For Minnesota United, the biggest wait is officially over.

The Loons announced Monday the hiring of Eric Ramsay to be the club’s second permanent MLS head coach, stepping in after Adrian Heath was fired in October after nearly seven seasons.

Ramsay, the outgoing Manchester United assistant coach, signed a contract with MNUFC on Thursday. The club did not share Monday the length of Ramsay’s multi-year deal.

“After an extensive search that included dozens of impressive domestic and international candidates, we are confident that Eric Ramsay is the best choice to lead our club,” Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad said in a statement. “His experience working with top-level players, coaches and sporting staff at both the club and international level — as well as his alignment in playing style and development philosophy — all fit with the vision we have for the future of MNUFC.”

But in a continuing theme for MNUFC over these past four-plus months, another wait has begun: When will Ramsay arrive in Minnesota to start his new gig?

Ramsey, a Welshman, has begun the process to obtain his work visa and is expected to be on the sideline for the Manchester derby against Manchester City on Sunday.

That means interim head coach Cameron Knowles will remain on the sideline here for at least the Loons’ home opener against MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Pioneer Press understands there is optimism that Ramsay might arrive in time for the Orlando City road game on March 9, but it’s more likely he could be on the sideline for the Los Angeles FC match at Allianz Field on March 16. His first game coming at home would produce a higher level of supporter excitement.

The Loons have a bye week on March 23-24, with an away game at Philadelphia Union on March 30. That would be longer runway for Ramsey to introduce himself to the players and start working with the team, but it doesn’t appear to be a preferred timeline.

Like all immigration processes, delays could arise that are outside the control of MNUFC and Ramsey. So, in the end, it will be wait and see.

In the meantime, Ramsay is eager to get started with the Loons.

“I’m incredibly excited to be joining a club with such a strong football culture, a fanatic fan base and a brilliant infrastructure,” Ramsay in a statement. “I’ve spoken to a lot of the club’s staff throughout the process and you can’t help but feel everyone’s passion for moving the club forward. There is a really exciting pathway for the future of the club and I’m looking forward to playing my role in realizing that vision. I thank the club for putting its faith in me and I hope it’s the start of another successful period for everyone connected with Minnesota United.”

Long winter

Key MNUFC comings and goings:

Oct. 5 — Adrian Heath fired as manager

Nov. 8 — Khaled El-Ahmad hired as Chief Soccer Officer

Dec. 5 — Sean McAuley retained as interim head coach

Jan. 5 — Cameron Knowles elevated to interim head coach

Feb. 26 — Eric Ramsay hired as permanent head coach

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Eric Ramsay signs contract to be Minnesota United head coach

Rebecca Cunningham. (Courtesy of the University of Minnesota)

The University of Minnesota’s next president is a top research administrator at a Midwestern Big Ten school who has a background in medicine.

After hours of public interviews with the final three candidates on Monday, the UMN Board of Regents named Rebecca Cunningham, a research administrator and physician from the University of Michigan, as the university system’s president-designate

Interim University president Joe Ettinger will remain in his role until Cunningham takes over on July 1. The position has been open since former U president Joan Gable left last spring.

Cunningham will be the 18th president of the University of Minnesota system and will lead five campuses with more than 68,000 students and nearly 27,000 employees. Cunningham and regents aren’t yet discussing specifics of pay, but before she left Gabel had a contract that with benefits brought her total compensation to more than $1 million.

Cunningham said she brings experience in academic medicine as well as the hands-on side from her time as an emergency room physician — though she noted her most recent work has focused on the big picture of running a school.

“I also bring to you experience as a senior leader in higher ed administration,” she continued. “And so the combination of those two roles I think can help guide the university forward.”

Right now, Cunningham is vice president for research and innovation at the University of Michigan, where she guides the university’s research mission across three campuses.

Before that, she served as the associate vice president for research-health sciences, where she oversaw research faculty and worked across disciplines to advance the university’s research agenda.

She has been a faculty member at the University of Michigan Schools of Public Health and Medicine since 1999.

National search

A months-long national search by the U’s Presidential Search Advisory Committee identified 46 candidates and Cunningham was one of the three named finalists for the job. Search consultants began compiling a pool of candidates in November.

The search started after Gabel resigned last year to become president of the University of Pittsburgh.

During her tenure, she oversaw growth in research and graduation rates but also faced criticism for perceived conflicts of interest. Gabel said the controversies had nothing to do with her departure.

Ettinger, a Former Hormel Foods CEO, stepped in as interim president on June 10.

