Tony Beltran Promoted to Assistant Sporting Director
SANDY, UT (Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025) — Real Salt Lake Sporting Director Kurt Schmid and fifth-year RSL Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni have signed new multi-year contract extensions. Additionally, former RSL player and front-office veteran, Tony Beltran, has been promoted to Assistant Sporting Director, continuing to report to Schmid, with additional first-team duties now under his purview.
“We are excited to confirm extensions for Kurt and Pablo, emphasizing the Club’s commitment to alignment, stability and continuity as we continue building an elite Club,” said Jason Kreis, President of Soccer Operations for Real Salt Lake. “Kurt and Pablo will help us achieve our goals of pursuing trophies, winning together through development and making our community proud on and off the field.”
Kurt Schmid –Sporting Director
Since Kurt Schmid arrived on the Wasatch Front as RSL’s Technical Director in early 2021, RSL has qualified for the postseason in each of his five full seasons, reaching the MLS Western Conference Final in 2021 and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal in 2023. The Club has established new standards for both outgoing and incoming transfers, with the “Winning Together Through Development” ethos finding success for young Academy players and MLS NEXT Pro competition. Earlier in 2025, the RSL Academy U-16 side became the first-ever group to capture both the Generation adidas and MLS Next Cup double. RSL continues to lead MLS academies in both first-team signings and college scholarships.
Players from nearly two dozen nations have called RSL home since Schmid’s arrival, demonstrating a diversity of scouting operations and player recruitment, utilizing every mechanism to attract talent to the RSL locker room. In nine transfer windows, Schmid has overseen $30 million-plus in player acquisitions and $15 million in sales abroad, while working with RSL Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni and his staff to mold the most competitive road-performing group in RSL’s 21-year history. RSL’s sixth-overall MLS finish in 2024 – out of 29 teams – enabled the Claret-and-Cobalt to return to CONCACAF Champions Cup for the first time in nearly a decade, while also earning a Tier 1 slot in the 2025 Leagues Cup. During Schmid’s tenure, RSL has seen five MLS All-Star selections (Diego Luna x2, Chicho Arango, Justen Glad, Damir Kreilach), while more than a dozen players have matriculated through the developmental pathway from the Academy and/or Monarchs to the first team.
Pablo Mastroeni – Head Coach, Real Salt Lake
In the five seasons played under Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s guidance (2021-present), RSL has advanced to both the 2021 Western Conference Final at Portland and the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal at Houston. Mastroeni is the sixth-ever MLS head coach (out of 205) to advance his Club to the postseason in each of the first five seasons.
The 2024 RSL team reached an all-time high of 59 points in MLS regular season play, which was enough for a third-place finish in the Western Conference and sixth overall in the then-29-team MLS Shield race – qualifying RSL as a “Tier I” team for this year’s Leagues Cup – while also establishing a new all-time scoring high of 65 goals.
Earlier this year, RSL’s 3-1 victory at San Diego on April 26 marked Mastroeni’s 100th career coaching win. The former U.S. World Cup stalwart has now amassed 109 wins, 122 losses and 81 draws across all competitions as head coach for Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids. Since August 2021, Mastroeni’s all-time RSL coaching record is now 71-66-45 (W-L-T).
Young players to have developed under Mastroeni’s guidance include two-time All-Star and burgeoning U.S. Men’s National Team star Diego Luna, U.S. U-20 standout Zavier Gozo, RSL Captain Emeka Eneli, Academy products Gavin Beavers and Bode Hidalgo, as well as international players Braian Ojeda, Pablo Ruiz and Andrés Gómez.
Tony Beltran – Assistant Sporting Director
Arriving in Utah back in 2008 out of UCLA, Tony Beltran was drafted by Real Salt Lake as an outside back after a three-year NCAA career that included his freshman year at St. John’s University. Following a 12-year professional playing career that included RSL’s MLS Cup 2009 victory and three other finals appearances, Beltran stepped off the field and into the Club’s front office following the 2019 season.
Contributing the post-Covid repair of the Club’s culture with his “RSL Way” manifesto, Beltran has been instrumental in the developmental paradigms for both the Real Monarchs MLS NEXT Pro development as well as the entire RSL Academy setup in Herriman, including residential and educational needs for 60+ youth players each year. Under Beltran’s guidance, the RSL Academy teams’ collective grade point averages have nearly doubled to a 3.8 score, while the Club’s most recent U16 class became the first-ever team to win the vaunted Generation adidas Cup / MLS NEXT Cup double.
Media Contacts:
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About Real Salt Lake Club:
Real Salt Lake completed its 21st Major League Soccer season two weeks ago, its fifth full season under Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni, who assumed the RSL reins on an interim basis for the final 100 days of 2021. RSL is the lone Western Conference team to have advanced to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in each of the last five campaigns, amassing 15 postseason appearances in the last 18 years, notably in seven of the last eight seasons (2020).
RSL’s MLS Cup 2009 victory marked the state of Utah’s only major professional championship in nearly 40 years, the title preceding a historic run to the 2010/11 CONCACAF Champions League Final. Buoyed by a passionate fan base, boasting several thousand season ticket holders and the “RioT” Supporters Group, RSL opened its permanent home in Sandy just over 17 years ago. Since October 2008, RSL has recorded a 179-72-90 (W-L-T) mark at America First Field, achieving a 1.84 points per game average and a 0.657 win pct – truly amazing value propositions in the North American sporting landscape today.
Beginning with the 2024 season, Real Salt Lake ownership brought the National Women’s Soccer League back to Utah, returning the Utah Royals FC to the state. Led by Sporting Director Kelly Cousins and Head Coach Jimmy Coenraets, Utah Royals FC aims to seize upon the astounding success of the NWSL and tremendous strength of women’s soccer in Utah, its third campaign in its second iteration kicking off in Spring 2026.
In 2015, the Club expanded its development pyramid with the addition of the Real Monarchs. Since the 2022 season, the Real Monarchs have competed in the “MLS NEXT Pro”, which connects youth academies in MLS NEXT to first teams in MLS. There are currently more than 60 student athletes representing the RSL Academy’s U-16 and U-18 teams in MLS NEXT.
All teams call the expansive Zions Bank Training Center in Herriman, Utah their daily training home. The 42-acre campus includes five world-class grass fields, two indoor turf fields, a residential dormitory, and the 5,000-seat Zions Bank Stadium. Nearly 18 months ago, the Utah Royals FC opened an 11,000+ square-foot expansion to the training site to give the Utah Royals FC their own exclusive world-class facility resources.
The Miller family and Miller Sports + Entertainment acquired RSL Football Holdings from David Blitzer in April 2025, with Blitzer remaining the second-largest owner.
