Jill Ellis is out. Who's coming in? New GM, New Coach

Typical USSF. The men's side was ridiculously slow as well.

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/kate-markg...l-manager-of-the-uswnt-sources-145130755.html

 

Hopefully it will work out better than the guys the Men's team hired off the TV set...

 

Maybe, one of the reasons Jill Ellis quit was because she did not want to work for a GM. Maybe she wanted full control of the team and with a GM that won't happen anymore.

On that note, how many established Coaches are going to want this job knowing they have a GM to answer to and may not have full control over player personnel, etc?

 

do they answer to the GM ?

 

Here's a description of the General Manager position. It's primarily about the General Manager for the men's side, which was the first thing to take care of since at that time the men's coaching position was vacant, but it also applies to the women's side. To me, the role sounds quite undefined and, if the GM's power is at the maximum of what's described, I don't see anything in Markgraf's background that indicates she's qualified. But, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. It may be that her primary function will be fending off player complaints about the coach. Based on what I'm reading in Caitlin Murray's new book, The National Team: The Inside Story of the Women Who Changed Soccer (Abrams Press 2019), revolts against coaches by some players has been a pretty regular occurrence throughout the history of the Women's National Team. I'm guessing that's true of the Men's team too, but that's purely a guess.

By the way, I highly recommend Murray's book, it has lots of detailed information I haven't seen before.

The Job Description

Above all else, the MNT General Manager will be tasked with overseeing the process to hire a new head coach, which will culminate in a recommendation to the Board of Directors, who will again have to approve any new hire.

Once a new MNT head coach is in place, that person and their coaching staff will report directly to the GM, who will in turn report directly to Flynn [CEO of the USSF]. The same structure will be in place for WNT head coach Jill Ellis once that program’s General Manager is hired. Additionally, the General Managers on both sides will also have the authority to fire their respective head coaches and staff.

While both roles will be primarily focused on their respective senior teams, Mooney indicated working with the Youth National Teams will also be a component of the role.

“Having integration and alignment will be critical,” Mooney said. “Obviously there are different demands at the level with the senior teams, but having both the GMs be part of our internal think tank on the technical side with Nico [Romeijn] is certainly what we are envisioning at this moment. So, they'll certainly be an influence, but less so on the day-to-day.

It was made clear that the roles are focused and neither will be seen as Technical Directors. Youth National Team Technical Directors Tab Ramos and April Heinrichs will continue to oversee the process of evaluation and hiring of YNT head coaches.

Ultimately, the new GMs and their respective head coaches will work closely, but it will be on the GM to manage things like the overall player pool, environment, scouting and other big-picture aspects of their programs – a process that Mooney said has been taking place in other aspects of the Federation.

“They can be more of a strategist, more of a thinker, more of a leader and manager of a framework and have a system,” Mooney said. “This falls in line with that approach that we've adopted in many other areas on the soccer side.”​

 

Is there any such thing as an "established coach" who isn't already working with a GM or an AD? Generally speaking the job of coach is made easier by a GM, not harder.

 

Sounds to me as if it’s more of a role to keep the players in check. No more of this, players vs the coach..and ultimately the players making decisions. I’m typically not one to be an advocate of adding more cooks to the kitchen, but in this instance, I think it’s necessary. How well she actually performs at the job, who knows...The benefit for her is that she doesn’t have anyone to be compared to.

 

Of course it seems that way to you.

When the only thing you see is a nail, the only tool that is useful is...

 

Seems that way? Lol. It’s absolutely the reason why! Of course there are peripheral reasons other than this, but let’s be real here...

 

Aren't you a bit out of practice for that?

 

Both GM roles are to immunize the higher ups from bad results.

That way the future Gulati's of this world don't get fired when we don't qualify for a World Cup!

So, who is the first journalist to ask if Kate is getting paid the same as Ernie was?

 

We won't be having the Life of Riley.

That’s one less candidate for the USWNT coaching job. https://t.co/lscr9xVbzh

— Subscribe to GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) August 20, 2019

 

So who will be the new coach?

 

Won't be Coach K, either.

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/s...eminoles-jill-ellis-united-states/2353877001/

 

I don't blame any coach for saying no thanks right now. Who on earth would want to follow a coach who won 2 WC without a single loss in either tournament?

 

Rumor on one of the recent broadcasts was that the frontrunner is Vlatko.

Whoever it is, the new coach will likely have Sweden for the first game, with the caveat that I guess the new coach might not be hired until after the November games, and there will have an interim. Regardless, its right into the deep end.

 

Might be the deep end but the USWNT is the equivalent of SEAL Team Six.

 

I heard the team want a male coach.

 

Why? Except it is said for it to be easier for females to fool males but that has not been my experience in coaching. Of course it does seem to be true in other areas.

 

Dunno FoF..
That’s what I read on The Athletic.