Jesse Fioranelli’s Quakes Timeline

The Most Influential Moments in Jesse's First Year as GM

By San Jose Earthquakes

January 6^th, 2018

The Start of the MLS Season

April 17, 2017: Hired Bruno Costa as Head of Scouting

Costa joined the Quakes with extensive scouting experience, spending almost two decades in the Brazilian top flight (Série A) and with the Brazilian Football Confederation. He helped scout and recruit some of the biggest names in modern soccer to the Brazilian Youth National Teams, including Neymar Jr. (PSG), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City) and Willian (Chelsea).

April 25, 2017: Hired Alex Covelo as the Director of Methodology

Covelo’s hire marked the first time that the Quakes have had a director of methodology on their technical staff. Covelo is responsible for establishing a one-club game development program that players and coaches from the pre-formation ages to the first team can identify with.

June 22, 2017: Signed M Valeri ‘Vako’ Qazaishvili as a Designated Player.

Despite joining the team halfway through the season and making just 13 appearances and eight starts, Vako scored five goals and tallied one assist in 2017. He finished the season tied for second with Hoesen for goals (5) and also scored the most road goals for the team.

June 25, 2017: Parted ways with head coach Dominic Kinnear and assistant coach John Spencer. Named Chris Leitch head coach and Alex Covelo assistant coach.

Jesse's First Few Months

January 5, 2017: The Quakes announce Jesse Fioranelli as the club’s general manager, joining the team from Italy’s AS Roma.

February 2, 2017: Acquired Forward Danny Hoesen on a season-long loan with an option to buy using Targeted Allocation Money and signed defender/midfielder Florian Jungwirth using Targeted Allocation Money.

Both of these signings paid dividends for the Quakes in 2017, with Jungwirth earning Quakes Defensive Player of the Year honors and providing two goals and two assists in 31 games.

Hoesen finished the year tied for second on the team in both goals (5) and assists (5), with two of each serving as game-winners. He was also the team’s top scorer in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, tallying three goals to help propel the Quakes to the team’s first semifinal appearance in the U.S. Open Cup since 2004.

February 3, 2017: Signed midfielder Jahmir Hyka to a multi-year contract using Targeted Allocation Money.

Affectionately donned “Hykachu” by Quakes supporters, the Albanian midfielder tallied three goals and provided five assists. Hyka’s goal against FC Dallas on May 20 was nominated for 2017 MLS Goal of The Year, and he was also a finalist for the MLS Fair Play Award having committed a total of six fouls over 1,871 minutes.

Postseason Appearance/Offseason moves

November 30, 2017: Signed midfielder Anibal Godoy to a new multi-year contract.

Godoy is an anchor in defensive midfield for the Quakes, and in 2017 he played a career-high 26 games and made 24 starts.

December 1, 2017: Signed defender Joel Qwiberg to a multi-year contract.

A versatile left back, Qwiberg joined the Quakes after more than 100 appearances in Sweden and the Netherlands.

December 6, 2017: Signed goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski to a Homegrown Player contract.

The U-20 Men’s National Team goalkeeper is the third product of the Quakes academy to sign with the first team. He competed at Georgetown University for three years and helped the Hoyas win the BIG EAST Conference Championship twice before joining the Quakes.

December 14, 2017: Signed defender Jimmy Ockford, midfielder Luis Felipe and midfielder Chris Wehan from the club's USL affiliate Reno 1868 FC.

A testament to the importance of the relationship with the Quakes’ USL affiliate Reno 1868 FC, these three signings had standout seasons in 2017.

Ockford started 31 of Reno’s 32 regular season games, led the team in minutes played (2,669) and anchored the club’s defense en route to 10 shutouts. He was named 2017 USL Second-Team All-League selection.

Luis Felipe scored five goals and provided three assists after signing with Reno following the start of the season. He made 16 starts in 27 appearances.

Wehan is the reigning USL Assists Champion and USL Rookie of the Year Award winner. He tallied a league-high 12 assists and scored eight goals for Reno during his first professional season. He was named a 2017 USL First-Team All-League selection in 2017.

December 15, 2017: Signed defender Jacob Akanyirige to a Homegrown Player contract.

Just 15-years-old, Akanyirige is the youngest-ever signing by the Earthquakes, the third-youngest player currently in MLS (Gianluca Busio - SKC, George Bello - ATL) and the eighth-youngest to ever sign a pro contract in league history.

December 20, 2017: Signed midfielder/forward Magnus Eriksson as a Designated Player.

Eriksson joined the Quakes after co-leading the top-flight Swedish Allsvenskan with 14 goals in 2017 and finishing as a finalist for the league's Most Valuable Player and Midfielder of the Year awards.

December 29, 2017: Signed forward Danny Hoesen

Recognizing the value that Hoesen provided the team in 2017, Fioranelli helped acquire the forward on a permanent transfer from Dutch side FC Groningen and signed him using Targeted Allocation Money.

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