The most appropriate thing about that photo is Duncan holding it. I followed the team around the HDC field for a good 45 minutes after the game in 2008 and Duncan was never more than five feet away from the cup. Rest in Peace Sigi.
Sigi was the coach here in Columbus for 3 years. It ended in glory but his first year was a total teardown, one of the worst in team history. The second year started that way too before the team came on at year's end, setting us up for the double in 2008. The team had fan fora where the coaches had to meet the fans with season tickets. The first couple of years had to have been tough on Sigi, but he was always gracious with fans. I learned his favorite spot to watch at match was at the top of the 18 where he could watch the backline and forwards battle. On a Sunday morning at Obetz, when the assistants were coaching the reserve team, he'd sit sometimes alone and sometimes with the few fans in attendance. He had a lot of stories.
Yeah I remember how he was talking about quitting the Crew as he thought their problems was his fault.
Before there were development academies, Sigi made UCLA a development pipeline for the US National Team. Long after Sigi Schmid left UCLA for MLS, his legacy was felt. All seven U.S. World Cup teams from 1990 to 2014 had at least one former Bruin -- 13 players in all -- Sig coached. (Five other former Bruins went to Olympics). pic.twitter.com/UHVw6F2Qt2— Paul Kennedy (@pkedit) December 27, 2018 Pretty amazing accomplishment.
I ran into him at a grocery store ( in Bellevue ,Washington) back in the day, and I thanked him for the job he was doing with the Sounders. Super nice guy with a big smile. Rest easy Sigi. Sigi! Sigi! Sigi! Oi! Oi! Oi!
The Galaxy made it sound like they fired Sigi in favor of Dom Kinnear but I had no idea he quit because of health issues. He seemed to be doing well health wise when I last heard him in an interview from August. Other than the fact that he was complaining about their poor defense.
Which, if you think about it, may have been the way Sigi preferred it. Thanks is not enough, but...thanks, Sigi.
Way back when he was a young-ish coach at UCLA, some friends and I were faced with a choice of going to the UCLA Spring game or a USNT exhibition on successive (or at least proximal) weekends when we could only get one of them off from work. We chose UCLA, to see Sigi and protege Paul Caligiuri. Sigi could also up the games of lots of high school and JC players in Southern California just via the rumor that he might be in the vicinity. He was the only person with this sort of cachet.
Sigi Shmid was clearly the best American coach of his generation not to get a chance to helm the USMNT. His role as an assistant in the 90's, and as a manager for our younger international team, showed great promise. I've often wondered what would have been possible if, after Bradley, Sigi had been the one to lead us to WC Brasil.... But that is forever an unknowable unknown. Rest in Peace.
Love that post. Let us not forget, 3 National Titles at UCLA. Two MLS Cups. 5 USOC's. Do not know how many Supporter's Shields (I want to say 4), and the team he built in Columbus won another after he left. And I will go to my grave believing the 2009 Crew win it all again with Sigi at the helm (and maybe in 2010 as well). Not to mention the all-tome leader in wins in MLS. Along with Arena, the greatest coach in the USA of his generation, and no one else is really even close. Rest in peace, Sigi.
Yeah it’s sad that he was never considered for the USMNT job. Not sure if he wanted it or not but compared to other coaches who made their way through the college ranks like Sampson , Arena and Bradley, I don’t see why Sigi was never mentioned as he had just as much knowledge of the game as any of them. I’m sure he could have done just as good of a job as Jurgen Klinsmann.
Enjoyed when he did a stint on MLS Soccer's Extratime Radio after he left the Sounders. He came across as a very genuine and nice guy. Sorry to see him go this young.
A great coach, pioneer, and gracious man. I don't know if the Coach of the Year trophy is named for anyone. If not, naming it for him would not be an error, at all.
I thought about Arena. Calling it the Arena-Schmid trophy would also be cool with me. They have been, for the early years of the league, the coaches that other coaches hoped to be, IMO.