Last Updated on September 27, 2026 by Siara Costa
Laurent Courtois is a French football coach and former professional player who serves as interim head coach of Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer. Born on September 11, 1978, in Lyon, France, Courtois built a long playing career across France, England, Spain and the United States before moving into coaching.
Family has influenced several of the biggest decisions of Courtois’s life. He is the father of two sons, Layan and Nal, and has spoken unusually openly about the challenges of combining an international football career with fatherhood. Courtois was previously married, but his marriage ended around the time he stopped playing professionally. He has kept the identity of his former wife, his parents and any possible siblings largely outside the public spotlight.
Laurent Courtois’s Wife or Partner
Laurent Courtois was previously married, although the name of his former wife has not been reliably disclosed by major football or mainstream media sources.
Courtois himself confirmed the marriage and subsequent divorce while discussing his personal development in an extensive MLS interview in 2024.
He explained that the breakup happened during approximately the same period in which his professional playing career was coming to an end.
Those two major life changes happening together had a significant emotional impact on him.
Courtois has been particularly open about recognizing that some of the uncertainty he felt during that period affected the way he interacted with his children.
Is Laurent Courtois Married Now?
As of now, there is no reliable public confirmation that Laurent Courtois has remarried.
Established coverage of his work with CF Montréal and Columbus Crew does not identify a current wife or partner.
Courtois frequently discusses his sons, his mother and his football career, but he appears to keep his romantic life private.
For that reason, it would be inappropriate to identify someone as his current partner based solely on social-media photographs or unverified personal profiles.
Laurent Courtois’s Divorce
Courtois has discussed his divorce with unusual honesty.
He explained that the end of his marriage coincided with the end of his playing career, leaving him dealing with major changes in both his professional and personal identities.
He later reflected that he became overly attached to his sons during that period and had to learn how to manage the relationship differently.
Rather than presenting himself as a perfect parent, Courtois acknowledged that he had to grow emotionally and find a healthier balance.
His willingness to talk about those experiences also influenced his approach to coaching, where understanding individual players and their lives away from the field became an important part of his leadership philosophy.
Laurent Courtois’s Children
Laurent Courtois has two sons named Layan and Nal.
They are the most clearly documented members of his immediate family.
Courtois has spoken repeatedly about how important his sons are to him and how their upbringing influenced his decision to continue his playing career in North America.
When he joined Chivas USA in 2011, Courtois was not simply looking for a new football opportunity. He also wanted Layan and Nal to experience a different culture from France and to grow up speaking more than one language.
Layan Courtois
Layan is Laurent Courtois’s older son.
During an MLS interview published in 2024, Courtois said Layan had recently turned 19.
That would place him in his late teenage years during his father’s period as head coach of CF Montréal.
Courtois also revealed that Layan planned to work as an intern with CF Montréal during the summer.
The opportunity gave the older son a chance to experience the professional football environment in which his father had spent much of his life.
It also allowed father and son to spend more time together after years in which Courtois’s coaching work often kept him geographically separated from his children.
Nal Courtois
Nal is Laurent Courtois’s younger son.
Courtois said Nal was 15 when discussing his family in 2024.
Like his older brother, Nal spent part of his childhood experiencing life between France and North America.
The international upbringing was something their father actively wanted for both sons.
Courtois believed that living in the United States would expose them to a different culture and help them become bilingual rather than growing up entirely within one environment.
Why Laurent Courtois Moved His Children to the United States
Courtois joined Chivas USA in Major League Soccer in August 2011 after leaving Grenoble Foot 38.
Although extending his professional career was important, family considerations were also central to the move.
Courtois later explained that he specifically wanted his children to experience life outside France.
He believed being exposed to both French and American cultures would benefit them and viewed bilingualism as an important opportunity.
Los Angeles offered an environment where he could continue playing professionally while giving his sons a dramatically different childhood experience.
Laurent Courtois and His Sons in Los Angeles
Courtois spent several years in Southern California.
After playing for Chivas USA, he later joined LA Galaxy and eventually became a player-coach with LA Galaxy II.
Throughout that period, he remained focused on creating opportunities for his sons to experience life in the United States.
Even after his marriage ended, Los Angeles made it relatively practical for the children to spend significant periods with him.
Courtois later contrasted those years with his time working in Columbus, when the logistics of seeing his sons became more complicated.
Joint Custody and Life Between France and America
Following his divorce, Courtois shared custody of Layan and Nal in Lyon.
He described having the children on an alternating basis while he was navigating the transition from playing into coaching.
The situation became increasingly difficult when his career required him to work in the United States.
Courtois admitted that leaving Lyon and boarding flights away from his children was emotionally challenging.
His comments show that the professional opportunities that eventually established him as a successful coach also required significant personal sacrifices.
How Fatherhood Influenced Laurent Courtois as a Coach
Courtois has connected his experiences as a father with the way he works with footballers.
Learning that caring deeply for someone does not mean controlling every aspect of their development became an important lesson for him.
