Tab Ramos can’t help but to chuckle when asked about what might come next for him.



The U.S. youth technical director and Under-20 national team coach has heard the knocks against him. He is trying to figure out why it matters that he’s never coached an MLS team. Or why everyone thinks he needs to make a jump to MLS right now.



Ramos’s name has circulated in connection with multiple openings in the league in recent years. He was considered for both the FC Dallas and Nashville SC jobs this winter, according to league sources. But an MLS gig hasn’t happened yet—and that’s OK with Ramos.



“I don’t want to sound like I’m sitting here putting an ad in the paper like, ‘Hey, if you can get me this I’m leaving.’ I’m not,” Ramos said, sitting in the lobby of a hotel in Sarasota during a recent training camp. “I have a contract here until 2021. I’m happy doing my job, and we...