MLS Coaching Roots
Although MLS's final two head coaching openings were filled by foreign imports, including Carlos de los Cobos by the Chicago Fire today, almost every other boss in the league had ties to American soccer when they were hired. (The exception is Colorado's Gary Smith, who arrived from England in early 2008 to be an assistant and became the interim coach when Fernando Clavijo was fired.)
Interestingly, however, only three of 16 coaches were born in the United States: Los Angeles' Bruce Arena (New York), Real Salt Lake's Jason Kreis (Nebraska) and Kansas City's Peter Vermes (New Jersey).
The rest:
Curt Onalfo, D.C. United (Brazil; father based there for General Foods)
Steve Nicol, New England (Scotland)
Hans Backe, New York (Sweden)
Peter Nowak, Philadelphia (Poland)
Robert Warzycha, Columbus (Poland)
Carlos de los Cobos, Chicago (Mexico)
Schellas Hyndman, Dallas (Macau/China)
Dominic Kinnear, Houston (Scotland)
Gary Smith, Colorado (England)
Sigi Schmid, Seattle (Germany)
Frank Yallop, San Jose (England)
Martin Vasquez, Chivas USA (Mexico)
Preki, Toronto (Serbia)
So now you know.....
By
Steve Goff
|
January 11, 2010; 8:06 PM ET
Categories:
MLS
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Posted by: redskinsux | January 11, 2010 8:53 PM | Report abuse
melting pot?
Posted by: TheWashDipsSince88 | January 11, 2010 9:11 PM | Report abuse
Wow, I hadn't realized there were so many.
Posted by: KireDCU | January 11, 2010 9:15 PM | Report abuse
Understand Kris Kelderman's father is Dutch and played in the era of Dutch "total soccer." Also, He is the most successful high school soccer coach in Wisconsin history and pretty much shaped Kris' notion on how the game should be played. Nice combo with Onalfo and encouraging for those of us looking for the beautiful game to return to United.
Posted by: Ruthie1 | January 11, 2010 9:20 PM | Report abuse
Schellas Hyndman was born in Macau?
Posted by: diego_r | January 11, 2010 9:31 PM | Report abuse
So now you know.....
Posted by: Steven Goff
...and knowing is half the battle.
G-I-JOOOOOEEEEE
Posted by: VercengetorixII | January 11, 2010 9:37 PM | Report abuse
Kind of cool that coaches are from all over as--hopefully--it means we'll see a variety of styles develop out there on the pitch.
Although the trend is still toward European over South American . . . perhaps a true U.S. style will grow out of it all.
Posted by: delantero | January 11, 2010 9:46 PM | Report abuse
Schellas Hyndman was born in Macau?
Posted by: diego_r | January 11, 2010 9:31 PM
And his parents were Russian and Brazilian, I believe...wikicheck...Russian-French and Portuguese. Also a martial arts expert.
Thx,
Jay!
Posted by: jayrockers | January 11, 2010 9:51 PM | Report abuse
Eye opening. So what were we saying about foreign coaches?
Posted by: UnitedDemon | January 11, 2010 10:25 PM | Report abuse
And not just foreign coaches--we've got draftees like Mwanga, Tchani, Okugo, Bunbury is Canadian, and all the rest.
What "American coach" spiel is going to work with a lot of these college players when they grew up abroad anyway?
Posted by: Shmenge | January 11, 2010 10:58 PM | Report abuse
I'm ready for the quiz now, Mr. Goff.
Posted by: sitruc | January 11, 2010 10:59 PM | Report abuse
I'll take MLS Coaches of the World for 200, Alex.
Posted by: delantero | January 11, 2010 11:34 PM | Report abuse
And Peter Vermes, although born in New Jersey, is the offspring of parents born in Hungary. Interestingly, both Vermes' parents and Jersey-born Tim Howard's mother are Hungarian.
Posted by: bartapest1 | January 12, 2010 5:12 AM | Report abuse
So if the two teams to make it to last years MLS cup where both coached by natural born Americans (even though they were the minority) does this point out that American coaches are the best performers in MLS?
Posted by: Southeasterner | January 12, 2010 8:47 AM | Report abuse
The comments to this entry are closed.
As long as the quiz isn't until next week.