He eventually recognized that his sons needed space to grow independently.
The same principle can be seen in his coaching philosophy, which combines demanding standards with an effort to understand players as individuals.
Courtois has spoken about sharing some of his experiences of parenthood with players and using those lessons to improve the way he communicates.
Laurent Courtois’s Mother
Laurent Courtois has publicly spoken about his mother, although her name has not been reliably disclosed.
She remained closely interested in his career even after her son moved permanently into North American football.
When Courtois became head coach of CF Montréal in January 2024, he mentioned that his mother was particularly excited about the appointment.
One practical reason was travel.
Courtois explained that Montréal offered a direct flight connection that made visiting considerably easier for his mother.
During his years working in Ohio, she had made much more complicated journeys to see him.
Laurent Courtois’s Mother Visiting Him in America
Courtois jokingly described his mother as having gone on difficult “missions” simply to visit him while he was working in Columbus.
The comment provides a small but revealing insight into their relationship.
Despite the distance separating France and Ohio, she continued making the effort to spend time with her son.
His move to Montréal therefore had a personal benefit in addition to the professional opportunity of becoming an MLS head coach.
It became easier for both his children and his mother to visit.
Laurent Courtois’s Father
Laurent Courtois has also publicly mentioned his father, but his name and personal background have not been reliably documented in major sports profiles.
An interview dating back to Courtois’s playing career at Toulouse records him referring to advice from his father.
This establishes that his father was part of his support system during his early professional years.
However, available authoritative sources do not provide enough verified information to describe his father’s occupation, sporting background or current personal circumstances.
Who Are Laurent Courtois’s Parents?
The names of Laurent Courtois’s parents have not been reliably established by strong public football sources.
His mother has appeared indirectly in recent interviews because of her visits to North America, while his father was mentioned during his playing career.
Both have therefore been part of Courtois’s public story without becoming public personalities themselves.
It would be unreliable to connect the coach with people sharing the Courtois surname through genealogy records or social-media profiles without direct confirmation.
Laurent Courtois’s Siblings
Reliable public sources do not currently identify any brothers or sisters of Laurent Courtois.
Interviews covering his playing career, coaching philosophy and family life focus primarily on his children and occasionally his parents.
This lack of information does not prove that Courtois is an only child.
It simply means his sibling situation has not been documented strongly enough to identify anyone by name.
Laurent Courtois’s Childhood in Lyon
Courtois was born in Lyon, France, on September 11, 1978.
He grew up in the Lyon area and played youth football with Vaulx-en-Velin before entering Olympique Lyonnais’s academy at approximately 14 years old.
Joining one of France’s major development systems significantly changed his life.
Courtois has recalled being told from a young age that he possessed unusual football ability, creating expectations both inside and outside the family.
He later acknowledged that he felt pressure to succeed not only for himself but also for his relatives, friends and coaches who believed in him.
Laurent Courtois’s Professional Playing Career
Courtois ultimately left Lyon without establishing himself in the club’s senior team and began his professional career with AC Ajaccio.
He subsequently played for Toulouse before moving to England with West Ham United.
After returning to France, Courtois represented Istres and later moved to Spain with Levante.
He returned again to French football with Grenoble before beginning the North American chapter of his career in 2011.
The Move to Chivas USA
Chivas USA provided Courtois with his first Major League Soccer experience.
He arrived in his early thirties after spending his entire career in Europe.
The move turned out to be much more important than simply another playing contract.
Courtois became fascinated with the direction of football in North America and ultimately decided to remain in the United States after his playing career.
His children were an important reason he initially wanted the move to last.
Laurent Courtois’s Transition From Player to Coach
Courtois later played briefly for LA Galaxy before becoming a player-coach with LA Galaxy II.
The role introduced him directly to player development and helped establish the second stage of his professional life.
He subsequently continued his coaching education and eventually returned to France for academy work before moving back to Major League Soccer.
By then, coaching was no longer simply something he did at the end of his playing career. It had become his long-term profession.
Laurent Courtois Joins Columbus Crew
Columbus Crew hired Courtois as its U-17 Academy head coach in 2019.
He later coached the U-19 team before being appointed the first head coach of Columbus Crew 2 ahead of the inaugural MLS NEXT Pro season in 2022.
That appointment produced the biggest breakthrough of his coaching career.
Courtois guided Crew 2 to the 2022 MLS NEXT Pro championship and was named the league’s first Coach of the Year.
He then led Columbus back to the MLS NEXT Pro Cup final in 2023.
How Columbus Affected Laurent Courtois’s Family Life
Professionally, Columbus was transformative for Courtois.
Personally, the distance from his sons was more complicated.
He explained that the travel setup between Columbus and Lyon made maintaining the same level of regular contact he had enjoyed while living in Los Angeles much more difficult.
He described reaching an emotional point where he had to reassess how he handled separation from his children.
Those experiences became part of the personal growth he later discussed openly as an MLS head coach.
