Today the Athletic reported that Sounders academy director Marc Nicholls will be leaving Seattle to join the newest MLS expansion team as their first hire. The move would actually mean a return to North Carolina, where Nicholls coached the Carolina Dynamo of the USL PDL for three years prior to moving to Seattle. He had worked for various academies there since 2005 and has been with the Sounders Academy since 2014.
The move has yet to be made official — or at least has yet to be officially announced — by either team or any other parties involved.