Luke Sassano resigned as FC Cincinnati’s technical director Monday morning due to “family reasons,” the club said in a statement.
Sassano, a former MLS player with both the New York Red Bulls and Sporting Kansas City, will remain with the club through the end of 2019 in an advisory role. He will assist the Cincinnati’s transition to a new operating structure, which will reportedly not include the position of technical director.
Hunter Freeman, who retired from professional soccer last year, has been promoted as the team’s director of scouting and player recruitment.
Freeman, 34, is a former MLS veteran who represented the Red Bulls, Colorado Rapids, Houston Dynamo, and Toronto FC.
His duties will include overseeing all the club’s scouting activities and staff, as well as player recruitment strategies. He reports to general manager Gerard Nijkamp.
Sassano’s departure marks another senior-level staffing change within FC Cincinnati, which ended the season last in the Eastern Conference and set a league record for most goals conceded (75).
The club fired former head coach Alan Koch in May, and Jeff Berding became team president after serving as general manager.