Laurent Courtois Becomes CF Montréal Head Coach
CF Montréal appointed Courtois head coach in January 2024 after his successful Crew 2 tenure.
The position represented his first opportunity to lead an MLS first team.
Courtois said Montréal immediately appealed to him professionally, but family logistics made the move even more attractive.
The city was easier for his mother to reach from France and provided opportunities for his sons to spend extended periods with him.
During the summer of his first season, both Layan and Nal joined their father in Montréal.
Layan Courtois Interns With CF Montréal
One particularly interesting family connection emerged during Courtois’s Montréal period.
His older son Layan planned to work as an intern with the club during the summer of 2024.
For Laurent, the arrangement offered the possibility of having his son nearby while also exposing him to the professional sports environment.
It reflected a very different stage in their relationship from the difficult period following the divorce.
Courtois spoke with visible pride when discussing both sons and how their relationship had matured.
Laurent Courtois Leaves CF Montréal
Courtois led Montréal to the MLS Cup Playoffs in his first season in charge, the club’s first postseason appearance since 2022.
His second season began more difficultly, and CF Montréal dismissed him in March 2025 following a winless start.
The departure temporarily interrupted a coaching career that had been moving rapidly upward.
However, Courtois retained strong relationships within the Columbus Crew organization.
Laurent Courtois Returns to Columbus Crew
Columbus Crew brought Courtois back in January 2026 as a first-team assistant coach.
The return reunited him with an organization where he had already worked from the Academy through MLS NEXT Pro.
His familiarity with the club became particularly important only a few months later.
Laurent Courtois Becomes Columbus Crew Interim Head Coach
On May 17, 2026, Columbus Crew named Laurent Courtois interim head coach after Henrik Rydström was relieved of his duties.
The appointment placed Courtois in charge of an MLS first team for the second time in his career.
Unlike his arrival in Montréal, however, he already possessed extensive knowledge of Columbus, its staff, players and organizational philosophy.
Courtois inherited a difficult league situation but also remained involved in the U.S. Open Cup.
Laurent Courtois Leads Columbus to the U.S. Open Cup Final
In September 2026, Courtois guided Columbus Crew past Orlando City in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal.
The victory sent the Crew to the competition’s final for the first time since 2010.
As of now, Courtois remains Columbus Crew’s interim head coach and is preparing the club for the October 2026 U.S. Open Cup final against St. Louis City SC.
The achievement represents another major chapter in a coaching career that began with youth development and has gradually progressed toward leading senior teams.
Frequently Asked Questions About Laurent Courtois’s Family
Who is Laurent Courtois’s wife?
Laurent Courtois was previously married, but the name of his former wife has not been reliably disclosed publicly. Courtois has confirmed that the marriage ended in divorce.
Is Laurent Courtois married now?
There is no reliable public confirmation that Laurent Courtois is currently married as of now.
Does Laurent Courtois have children?
Yes. Laurent Courtois has two sons named Layan and Nal.
Who is Layan Courtois?
Layan is Laurent Courtois’s older son. In 2024, Courtois said Layan had recently turned 19 and would spend part of the summer interning with CF Montréal.
Who is Nal Courtois?
Nal is Laurent Courtois’s younger son. He was 15 when his father discussed him during an extensive MLS interview in 2024.
Why did Laurent Courtois move his family to America?
Courtois has said one of his motivations for joining Chivas USA in 2011 was giving his sons exposure to a culture different from France and helping them become bilingual.
Is Laurent Courtois divorced?
Yes. Courtois has publicly discussed his divorce and said it occurred around the same time his professional playing career ended.
Who are Laurent Courtois’s parents?
The names of Courtois’s parents have not been reliably disclosed. He has spoken publicly about both his mother and father, however.
Who is Laurent Courtois’s mother?
Her name remains private. Courtois has said she frequently traveled from France to visit him during his years working in Ohio and was pleased that Montréal offered easier travel connections.
Who is Laurent Courtois’s father?
Courtois has mentioned his father in interviews dating back to his playing career, but reliable public sources do not provide his father’s name or personal background.
Does Laurent Courtois have siblings?
Reliable public sources do not currently identify any brothers or sisters of Laurent Courtois, so his sibling situation remains unconfirmed.
Where was Laurent Courtois born?
Laurent Courtois was born in Lyon, France, on September 11, 1978.
Does Laurent Courtois coach Columbus Crew?
Yes. As of now, Laurent Courtois is the interim head coach of Columbus Crew. He was appointed to the role on May 17, 2026.
Has Laurent Courtois won a championship as a coach?
Yes. Courtois led Columbus Crew 2 to the inaugural MLS NEXT Pro Cup championship in 2022 and was named the league’s Coach of the Year.
Has Laurent Courtois reached the U.S. Open Cup final?
Yes. In September 2026, he guided Columbus Crew to the U.S. Open Cup final after defeating Orlando City in the semifinal.
Siara Costa is a football editor and writer covering both European men’s and women’s football, with a focus on league competitions, match coverage, and in-depth storytelling.
