Saturday's MLS Cup Final between Columbus Crew SC and the Seattle Sounders will have the fingerprints of one of the most iconic coaches in league history all over it.
The late Sigi Schmid manned the sidelines for both clubs during his illustrious career, with the Crew from 2006-2008 and with the Sounders, where he took over prior to their MLS expansion season of 2009 until departing in 2016.
Schmid passed away in 2018 at the age of 65, leaving behind a legacy as one of the preeminent figures that helped grow the league and the game in North America. His resume speaks for itself, with two MLS Cup titles (one with Columbus in 2008 that followed his first with the LA Galaxy in 2002), and the most regular season wins (240) of any coach in MLS history. The league's Coach of the Year award is named after him.
With Columbus and Seattle set to face off at MAPFRE Stadium in Saturday's final, the massive influence that Schmid had on both clubs isn't lost on any of those participating in the match.
“You don’t forget legends,” Columbus head coach Caleb Porter said this week. “You don’t forget people, pioneers that have paved the way for you and that’s something that I always am mindful of and I think about.”
The influence of the late Sigi Schmid will be found all over Saturday's MLS Cup Final between Columbus and Seattle | USA Today Sports
Porter's counterpart Brian Schmetzer served as an assistant under Schmid in Seattle for over seven years before taking over in 2016, first as the interim head coach before receiving the permanent post. Whenever he's been asked about Schmid's influence on him over the years, Schmetzer often credits his predecessor with giving him guidance that helped foster his own success as a coach.
It was Schmid who laid the foundation for Seattle's ascent as an MLS power, overseeing a club that was successful from the first days of its entry into the league and has still never missed the MLS Cup Playoffs.
“As a younger coach in MLS, having the ability to just sit back and ask yourself this question, ‘OK, why did Sigi do that?’" Schmetzer said. "That was a great learning resource for me to understand how things work, how he did things, and then I was able to formulate my own processes based on everything that I saw and heard through my experience being an assistant.
“I had a long seven years and studied what he did, why he did, asked him questions. He always had fond memories of Columbus. He always liked coming back here. He had made friends here. It was a good time in his career.”
Sounders winger Jordan Morris has also said that his relationship with Schmid was one of the key factors that led to him signing with Seattle as a Homegrown player, citing the coach's belief in his talent as something that led him to believe in himself dating back to his days as a member of the Sounders youth academy.
It's something that Morris says will always make him feel gratitude to the late coach.
“I can’t really say enough about Sigi and his impact on my career and my life,” Morris said. “He always believed in me…He helped me find that right balance between having fun and being a good pro. That mentality has helped shape my career.
“I owe so much to Sigi, and I know we all miss him.”
