Washington Spirit head coach Richie Burke is stepping down from his current role due to health reasons and will be joining the front office, the team announced Tuesday.
“Yesterday Richie advised me of some health concerns and we mutually agreed that it was in the best interests of him and of the club for him to step down as our coach. Once Richie’s health improves, he will join the sporting operations front office staff,” said President of Sporting Operations Larry Best in the release.
“We have initiated the search for our next coach and in the interim, I will support Kris Ward, Paul Crichton, and our staff to prepare for our match on Friday,” said Best.
Burke has been with the team since January 2019, when he replaced interim coach Tom Torres, who took over following the firing of Jim Gabarra.
The Spirit are currently 5-5-3 this season, sitting seventh in league standings.