When FC Dallas named Schellas Hyndman as their head coach on Tuesday, the Hoops gained a new boss with an impressive pedigree in college soccer. During his introductory press conference, Hyndman confirmed that John Ellinger, head coach for Real Salt Lake from 2005 through 2007, would be his top assistant, suddenly bringing someone with real experience to his backroom staff.
The two have been friends for nearly two decades, so when Hyndman contacted him, Ellinger was very receptive about returning to the MLS coaching ranks. On Wednesday morning, FCD went through their first practice under the new regime.
"We have known each other for probably over 20 years," Hyndman said. "We spent a lot of time together and I always had a lot of respect for him as a coach and a friend. I had him in for a few of my clinics and was really happy when he took the Real Salt Lake job because I thought he needed something that brought something different into his life like coaching professional players and older players."
Hyndman feels that despite not making the MLS Cup Playoffs in his two-plus years with RSL, Ellinger did his best.
"In that situation, I thought he did well and did what he was asked to do but unfortunately, they made a change," he said. "It was kind of a bittersweet situation because I'm sure he felt bad being let go, but the sweet part is that now we have him here with us. I know how much he will be able to help me as a friend, a knowledgeable person and someone who knows the league."
Ellinger, who was 15-37-16 for RSL before being reassigned within the club's organization last May, considers his time as an MLS head coach a great learning experience.
"You learn a lot," he said. "Expansion is tough for anyone, but you make mistakes. If you had opportunities to do it over again, there are some things you would change and some things you would keep the same but might handle differently. You know you made mistakes and will learn from them like anyone else in any other position. That goes from acquisition of players, draft and everything else."
But that doesn't mean that he didn't enjoy his time on the Wasatch Front.
"I totally enjoyed the environment," Ellinger said. "I thought Salt Lake had a great fan base. There was a good, solid base there and that was fun. There were good people in the front office who were very supportive. (RSL chairman) Dave (Checketts) wanted to keep me around (as technical director) and I tried that for a while. But I felt that I needed to move on to other opportunities and hopefully, something would pop up down the road where I could be on the field again."
He is clearly glad to be back on an MLS training field.
"It feels very good," Ellinger said. "My wife and daughter were asking me why I was acting weird yesterday (Tuesday) and I told them because I had to go to a practice. I really missed it but I didn't know how much I missed it until I started coming to games again. I was walking across the parking lot, coming to the games and thought yes, I can do this again.
"The opportunity presented itself and I'm glad that it worked out. I'm happy to be here. Schellas (Hyndman) and I have always had a good working relationship and have a lot of respect for each other. We had a couple of meetings and it worked out. I feel like I can add a lot to this program and am glad to be here."
Since Hyndman isn't yet well-versed in league rules and things like the salary cap, he plans to rely heavily on Ellinger to give him a crash course.
"To understand NCAA rules, you had to take courses to learn what you could do, what you can't do and now, I'm learning a new rulebook and I don't know it," Hyndman said. "So, I'm relying on John not only to give advice on salary caps, players and maybe even new players and knowledge about the opposition.
"He's able to bring a lot of things to me and give me a much greater comfort zone because there's not that much of a learning curve. If I was doing this by myself, I would be very nervous to take this challenge on because everyone would be looking to me for answers and I don't have them. I'll have them in a few months, but today, I don't have them. That's why I'm counting on him."
Because of his background with the U.S. under-17 national team, Ellinger is already very familiar with such FCD players as Eric Avila, Dax McCarty, Blake Wagner and Anthony Wallace. He also knows Michael Dello-Russo and Abe Thompson from a stint with a youth program in Maryland.
"About five of the guys, I had when I was in residency and they came through the program with me," Ellinger said. "I remember (Michael) Dello-Russo from when I was director of coaching for the youth club Soccer Association of Columbia when he was a soccer rat with long, blonde hair. Everything for me has been a learning experience. It's funny how I did some sessions at Schellas' clinic and we would sit and chat about MLS. It's funny how it all turns out sometimes."
Like Hyndman, Ellinger has taken a long look at the current FCD roster and likes what he sees.
"It's an extremely talented team," he said. "The strength of this team has to be its midfield. You've got six or seven guys that could go out on any given day and play in either a four or five-man midfield system. You've also got some solid defenders."
Ellinger also agrees with his new boss that switching from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 formation might be one alteration that greatly benefits the Hoops.
"For support purposes, that's why you go to a back four, to provide a little more stability in the back," he said. "Certain players seem to play better when they know there is a defender behind them. I think they take more risk offensively because they know they have that support behind them. I've always been a back four guy and so has Schellas. This team has established that they can play in a back three and that's a plus."
He is also impressed with the several options up top, including Thompson, who delivered a game-winner in stoppage time against RSL in June 2006.
"Offensively, if you take the three forwards that I've seen on the first team, Abe, Kenny (Cooper) and Dominic (Oduro), those are three solid and certainly effective forwards," Ellinger said. "They've all had their moments and I'm glad to be sitting on this side of Abe Thompson for the record. As many times as he scored against Salt Lake, I said OK. I gave him the first one but he was getting me angry after that."
Ellinger is also intrigued by how much young talent there currently is at FCD.
"It's actually unbelievable to see," he said. "Looking at a player like Brek (Shea), the physical parts of his game are unbelievable and he's 17 years old. The future looks extremely bright for FC Dallas. You look at what's going on with (FCD youth director) Chris Hayden and the youth program and the facilities, which are the best in the league and it's not just me saying that."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
