The interim tag is officially off!
Chattanooga FC announced Richard Dixon as their new head coach on Monday.
Since taking the reins as an interim in the 2026 preseason, Dixon has led the Boys in Blue to a 10W-5L-6T (4 SOW) record, which is good for second place in the Eastern Conference through Matchweek 22. Currently, CFC are riding the momentum of a league-best nine-game unbeaten run highlighted by a record-setting audience on Fourth of July weekend.
"It's always good to be in a place where you know you're doing meaningful work," Dixon said following Monday's announcement. "The work that we do doesn't go unnoticed, and it matches up with the values of the club. So I'm super excited for what's ahead for this club."
Aside from the regular season success in MLS NEXT Pro, Dixon oversaw a thrilling Round of 32 run in this year's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Full-circle
Let's not bury the lede.
Dixon was Chattanooga's first-ever professional signing back in 2020, made 92 appearances for the club before retiring in 2023, and pivoted to CFC's coaching staff in 2024.
Now, he's adding to his legacy with the club as its sixth-ever head coach.
"It means a great deal," he said in Monday's press conference. "I think it's a Cinderella story, a full-circle moment where you go represent a club that you've grown to love and a city that you've grown to love and have some passion for as well.
"To retire and to still be involved and to come around to be now the head coach leading the group, I think it's an amazing moment for myself, something that I've been looking forward to for the last few years."
Earned it
Beyond this year's on-field success, Dixon's full-time appointment was the easy decision for CFC. Having to step up as an interim in any situation usually makes for a lot to overcome. If not done smoothly, it warrants more than one step backward before a team can move forward.
Dixon's candor during that transition is something Chattanooga FC Sporting Director Dr. Sebastian Giraldo pointed out as one of the new coach's most admirable traits.
"Whenever you're transitioning a head coach a little bit unexpectedly at the start of the season, there's always going to be issues," Giraldo explained. "But I think one of the reasons Rich is our head coach right now is exactly how he behaved from minute one when we first had our conversation on him becoming the interim. One of the things that immediately kind of highlighted to myself is he said he wasn't ready.
"For me, for a person that probably is ready, has done the work, has been in the game, has been very selfless...When you're getting one of the biggest opportunities in your life, it says a lot about that person."
Even if he was unsure at first, Dixon's body of work speaks for itself now.
"I think what we've seen from Rich is someone that can easily carry our values," continued Giraldo. "...But we also want to win, and I think he has done an excellent job there, and you can't understate where the team is right now. We're second in a very tough Eastern Conference. We're fighting for first place and have not lost in two months.
"So, those things don't happen just randomly."
Playoff bound
2026 could be the most exciting year in Chattanooga FC's MLS NEXT Pro era.
The Boys in Blue made their playoff debut with a fourth-place finish last year and are on pace to potentially win the conference in the follow-up. Having not tasted defeat since early June, Dixon's announcement seems to have spiced things up for the locker room as they prepare for the home stretch.
"They were excited," shared Dixon. "You don't always know how these things are going to go because I have very difficult conversations with these guys every single day."
The duality of celebrating his promotion while keeping the team dialed in.
"We're trying to be a high-performing team, and it's a very emotional game that we play," he continued. "You win, and things go well. You're on the highs. You don't address the small issues, and I try to remain consistent in making sure that we're as best as we can addressing the small things that, in the back end of the season, don't come to bite us. With that, you have to have difficult conversations with the group. You have to have difficult conversations with individual players, and so you never know how in these moments they're going to react, but they were very excited this morning, so it was a good feeling."
Having the all-important buy-in from his players should make for an exciting finish as Chattanooga battle to secure a pick-your-opponent position and host playoff games at Finley Stadium this fall.
They resume that fight in Matchweek 23, hosting Atlanta United 2 on Saturday, August 8 (7 PM ET | MLSNEXTPro.com, OneFootball).
