Chattanooga FC Head Coach Richard Dixon has been named MLS NEXT Pro Coach of the Month for September 2026.
Dixon steered the club to a perfect three wins out of three for the month, beginning with a 2-1 away victory over rivals Huntsville City FC, which clinched a playoff berth. The Boys in Blue then put four past Atlanta United 2 to book a home playoff match before closing out the regular season with a gritty 1-0 win at Chicago Fire FC II to secure the club's best-ever finish to an MLS NEXT Pro regular season (56 points and No. 2 seed).
Dixon is the first Chattanooga FC head coach to win the league's accolade.
"This is all down to the team and their willingness and ability to take on information and to implement it and express themselves on the field," said Dixon. "While I'm excited to be the one to come up with the plan and give the players a clear path forward, they're the ones that do the work. It's obviously a good feeling and honor to have, but I'd prefer to get team of the month, because the guys deserve it. They've done a fantastic job this season and we hope to continue the form we've been on."
Dixon and Co are in the midst of preparations for a massive MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference Quarterfinal against NYCFC II at Finley Stadium on Sunday, October 18, with kick-off set for 5:00 p.m. ET. Tickets are on sale now.
"Preparations are going well," said Dixon. "We are trying to be methodical in how we go about things, making sure we're giving the guys the right amount of information. Things are going well. The guys are in a good place, so we're looking forward to finally getting to matchweek. For now, we have to continue to sharpen what we're doing here. We have one last friendly this weekend before we fully start to go into preparation mode for NYCFC II."
