jackson Yueill during the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. Leitch returned to his role of technical director at the time of Jesse Fioranelli’s hiring as general manager in January 2017.
In June of 2017, Leitch replaced Dominic Kinnear as the team’s head coach. His first match was a 2-1 victory over Seattle Sounders FC in the U.S. Open Cup, the Quakes’ first-ever win over an MLS team in the competition. His first MLS match was a dramatic 2-1 victory over the LA Galaxy in front of 50,617 fans at Stanford Stadium. With Leitch at the helm, San Jose went 7-0-1 in eight home matches to clinch their first postseason appearance since 2012 and also reach the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup for the first time in team history. He also gave Yueill his first significant playing time, with the rookie midfielder making 10 starts in 13 total appearances over final 17 matches of the season. Leitch returned to his role of technical director at the conclusion of the season.
Leitch’s continued oversight of the Quakes Academy has resulted in six additional Homegrown Player signings since December of 2017, including U.S. U-23 goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski, 2021 MLS All-Star Cade Cowell, and then 14-year-old Emi Ochoa, the youngest Homegrown signing in MLS history, who has represented both the U.S. and Mexico at various youth national team levels.
Following the departure of general manager Jesse Fioranelli in June of 2021, Leitch retained his title of technical director but assumed control of the team’s soccer operations. San Jose went unbeaten in Leitch’s first 10 matches at the helm (3-0-7), conceding just nine goals during that span. Leitch also engineered the trade to acquire 24-year-old forward Jeremy Ebobisse in the biggest inter-league transfer in club history.
Prior to managing the club, Leitch helped transform the Quakes’ youth system into one of the premier academies in the nation. In 2015, the Earthquakes U-18 Academy squad took third place in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy playoffs. Additionally, the Quakes Premier Development League affiliate, Burlingame Dragons FC, finished their season with a 10-1-3 record (33 pts.), best among 18 teams in the Western Conference. Additionally, Leitch received his Elite Formation Coaching License as part of Major League Soccer’s partnership with the French Football Federation.
Leitch experienced success at the college level as well, captaining the University of North Carolina to a National Championship in 2001, setting school records for career games played (88) and starts (87) in the process.