Pat Onstad joined the Houston Dynamo as the team’s new General Manager on November 1, 2021. Onstad returns to the Dynamo after a storied playing career that included two championships in Houston’s first two seasons in the Bayou City as well as a post-playing career in which he has served in numerous front office positions throughout Major League Soccer.

Most recently, Onstad served as technical director and vice president of soccer operations for the Columbus Crew. Onstad joined the Crew in 2014 as an assistant coach on Gregg Berhalter’s staff and was promoted to technical director and vice president of soccer operations prior to the 2019 season after serving as the interim general manager following Berhalter’s departure for the U.S. Men’s National Team. During his time in Columbus, Onstad helped construct a roster that won the 2020 MLS Cup and the 2021 Campeones Cup.

Onstad came to the Crew in 2014 following a season as Toronto FC’s chief scout and manager of football partnerships. During his lone season with the club, the Reds reached the semifinals of the Canadian Championship.

Prior to joining Toronto, Onstad was a member of the D.C. United coaching staff. Onstad joined D.C. United as an assistant coach in 2011 following his retirement from a 25-year playing career. The former goalkeeper briefly returned to the field due to injuries on the roster that spring and resumed his assistant coach duties in the summer of 2011. Onstad and D.C. United reached the Eastern Conference final in 2012 and ultimately fell to the Dynamo in a two-game series.

 As a player, Onstad won three MLS Cup titles with the Dynamo and San Jose Earthquakes. The former goalkeeper also won the 1999 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with the Rochester Rhinos. To date, the Rhinos are the only non-MLS team to win the tournament since 1996. The shot stopper was also a two-time recipient of the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award in 2003 and 2005.

Houston went on to win back-to-back MLS Cup titles in 2006 and 2007 and qualified for the postseason in four of Onstad’s five seasons with the Dynamo. Onstad delivered arguably the most important save in Dynamo history when he stopped New England’s final attempt in the penalty shootout to clinch the championship in 2006.

Internationally, Onstad finished with 57 appearances for the Canadian National Team and holds the record for shutouts with 21. He joined Canada for three qualifying campaigns for the FIFA World Cup and posted a shutout in his senior debut as a 20-year-old against Bermuda in 1988.

Onstad graduated from the University of British Colombia with a Bachelor of Human Kinetics and Bachelor of Education. He also holds a USSF “A” Coaching License and has received certificates from United Soccer Coaches (then known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America).

Onstad is joined in Houston by his wife Becky and their three children, Peyton, Owen and Abigail.