| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Francisco Freitas Iahnke | ||
| Date of birth | (1968-08-16)16 August 1968 (age 57) | ||
| Place of birth | São Lourenço do Sul, Brazil | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Grêmio (interim) | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| 2000 | Grêmio (women) | ||
| 2001 | Internacional U17 (assistant) | ||
| 2002 | Brasil de Farroupilha U20 | ||
| 2003 | São José de Cachoeira [pt] U20 | ||
| 2004 | Santa Cruz-RS U20 | ||
| 2005–2008 | Grêmio U17 | ||
| 2008–2009 | Juventude U17 | ||
| 2009 | Juventude U20 | ||
| 2009 | Juventude (interim) | ||
| 2010 | Internacional U20 | ||
| 2011 | Luverdense (assistant) | ||
| 2011 | Guaraní (assistant) | ||
| 2011 | Guaraní (interim) | ||
| 2012–2013 | Juventude U20 | ||
| 2012 | Juventude B | ||
| 2013–2015 | Grêmio U20 | ||
| 2015 | Grêmio (interim) | ||
| 2015–2016 | Grêmio (assistant) | ||
| 2016 | Grêmio (interim) | ||
| 2017 | Cruzeiro (assistant) | ||
| 2018 | Palmeiras (assistant) | ||
| 2019 | Cruzeiro (assistant) | ||
| 2019–2020 | Atlético Mineiro (assistant) | ||
| 2020 | Atlético Mineiro (interim) | ||
| 2020–2021 | Bahia (assistant) | ||
| 2021 | Fluminense (assistant) | ||
| 2021–2022 | Athletico Paranaense U23 | ||
| 2022–2023 | Grêmio (assistant) | ||
| 2023 | Cerro Porteño (assistant) | ||
| 2023–2024 | Coritiba (assistant) | ||
| 2024 | Coritiba (interim) | ||
| 2024– | Grêmio (assistant) | ||
| 2025– | Grêmio (interim) | ||
James Francisco Freitas Iahnke (born 16 August 1968), known asJames Freitas, is a Brazilianfootballcoach. He is the current interim head coach ofGrêmio.
Freitas was born inSão Lourenço do Sul,Rio Grande do Sul, and started his career in lower clubs in his state, as a fitness coach. His first managerial experience came up in 2000, as he took overGrêmio's women squad.[1]
After being an assistant ofInternacional's under-17 squad, Freitas took over the under-20 sides ofBrasil de Farroupilha,São José de Cachoeira [pt][2] andSanta Cruz-RS before returning to Grêmio in 2005, as manager of the under-17s. He left the club in 2008 forJuventude,[3] being in charge of the under-17s and under-20s while also acting as an interim first team manager for oneSérie B match.[4]
For the 2010 season, Freitas returned to Internacional, being named in charge of the under-20 team.[5] In April of the following year, he was appointedLisca's assistant atLuverdense.[6]
In August 2011, Freitas moved abroad for the first time in his career, joining Paraguayan sideClub Guaraní asBeto Almeida's assistant;[7] in late November, as Almeida was sacked, he took over the side in an interim manner.[8] He then returned to Juventude the following February, being again named in charge of the under-20s[9] while also taking over the B-team.[10]
Freitas then returned to Grêmio in 2013, being manager of the under-20s; in May 2015, he was named interim manager of the first team, asLuiz Felipe Scolari was sacked.[11] He was in charge for two matches before the appointment ofRoger Machado, and was later promoted to the role of permanent assistant manager of the first team.[12] In 2016, as Roger was dismissed, he was again interim for a further three matches.
On 21 December 2016, Freitas was announced asMano Menezes' assistant atCruzeiro.[13] The following November, he moved toPalmeiras under the same role,[14] but returned to Cruzeiro on 15 February 2019.[15]
In September 2019, Freitas moved to Cruzeiro's rivalsAtlético Mineiro as an assistant manager and coordinator of a "transition team".[16] The following 27 February, he was named interim manager of the first team, after the dismissal ofRafael Dudamel.[17]
Returning to his previous role after the appointment ofJorge Sampaoli, Freitas was dismissed byGalo in March 2020.[18] He was subsequently an assistant of Roger Machado atBahia andFluminense before being named manager ofAthletico Paranaense's under-23 team on 27 November 2021.[19]
On 8 February 2022, Freitas was dismissed after a poor start of theCampeonato Paranaense.[20] He returned to Grêmio shortly after, as an assistant, and subsequently worked in the same role atCerro Porteño,Coritiba and back at Grêmio.