On Thursday, the Chicago Fire took the first step forward in ending a seven season run of missing the playoffs as former United States men’s national team manager Gregg Berhalter was unveiled as their new Director of Football and head coach. Berhalter has already gotten to work with figuring out what he wants the roster to look like next year, since MLS has one of the shortest off-seasons in sports.
Securing Berhalter has been a process that was going on since August when the current sporting director Georg Heitz announced his intentions to head to Europe and the process led to Berhalter. Initially, the goal wasn’t for the Director of Football to be the head coach but when Berhalter expressed a desire to do both, that’s when the Fire changed their trajectory a little.
“When we came across Gregg, he expressed a desire to do both, Sporting Head and Head Coach. While that was not initially our intention, because of who Gregg is and he had succeeded in this dual role before, we were confident that it would work under Gregg’s leadership,” Chicago Fire owner and chairman Joe Mansueto said.
“From my perspective, what I wanted to do, what I try to do, is to create an environment where people can do their best work. And if he can do his best work as Director of Football and Head Coach so there’s this seamless connection,” Mansueto continued. “I’m fine with it, and he will build underneath him an organization to offload the things — obviously you can’t do two full-time jobs, but he will build an organization around him, and I have every confidence he can do that.”
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The fact is, decision making is an area where the Fire have fallen short in recent seasons, and Berhalter could be the person who helps turn that around if everything comes from a single source. Youth development has been a hallmark of the Fire organization with Jhon Duran, Djordje Mihailovic, and Gaga Slonina all spending time in the system, but when it has come time to augment the roster with stars to help the team reach the next level, there has been a disconnect.
Berhalter will need to bridge that gap and begin the steps to turn around this organization. A new training facility and plans for finding a soccer specific stadium in Chicago will help make that easier but when it comes down to it, Berhalter will have to sell his vision. Not only to players, but he’ll also have to sell it to staff as he begins to build out the front office and coaching staff around him. Having coached at the highest levels of U.S. Soccer and already spent time as a head coach while in the front office for the Columbus Crew, he has experience that will help in moving this team in the right direction, but that doesn’t mean that it’ll be easy.
Berhalter has already gotten to work and says he is excited by the potential that the Fire offers. Don’t expect this to be the same as how the former USMNT manager led the Columbus Crew, however.
“I learned a lot of lessons from the Columbus days working 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 at night every day for five years. It aged me. That’s why I don’t have as much hair as I used to have. You guys can go back and check the pictures out to prove it,” Berhalter said about what he learned working in Columbus. “In all seriousness, I realized how I need help, and really part of the alignment part with Joe was saying, Okay, we want to create this executive leadership team that helps shoulder some of the responsibilities, whether it’s player transfers, player negotiations, player recruitment, performance, strategy. So, it’s really about creating a team around us that we can all pull in the same direction to try to be successful for the club.”
Trying to do too much is where these dual roles can become traps for managers because both roles require an immense amount of work. Balance is key and Berhalter will have to bring in a staff that he trusts in order to delegate responsibilities. Part of Berhalter’s reasoning for taking this role is that it worked for him and his family so being able to balance the two will be key.
“Yeah, you factor everything into it. This was a moment in time where I chose for my family. As a player, you’re selfish. You always go to the best opportunity, and you’re moving, and you’re moving, and you’re moving,” Berhalter said about some of the factors behind his decision. Then you get a coaching job, and you’re moving, and you’re moving your family. This was a moment where I said, you know, this opportunity is so good, there’s so much potential in this club, and my family gets to be stable.”
“They get to be in one place. My daughter gets to graduate from high school. She’s a junior now. That was a big part of the decision. Europe has always been an ambition of mine, and it’s not binary,” he continued. “Just because I came here doesn’t mean there’s never going to be an opportunity in Europe, but right now this is the best opportunity for me and my family.”
Putting everything together, it makes perfect sense why this would be Berhalter’s next step following his departure from the USMNT. He has the ability to make broad sweeping decisions that will help shape the future of American soccer. For a detail-oriented coach like Berhalter, it’s a dream move but now the work will begin to make sure that the Fire are a playoff team next season.
