FRISCO, Texas – With only next weekend’s game at the San Jose Earthquakes left in Schellas Hyndman’s coaching tenure, FC Dallas are about to embark on an intensive search for the seventh head coach in franchise history.
Replacing the club’s all-time winningest coach will be a daunting challenge, but it’s a critical quest at a time when the club is enjoying unprecedented off-field success in attendance, sponsorship and premium seating sales.
Hunt Sports Group Chairman Clark Hunt says he would like to have the next coach in place sometime in the next five or six weeks so that the new leader can have a voice in decisions that need to be made quickly after MLS Cup.
“We’re going to have a pretty wide open process and we’ll consider candidates from a variety of different backgrounds, a lot of which will be Major League Soccer backgrounds, but I would expect there will also be some candidates who don’t have MLS experience,” Hunt explained Friday.
Hyndman (above) announced Friday he was stepping down from his job with FC Dallas at the end of the season.
Hunt admitted that the timeline was only a best-case scenario, considering he doesn’t want to rush just to have someone in place quickly. He declined to give particulars on the traits the club is looking for in the next coach except to say that it would be important for the new hire to embrace FC Dallas’ commitment to building talent through their academy.
“I don’t think it’s important that they necessarily have a background in an MLS youth program, but I do think it’s important that they are open-minded about the importance of youth academies,” Hunt said. “I would hope the next coach of FC Dallas understands that and appreciates that and wants to continue the strong momentum that FC Dallas has as a leader in that area.”
