Atlanta United signs Rob Valentino to long term contract as assistant coach

Atlanta United announced today that it has signed former interim head coach Rob Valentino to a long term contract to stay in Atlanta as part of Gonzalo Pineda’s coaching staff.

Valentino was pivotal in helping stabilize the club this summer after the team fired Gabriel Heinze in June, taking over a club in crisis. He managed eight matches during his interim tenure in which the team earned 14 points including a four-match winning streak, matching the point total earned under the duration of Heinze’s stint as coach.

But rather than results, fans will likely remember more prominently Valentino’s character — a humble hard-worker that always praised others instead of himself.

To give a further look into the kind of person Valentino is, after his last home match in charge — the last time he’d have an opportunity to speak with media in his role with the club — he stood up after the cameras and recorders were off and gave a short speech thanking everybody for their coverage of the team and the way they’d treated him.

So for that reason, we couldn’t be more delighted with this news. Congratulations to Rob and the club!