The Houston Dash on Sunday announced head coach Fabrice Gautrat will no longer be head coach of the club. The news comes with just six games reamining on the 2026 schedule for the Dash, who sit 11 points out of playoff contention in the National Women’s Soccer League.
According to a Dash press release, Gautrat, 38, and technical director Twila Kilgore will both “transition away from their current roles with the organization.” Neither will return for the 2027 season, per the Dash. Assistant coach Jaime Frias will serve as the Dash’s interim head coach for the final six games of 2026 as the organization conducts a search for the club’s next leader.
“Our conviction in this group has not wavered. We believe in the quality of this team and its ability to succeed both this season and beyond,” Angela Hucles Mangano, the Dash’s president of women’s soccer, said in a statement Sunday. “We also have a responsibility to evaluate our trajectory and determine what is needed to achieve the ambitions we have for this team. Ultimately, this decision reflects our commitment to those ambitions and our determination to continue moving the club forward.”
Gautrat, 38, played collegiate soccer in California before stints with lower-division professional clubs in France and the U.S. He then became an assistant with NWSL clubs in Chicago and North Carolina from 2022-24. Gautrat was hired as the head coach of the Dash in January 2025.
Houston struggled under Gautrat’s leadership, recording just 15 wins in 50 matches across the last two seasons. The Dash lost each of their last four contests before Sunday’s dismissal, including Saturday’s home loss at Shell Energy Stadium. Houston did not record a single shot on goal in the contest.
The Dash will return to the pitch next Sunday in a road match at the Boston Legacy. Houston’s next home tilt will be Oct. 4, when the Dash host one of their three remaining home games of the 2026 season. Houston sits No. 12 of 16 teams in the NWSL table exiting the weekend, nearly mathematically eliminated from postseason contention.