Jamison Olave named coach of Real Monarchs SLC

Former Real Salt Lake center back Jamison Olave is the new coach of Real Monarchs, Monarchs general manager Dan Egner announced today in a celebration of the Real Monarchs’ USL Championship Final victory.

Matt Glaeser was also announced as joining the squad permanently.

Following a successful MLS career which spanned nine seasons and two teams, Jamison Olave retired in November of 2016 looking to become a part of the Spanish language broadcast team for Real Salt Lake.

However, as with many plans, this almost immediately changed when Mike Petke, his former coach from his days with New York Red Bulls, was hired, almost out of the blue, as head coach of Real Monarchs SLC. Petke was given leave to hire his own staff and asked for Olave to join up as an assistant coach.

After only a single game as head coach of the Monarchs in the 2017 season, Petke was named head coach of Real Salt Lake and another assistant coach, Mark Briggs, was named Head Coach to replace Petke. The Monarchs went on to set a record with 9 straight victories and won the 2017 USL regular season title. Although they fell out of the playoffs in the quarterfinal round, Briggs seemed a solid choice to stay with Monarchs for the extended period.

Once again, however, plans changed when Briggs was suspended in May of 2018 following the filing of criminal charges against him. Jamison Olave was named Interim Head Coach and remained in charge for the remainder of the 2018 season even through the charges against Briggs were later dismissed. After starting with a 7-3-1 record under Briggs, the Monarchs finished 2018 with a 12-9-2 record under Olave finishing in 4th place in the Western Conference and dropping out once again in the quarterfinal round of the playoff.

Amid rumors that Olave was not interested in retaining the head coaching position, Martin Vazquez was moved from head of the RSL Academy and named Head Coach of the Monarchs for the 2019 USL season. And for a third time, fate intervened when Vazquez abruptly resigned under pressure on 1 July 2019 after compiling a 6-6-3 record. For the second time Olave stepped into the interim role and worked to restore team spirit and confidence with increased support from fans and staff. The 2019 Monarchs finished with a 10-4-5 under Olave and displayed a new found surge toward the end of the season. Despite entering with a less than 5% chance of making it to the USL Championship Final, momentum and team work carried the Monarchs to Louisville, two cups and a star for their uniform.

By now embracing his recurring leadership role, Olave routinely credited the players and their spirit to win against all odds. With the entire team fully behind him, Jamison Olave is ready to take the final step and once again assert control his own fate.