A day after announcing his plan to step down as Bay FC’s head coach, Albertin Montoya said it was the plan all along, adding that he’ll remain within the club going forward in another capacity.
The timing raised eyebrows because Bay FC has seven games remaining on the schedule. But the team has been backsliding for many weeks now.
Bay FC has not won since June 7, has not earned a point since Aug. 10 and is currently on a four-game losing streak. At some point, something had to give.
But when Montoya spoke to reporters on Tuesday, he outlined a different vision for the club that he said was planned in advance.
“We’re always getting together and talking about what’s best for the organization,” Montoya said. “If we do this now, it gets us everything in place for a new coach, it gives us a little bit more time. We had a great conversation with the players. They understand it. We felt that it was very important for the organization, the success in the future, to do it at this time, and we’re all supportive of it.”
Montoya indicated he would remain with the organization in a role to be determined. Bay FC has used language like “startup” to describe the end of Montoya’s tenure with the team, and has stressed that the next coach is expected to take the club to the next level.
“It was something that we were looking at,” Montoya said. “The project has always been for the first couple years, let’s get started. And I was so proud and happy that I was able to do that. And then now, it’s moving forward. What’s going to give us the best opportunity and success moving forward?
“We started discussing this just a couple weeks ago, what we thought was better for the organization, and we thought this was a good time.”
Montoya, who was originally brought on board as a consultant during Bay FC’s coaching search, emerged as a candidate and the ultimate hire. On Tuesday, he implied that this was intended to be a short-term assignment.
“From the very beginning, it was all for me to step in and help however I could,” Montoya said. “We thought this was the right timing, when I first started almost two years ago now, just knowing the local market, getting us up and running. The fact that we made the playoffs (in 2024) was a huge achievement.
“But the plan was always coming in for the first couple years, get it up and running, get us in a good place, and then move forward and concentrate on the youth development.”
Montoya’s background before joining Bay FC centered mostly on the youth level. Along with his wife Erin, he helped turn Mountain View Los Altos Soccer Club into a national powerhouse that won multiple national championships.
His new Bay FC role will see him shift back into working with players who are in the earlier stages in their careers. MVLA has sent a number of players to the NWSL, including several currently on Bay FC – Abby Dahlkemper, Karlie Lema and Catherine Paulson all played for MVLA while the Montoyas were there.
“Primarily right now, it’s going to be the identification of talent and development,” Montoya said of the vision for his new role. “So it’s not with any (youth) club or anything like that. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and we still need to sit down and discuss how that’s all going to play out.”
Bay FC still has a little more than a month left with Montoya as its coach. The club’s players, still clinging to remote playoff hopes, seemed surprised by the move.
“You can never predict that,” said forward and team captain Rachel Hill. “As a team, we’re behind the head coach. We get the news, and that’s just the way that this industry goes, unfortunately. We all take it on the chin and just continue.”
Hill expressed regret that Montoya would be leaving as coach but seemed optimistic about what’s ahead.
“It was the club’s decision, and that’s what they thought was best for the organization,” Hill said. “So we believe in that. No one wants results not to go their way. As players, we take that on board, and that is heavy on us. But as we continue in the season, our team is so good at continuing to believe, continuing to go out and grind.”
Bay FC will face Orlando on Saturday and has matches remaining against Gotham, Utah, Portland, Seattle, North Carolina and Racing Louisville. All but two of those teams would make the playoffs if the season ended today.
Bay FC sits 12th of 14 teams in the league with 17 points, trailing Louisville by nine points for the final playoff spot. The next chance to make up ground is Saturday in Orlando.
Subscribe to our Inside Sports newsletter for all our sports coverage, including game analysis, scores, and everything you want to know about your Bay Area sports teams, including Bay FC.