Multiple reports indicate Gregg Berhalter is the only candidate to interview for the vacant US en’s National Team head coaching position.
That’s a disservice- both to a program reeling after Couva and to Berhalter as a new hire.
Donald Norman
With Columbus Crew SC eliminated from MLS playoffs, and one game left on Dave Sarachan’s contract with U.S. Soccer, everything points towards Gregg Berhalter finally being announced as the next permanent Head Coach of the United States Men’s National Team.
While there’s plenty to be said for Berhalter as the right choice, the process to hire him leaves much to be desired. A full calendar year of fixtures after the failure to qualify for World Cup 2018; and six months into Earnie Stewart’s tenure as General Manager, it certainly appears as if Berhalther is the only candidate who has had a formal interview with U.S. Soccer.
Whatever points there are to make in the federation’s favor over the last year-plus, and there are some, are undercut–almost to the core–by this shambolic coaching search.
First and foremost, only interviewing the eventual hire undermines Berhalter’s immediate credibility within the organization. If you don’t think that matters, think again. Soccer federations are some of the most political bureaucratic organizations in the world, and the United State’s is no different. In this context, the Head Coach of the Men’s Team needs to wield organizational capital as effectively as he manages his player pool or tactics.
Berhalter is the de facto “company man” (ie pre-selected) within USSF, and not the candidate who earned the job with his performance throughout the process. While this might seem like it gives him more clout, it actually gives him far less. Influence is earned.
Second, Berhalter isn’t as prepared as he should be to take the job due to the lack of competitive interview process — the pressure to prepare a plan that’s differentiated from the field is absent, plus he’s been focused on Columbus as this process has dragged on.
That means we’re likely looking at several months of Berhalter familiarizing himself with not only the job, but the internationally based players in the pool (one could assume he’s working on this since Columbus’ season ended). With the Gold Cup looming this all seems like lost time ahead of meaningful games.
This also points to a larger problem with the federation’s strategy in delay: why spend a year under an interim manager making player pool evaluations when you could have done so with the candidate of your choosing making the evaluations? To a large extent, ushering in youth on the national team and developing a new, young core was inevitable. It’s difficult to counter the argument that the Sarachan evaluations are mostly “lost evaluations” or at least “diminished evaluations” when the alternative was to have the new coach make them. This is especially true since Stewart was hired.
Third, U.S. Soccer is worse off for not having interviewed, and learned from/about, other top managers from around the world. A well functioning process is about more than just the final hire. It is about gathering and integrating every piece of information possible into the plan to build a preferred future.
Instead, USSF chose to neglect coaches who aren’t comfortable english speakers.
Lastly, you don’t know what you don’t know.
It’s impossible to quantify what else would have or could have occurred by interviewing a diverse field of candidates; and those possibilities were intriguing and certainly worth exploring.
By not even opening the door to an unforeseen candidate, it’s difficult to view U.S. Soccer’s priorities as something other than maintaining the status quo within the established power brokers (MLS, SUM, US Soccer). That’s hardly what most had in mind as a response to the most colossal on-field failure in American soccer history.
Donald Norman writes about soccer from his hometown of Fresno, California. He brings a lifetime of playing, coaching, and soccer advocacy to his work. He’s a proud alumni of Fresno Pacific University. Follow him on Twitter @dnld_nrmn.