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John Herdman

Head Coach, Toronto FC

John Herdman Headshot
Competence and Character: Living Above the Line
Herdman Thumb 1
Be Good
Trust and Safety
Razor's Edge
Top Performance
Pioneering Mindset
John
Herdman Thumb 1
John Herdman Headshot
Competence and Character: Living Above the Line
Herdman Thumb 1
Be Good
Trust and Safety
Razor's Edge
Top Performance
Pioneering Mindset

Internationally renowned for his leadership philosophy, John Herdman is the first coach to qualify both a women’s and men’s national team for the World Cup. During his prolific career, he has coached at four FIFA World Cups, three Olympic Games, and two FIFA youth World Cups. Now the head coach of Toronto FC, Herdman shares his proven performance philosophies in his inspirational keynotes, emphasizing the importance of vision, passion, and discipline in achieving success, whether it’s on the field or in the office.

From 2018-2023, Herdman was the head coach of the Canadian men’s national soccer team. His goal was to transform the struggling team into World Cup contenders. In 2022, Herdman made history when he led the men’s national team to their first FIFA World Cup qualification since 1986. Along the way, his team earned their first top 30 FIFA ranking, was first in their CONCACAF WCUP qualification, and was the first team with a 17-game winning streak. They also scored Canada’s first ever goal at a men’s FIFA World Cup.

Prior to coaching the men’s team, Herdman was the head coach of the Canadian women’s national soccer team, where he helped them win historic back-to-back bronze medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics — the first team to do so, male or female, at a Summer Olympics in over a century. They also won a gold medal at the Pan Am Games, the first in Canadian soccer history, and earned a top-six finish at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Herdman has been credited with revolutionizing how soccer is organized and delivered through his award-winning “Whole of Football Plan”. He developed this as New Zealand’s director of football development and head coach of the New Zealand women’s national football team. He coached the team from 2006-2011 with the team qualifying for the FIFA Women’s World Cups in 2007 and 2011, and for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In 2017, Herdman won the Jack Donohue Coach of the Year Award. He is also the recipient of the 2016 CONCACAF Outstanding Achievement Award and the 2012 and 2016 Sport Canada Coaching Excellence Award. He is a three-time nominee for FIFA Coach of the Year and his teams were named the Canadian Team of the Year in 2016 and 2022.

Speaking topics

Presentations listed below include in-person and virtual keynotes, as well as workshops, fireside chats, and other presentation formats.

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Client reviews

  • John Herdman is a class act. The feedback from our delegates was amazing. His sincerity and passion are palpable and he left the audience feeling both motivated and inspired. My only regret is that we didn’t use him for the whole hour…lesson learned!

  • John was an absolute pleasure to work with and we are truly thankful for his ease and flexibility with our last minute speaker request.  His presentation was a favorite of our entire event; in fact he was one of only two speakers to receive a standing ovation…and the other was for Chris Hadfield, so he is in pretty great company!  John brought such passion to the stage and we were thrilled to see many of our delegates moved, inspired and energized by his talk.  We’d welcome him back any time!

  • John Herdman was FANTASTIC!! Great speaker and inspiring. Kudos to whoever arranged for him to come.

  • John Herdman’s speech was one of the best I have heard at sales conferences. The thoughts could be applied to many parts of life.

  • John Herdman was just awesome. So many people have said post-event they never saw the incredible message and story John relayed coming. It simply blew them away. A+ to be sure.

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