Austin FC Coach: My Players Can’t Handle the Heat
What kind of message is Nico Estévez sending here?
By Eric Goodman, Fri., May 9, 2025
We’ve come a long way over the last decade or so regarding the acknowledgment, discourse, and understanding of the role mental health plays at the top levels of competitive sport. Professional athletes live under constant pressure and scrutiny, grappling with anxieties most of us “regular people” don’t often face.
But while it’s important to acknowledge and appreciate those anxieties, the fact is, they come with the territory – and the hefty paycheck – of being a pro athlete. Those who succeed in sports do so not only by harnessing their abilities on the playing field, but also by managing their emotions off it.
That’s why the narrative Austin FC coach Nico Estévez attempted to drive following the club’s 3-0 loss at home to Minnesota United over the weekend rang so hollow.
Estévez began his press conference by first rejecting the notion that the club failed to adequately rally following a Brad Stuver blunder that gifted Minnesota an early 1-0 lead. Instead, he asserted that he was “very proud of the team” and argued that they “completely dominated the game” on a night in which the club suffered its worst-ever loss at home in a competitive match.
Then, Estévez attempted to drum up some sympathy for his players.
“You know how hard it is for these guys to be right now there?” he said, motioning to the locker room. “You know how hard it is that they gave everything that they could? I don’t think you guys put [yourselves] in their position. It’s painful.”
Later, he added, “They make money, but you can see how they have suffered from anxiety, suffered from pressure, suffered from other things, because they are humans.”
On the one hand, you understand a coach sticking up for his players during a run of poor form. ATXFC has dropped three of its last four MLS matches, having been outscored 10-2 over that span.
On the other hand, what are we supposed to take away from his comments, exactly? Losing sucks? No shit. We tried our best? Talk about the bare-ass minimum.
In attempting to defend his players, Estévez inadvertently called into question whether his guys have the fortitude to deal with and respond to adversity. He made his team sound like some middle school squad that just lost a district final on penalties, not a group of veteran MLS pros going through a rough patch in April and May. It was woefully out of touch, and participation trophy culture at its worst.
His players don’t need that. Stuver stood up and owned his error postgame, calling it “probably the worst mistake that I’ve made in my career.” Brandon Vázquez lamented the club’s inability to turn scoring chances into goals. Ilie Sánchez said there wasn’t enough urgency. There were no tears, flipped tables, trauma blankets ... just professional athletes, appropriately upset, understanding that they need to perform better.
Those players don’t need their coach to baby them. They certainly don’t need their coach insinuating that the players are too soft to face criticism.
They need their coach to assemble a game plan that accentuates the squad’s strengths, and to help them develop chemistry on the practice field – two things that clearly haven’t happened yet, considering the club has scored just seven goals in 11 matches.
Perhaps the most concerning element from Estévez’s postmortem was the notion that Austin FC dominated a game in which it lost 3-0. One hopes that’s nothing more than some overly aggressive spin solely meant for the media. Because if that’s how Estévez truly sees it, then maybe he’s the one who can’t stomach a harsh dose of reality.
