FEATURE | Sebastian Hoeneß: Germany’s next top manager? | OneFootball

From Jürgen Klopp to Thomas Tuchel, and Julian Nagelsmann to Hansi Flick, Germany has produced some of the greatest football managers of the 21st century. The next German coach to take European football could very well be Sebastian Hoeneß.

Born in Munich, Hoeneß started out in the academy of Bavarian club TSV Ottobrun before plying his trade in Stuttgart’s youth sides and heading to Hertha Berlin. Apart from a brief season at Hoffenheim, the attacking midfielder spent the bulk of his career with Hertha’s reserves, racking up seven goals and 20 assists in 174 professional appearances. He hung up his boots in 2010 and quickly transitioned into management, working with Hertha Zehlendorf’s U19s between 2011 and 2013 before overseeing RB Leipzig’s U17s between 2014 to 2017. It wasn’t long before the Rekordmeister came calling, with Hoeneß taking charge of Bayern Munich’s U19s in 2017 and eventually being given the reserve team manager position in the summer of 2019.

The son of Dieter Hoeneß, who won five Bundesliga titles with Bayern during his playing days, and the nephew of Uli Hoeneß, who spent 49 years with Bayern both as a player as well as an executive, many were quick to accuse Sebastian of nepotism. Instead, Hoeneß immediately silenced the doubters by steering the newly promoted club from two points above relegation in January to 3. Liga champions on the final day. Having claimed 43 points from a potential 57 in the second half of the campaign, Hoeneß won the 3. Liga Coach of the Season but was denied promotion due to league rules which prevent clubs from having multiple representatives in Germany’s top two divisions.

Following a stellar 2019/20 season with Bayern’s reserves, Sebastian headed back to Hoffenheim for his first-ever coaching role in the top-flight. He guided them to 11th in 2020/21 and 2021/22 before parting ways at the end of the campaign. After nearly a year out of work, Hoeneß would take charge of Stuttgart in April 2023, becoming their fourth manager of the campaign. He enjoyed an impressive homecoming, edging VfL Bochum 3-2 in his first match in charge and quickly arresting the Swabians’ slide down the table. When he took charge, Stuttgart had mustered just four points from their previous nine matches; he would end up securing 13 points from their final eight league fixtures, enough to see them avoid the drop by two points. Stuttgart would proceed to thrash Hamburg 6-1 in the two-legged promotion/relegation playoffs, confirming their spot in the top division by the slimmest of margins.

It was a marvelous start to life at the Neckarstadion, but even the most enthusiastic of Hoeneß fans could not have predicted what would occur over the following 12 months. Stuttgart began their campaign by demolishing Bochum 5-0 before suffering a humbling 5-1 thrashing vs. RB Leipzig, but they would bounce back in stellar fashion with six wins on the bounce. Stuttgart managed to strike the perfect equilibrium between confident, attacking football and stalwart defending. They enjoyed the joint-second-best defensive record in the Bundesliga, conceding just 39 goals, and scoring a whopping 78 goals, the third best attacking record behind Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich.

Setting up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, Hoeneß’ unique tactical approach prioritised his attacking midfielders drifting into central pockets and making incisive runs on the edge of the box, whilst also incentivising his fullbacks to charge forward and whip crosses into the penalty area. Deniz Undav and Serhou Guirassy formed a dynamic duo up top, with Undav shifting between a central attacking midfield role and a second striker role, whilst Angelo Stiller and Atakan Karazor helped pull the strings from the double pivot. Die Schwaben proved to be a thorn in the side of various Bundesliga powerhouses, drawing to undefeated champions Leverkusen in both of their league meetings whilst also doing the double over Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund and demolishing Leipzig 5-2 in their own stadium. It was enough to see them finish second in the table, ahead of Dortmund, Leipzig and Bayern – who had won the previous 11 championships and completed the league-record signing of Harry Kane for €110m the previous summer – and return to the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2009.

However, it was also enough to see them raided by Germany’s most affluent sides in the summer; Serhou Guirassy joined Dortmund for €17.5m after scoring a club-record 28 goals in 2023/24, Hiroki Itō joined Bayern for €30m, whilst his defensive partner Waldemar Anton followed Guirassy to BVB to the tune of €22.5m. They came close to ending Leverkusen’s unbeaten run in the first match of the season, only to concede in the 88th minute to Patrik Schick and lose on penalties in the DFL Supercup. Deprived of various members of last season’s epic run, Stuttgart have regressed to the mean in recent months – having begun 2025 with four wins in a row, Stuttgart would end up losing three in a row and missing out on a place in the Champions League knockout round playoffs by a razor-thin margin.

It seems that Champions League elimination has taken the wind out of their sails, with Stuttgart taking just two points from their last five matches and dropping to 10th place in the table. However, Stuttgart are only five points away from the Europa League spots with eight fixtures left, and they will be looking to bounce back following the March international break by traveling to Eintracht Frankfurt before facing RB Leipzig in the DFB-Pokal semifinals. If they win, they will face either Leverkusen or third-tier Arminia Bielefeld in the final. Two matches separate Stuttgart from their first trophy since 2007, when they claimed the Bundesliga championship.

“A lot of what’s happened [in Stuttgart] in the past two years is because of [Hoeneß],” stated ex-Germany international Andreas Beck. “They struggled with the previous coach, but with his calmness and footballing vision, he’s been able to shape his team.

“The environment in Stuttgart is a tough one, but he managed it very well, and I think last summer, he could’ve chosen whatever club he wanted. Maybe he’ll stay another year, but I think a lot of their success is based on him,” added Beck, who was part of Stuttgart’s title-winning 2006/07 side.

Stuttgart have protected Hoeneß’ value by extending his contract a further year until 2028 and removing his release clause which reportedly enabled him to leave for €5-6m. With that being said, that doesn’t necessarily confirm that he will be coaching Stuttgart in the 2025/26 season. Even if Stuttgart manage to qualify for continental football for a second-straight year or end their long-awaited trophy drought, there’s reason to believe that Hoeneß could depart this summer for greener pastures. He certainly won’t be short of options.

The jury is still out on Niko Kovač, who replaced Nuri Şahin at the start of February. Having lost his previous two league matches, and if he fails to turn the tide at Borussia Dortmund, BVB could be on the lookout for their fourth manager in just over a year. Marco Rose’s future at RB Leipzig remains uncertain, whilst Xabi Alonso is being linked with a return to Real Madrid after leading Leverkusen to glory last season.

At 42 years of age, Hoeneß still has plenty of time to patiently build his project and Stuttgart, but he may be unable to resist the temptation to leave the Stuttgart dugout and test his talents at one of the biggest clubs in the continent. It remains to be seen whether or not Hoeneß will see out his contract or head elsewhere this summer, but one thing’s for sure: he will forever be remembered for saving Stuttgart from the brink of destruction and returning them to the pedestal of European football.

GGFN | Zach Lowy