Cunningham and two other finalists, Laura Bloomberg and James Holloway, spent the last few weeks touring the UMN’s campuses in Crookston, Duluth, Morris, Rochester and the Twin Cities to meet with students, faculty and staff.

Bloomberg is president of Cleveland State University and former dean of the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and Holloway, is the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of New Mexico.

The three then sat on Monday for public interviews before a special meeting of the Board of Regents.

Initially, seven regents favored Cunningham and five favored Bloomberg. But ultimately all 12 backed a motion to name Cunningham President-designate.

One concern during the regents’ discussions was that another candidate might be better rounded with expertise outside medicine.

Cunningham pushed back at the idea that she would potentially be too medically focused, noting she has years of higher education leadership experience at a Midwestern Big Ten University, which she called “familiar territory.”

“I fully am immersed and have years of experience in higher ed leadership,” she said. “We will all, as we talked about before, have things that I will need to learn about your particular institution and the particular issues of the state and the people, and I look forward to doing that.”

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A few Minnesota United players were winded on Saturday, and Cameron Knowles provided a breath of fresh air.

The Loons were holding on to a 1-0 lead in the season opener at Austin FC when the interim head coach not only used all five available substitutes but brought in four players under 24 years old.

“We’ve got to trust them,” Knowles said after the Loons’ 2-1 victory. “I think they’ve earned a lot of trust (Saturday) with the way they came into the game. … To come into a game that young but fearless in the way they played, it’s really exciting and sort of bodes well for the future.”

It’s also a stark contrast from former manager Adrian Heath’s nearly seven-year tenure.

Across Heath’s four seasons with five subs possible, he never averaged more than 3.4 per game. The last two years MNUFC set league lows for substitutions. And when Heath did call on subs, veterans were often his picks.

Some of the subs used Saturday were based on circumstance: Three first-team players were unavailable to play — Emanuel Reynoso, Bongi Hlongwane and Kervin Arriaga.

But part of the abundance of youth on Saturday comes via a directive from new Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad. He wants to see young players regularly in the mix.

El-Ahmad believes if a team struggles with one young player in its lineup, that’s a reflection of a deeper problem than just that one player’s adolescence.

On Saturday, Knowles also knew the available players and the stage of the season. He told the team Friday night in Texas about the need he saw for subs in the first match.

“It’s still early season: very few people are going to be really 90-minutes match fit, and the substitutions are going to be really important,” Knowles told reporters post game about his message to players.

In the 68th minute, Knowles gave Costa Rican midfielder Alejandro Bran, 22, his MLS debut and also brought in forward Tani Oluawseyi, 23.

In the 77th, a pair of Minnesotans entered the match: wingers Loic Mesanvi of Lakeville and Caden Clark of Medina. Both are only 20 years old.

Minnesota United midfielder Loic Mesanvi, center, watches as teammate Caden Clark (37), right, goes for the ball against Austin FC in the Loons’ 2-1 win on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Mesanvi, of Lakeville, and Clark, of Medina, were two young players to sub into the match and help the Loons win. (Courtesy of Minnesota United)

Clark joined his home-state team after a stint at RB Leipzig in the German Bundesliga.

Mesanvi is a MNUFC2 player brought up on a short-term loan to play in MLS. Players from the club’s developmental team have four loan spells to use each season. Mesanvi now has three left.

In the 91st minute, Clark and Oluwaseyi contributed to Bran’s goal. It was an insurance goal that became a buffer as Austin scored in the 94th minute.

Clark made a long-distance dribble down the right sideline and split the Verde defense to find Olusaweyi inside the 18-yard box. Instead of shooting, Oluwaseyi made the extra pass for Bran to score more easily.

The goal came from a fountain of youth.

Loons midfielder Hassani Dotson played all 90 minutes Saturday, but was in a similar spot to those young bucks in 2019. In that season debut against Vancouver, he came off the bench to play a paltry minute but became a regular later on that season.

“When you are young and you get subbed in and try to close out a game, it’s a big opportunity,” Dotson said Saturday. “Your job is to follow instruction and do the best you can. … We have a pretty young team this year and they all had a good preseason. I couldn’t be happier, especially having had that type of opportunity my first year.”

Stay seated

Minnesota United’s substitutions since joining MLS:

Year — Average subs per game (league rank)

2023 — 3.4 (29th of 29)

2022 — 3.1 (28th of 28)

2021 — 3.2 (26th of 27)

2020 * — 3.2 (25th of 26)

2019 — 2.7 (14th of 24)

2018 — 2.7 (18th of 23)

2017 — 2.5 (19th of 22)

* First year MLS went from three to five subs per game

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Loons star Emanuel Reynoso has another setback, just days before Saturday’s season opener