Miguel Coley confirms move to Esteghlal Tehran as assistant coach

The Gleaner – KINGSTON, Jamaica College (JC) head coach Miguel Coley has confirmed that he will be joining Iranian side Esteghlal FC as its assistant coach later this month.

There, he will reunite with former national senior men’s football team head coach Winfried Schafer, with whom he worked as Reggae Boyz assistant coach between February 2014 and September 2016.

Coley told The Gleaner in an interview after JC retained their Olivier Shield title for the fifth straight year that he would be leaving the Old Hope Road-based institution to take up a six-month contract.

“It’s a dream move because I always said I wanted to coach professionally,” he said. “I had got the opportunity to do so last year, and I didn’t take it up. I should have left from October, but I couldn’t leave these players at all.”

Although not yet sure when he would be leaving Jamaica, Coley said that he was sure that he would be in the Middle East before the end of the month.

He added that although he was leaving JC, he believed that they had a good system in place to continue doing well after his departure. “I think we have done a lot because we have the coaching staff, the management staff in place, that always can continue here,” he said before stating that he was also considering an offer he had received to coach an international team.

“The one for the club is a six-months contract, but for the country, though, it’s a two-year contract, and maybe I will do the club or the country, or I may just come back,” Coley said.

Coley led the Dark Blues to their third title of the season when they defeated Rusea’s 3-2 in extra-time to capture the ISSA-FLOW Olivier Shield crown. JC’s other silverware includes the Manning Cup, which they won for the fifth straight year, and the Walker Cup.