FRISCO, Texas – At least one current FC Dallas technical staff member will be a candidate for the vacant head coaching position at FC Dallas, but another one that boasts MLS head coaching experience will not.
FC Dallas technical director Fernando Clavijo, who formerly coached both the New England Revolution and the Colorado Rapids, held a conference call with Dallas media on Wednesday morning and in very specific terms explained that he would not be under consideration for the position left by Schellas Hyndman.
“I’m very happy right now with my role as the technical director,” said Clavijo. “I came here not to be the head coach. I came here to help the coach put a team together. … I’m not interested whatsoever in the job here.”
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Clavijo said the team has compiled a short list of names and that one of the main criteria they are looking for in candidates is experience in MLS as a head coach, assistant or player. While sharing that the list does include people whose teams are currently preparing to compete in the MLS Cup playoffs, Clavijo declined to reveal names beyond one that is close to home: Marco Ferruzzi.
Ferruzzi, who has been on the FCD coaching staff since 2004, was promoted to be Hyndman’s lead assistant this past season and also coached the team in reserve league matches. The 43-year-old Texas native had a couple of short stints in MLS as a player with the Tampa Bay Mutiny and LA Galaxy, but mostly spent his playing career in North America’s lower divisions.
Ferruzzi told MLSsoccer.com after Tuesday’s training that he had not yet spoken to FCD – or any other team – about a head coaching position. Currently, his focus is leading the team through their regular end-of-season training and testing procedures, he said.
He also said that until a new coach is named, he’ll play an important role in executing the team’s offseason agenda.
“I’ll be involved in processing the players that we have in the locker room currently, these final training sessions and we’re preparing for the [MLS SuperDraft] as we speak,” Ferruzzi said. “We’re going out and scouting as normal, and this is what we’ve done in the past, so our calendar through December pretty much remains the same. What happens after that remains to be seen.”
Clavijo hopes to have the new coach in place soon so that they can have input into shaping next season’s team, including making decisions about the 17 players on FC Dallas’ first-team roster that have expiring contracts or club options.
“We would like to give the [new] coach an opportunity to be a part of the process and … I think that we have until December 1st to be able to exercise or not some of the options on the contracts that we have,” said Clavijo.
“I think that we have at least three weeks to be able to interview coaches and put a coach in place. … If we don’t, we’re going to have to make some decisions based on what we know about the team.”
