San Francisco Deltas Name Marc Dos Santos As First Head Coach

Photo credit: Steve Kingsman/Freestyle Photography

The San Francisco Deltas announced today that Marc Dos Santos will be the club’s first head coach.  Dos Santos brings over a decade of coaching experience to the Deltas, having developed players at both the professional and amateur levels in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Portugal, and Mozambique.

“Marc’s track record of success and experience developing players with a winning mentality is initially what motivated us to reach out to him,” SF Deltas CEO Brian Andrés Helmick said. “However, after spending time with him and his wife Marie, it became abundantly clear that his values overlap perfectly with ours. He is a risk taker and is open to innovation; he values honesty and transparency; and despite all of his success, he has remained truly humble and kind. We feel incredibly fortunate to welcome Marc and his family to San Francisco.”

Dos Santos joins the Deltas from his head-coaching role at the Swope Park Rangers of Kansas City. Dos Santos formerly served as head coach for Ottawa Fury FC’s inaugural season in 2014 and led them to The Championship Final in 2015 and was named NASL Coach of the Year. 

“I am honored to be named the head coach of the Deltas,” Dos Santos said. “I’ve been in clubs all over the world and I believe this is different. I believe we’re going to be able to bring players that want to be part of the city, part of the organization. I believe the team that is behind this has a new way of thinking, so this makes me believe big time that this is going to be a successful story.”

Dos Santos began his career in Portugal and Mozambique. In 2007, he was hired by his hometown team, the Montreal Impact, to lead the club’s reserve team, Trois-Rivieres Attak FC. Under his leadership, the team won the 2007 Open Canada Cup and became 2008 CSL National Division champions, which led to him to being named the Impact’s assistant coach and then the club's head coach.  With Dos Santos, the Montreal Impact won the Canadian Championship in 2008, reached the quarterfinals in the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League, and won the USL First Division title in 2009.  His appetite for new challenges led him to move to Brazil in 2012 and coach FC Primeira Camisa (U-20’s) and SE Palmeiras (U-15’s), culminating with a Copa do Brasil U-15 championship and then a head-coaching position with Desportivo Brasil.  He then returned to Canada in 2013 as the head coach of Ottawa Fury FC.

A dual citizen of Canada and Portugal, Dos Santos holds a UEFA “A” coaching license and is fluent in four languages (English, French, Spanish and Portuguese). He and his wife Marie have three children.

Dos Santos will remain with the Rangers through the end of the season.  He will officially join the Deltas in October. The SF Deltas expect to hold tryouts in November and the first preseason game will take place in February 2017 against the San Jose Earthquakes.