Two main reasons come to Houston Dynamo coach Ben Olsen's mind for why he agreed to a contract extension with the team.
"When you evaluate something like this, you evaluate it professionally," Olsen told the Houston Chronicle. "Is this a good place that you think you can have success? And are you supported? I feel like that is the case. Obviously, there's a personal side to this. I have three kids and a wife, and we feel at home here in Houston and have settled in really well."
The Dynamo announced the extension Wednesday. The new deal takes Olsen through the 2027-28 season, which will be the first season under the new MLS season format. His contract had been scheduled to be up in December.
Olsen, 49, joined Houston in November 2022 to take over a team that had missed the MLS playoffs in eight of the previous nine seasons.
The Dynamo have made the playoffs in three of Olsen's four seasons plus won the U.S. Open Cup in 2023. It was the second U.S. Open Cup title in franchise history.
After a disappointing 2025, Olsen and Houston have rebounded and currently sit in fifth place in the Western Conference with four games to go, including Saturday's match at home against Minnesota United FC.
"How can we build a good culture and have a team that's consistently in the postseason and competing for championships?" Olsen said of his mission when he joined the club. "By and large, I think we've done a good job with that.
"Is there work to do? Of course. We have to push. We have to get better. But … some of the infrastructure, some of the process has been put in place so we can now, over the next year or two, really try to pour some gasoline on this thing and be a contender."
Olsen's tenure in Houston has overlapped with general manager Pat Onstad and technical director Asher Mendelsohn, both of whom started ahead of the 2022 season.
Contract negotiations had been going on the last few months, Olsen said.
"I feel supported here, and I feel that we're set up to continue to have success here," Olsen said.
Family business
Olsen's journey in professional soccer - both as a player and a coach - has been unique in terms of his longevity in one place.
He played his MLS entire career with DC United and then coached the team for another decade. Now in his fourth season with the Dynamo - the only other MLS club he has coached - Olsen is already second in club history in total games coached.
"I didn't know how long this stint would be," Olsen said. "It's a transient gig. It is one that usually lasts two years, three years at the max."
Outside of Dominic Kinnear, who led the Dynamo during its two MLS Cup titles after moving from San Jose, Olsen is the only Houston coach to last more than three seasons.
Olsen feels lucky that he's had prolonged periods in one place in an ever-changing soccer landscape.
The move to Houston has been good for his family, he said. His children have gotten the experience of living in a different part of the country and developed the resilience that comes with moving, and Olsen believes they are better off because of it.
"But I will say this: if I picked up my daughter again and moved her two times out of high school, she probably would have killed me and not talked to me," Olsen said. "This should get her through high school here in Texas, and that is an important thing for a dad."
Playoffs looming
Olsen is seventh all-time among MLS managers with 164 wins in the regular season. He hopes to add a few more to that total before the MLS playoffs begin in November.
Houston has tied all three of its matches in October ahead of this weekend's affair with Minnesota United. The Dynamo are in the middle of a pack of five teams between second and sixth place separated by five points.
Two of the four teams Houston plays the rest of the season are in the playoffs, including St. Louis City SC, who hosts the Dynamo in the season finale on Nov. 7.
The goals for this final stretch of games includes moving up the table to secure as much home-field advantage as possible and enter the playoffs in the best form possible.
"We have to see some of these metrics that we want to move forward get better," Olsen said. "Whether it's more clarity on who we are with the ball, more clarity on who we are without the ball, building relationships with some of our new players that have come in later than we expected. All this stuff has to get better."
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