And then there was one. 

The quest to solidify the stable of U.S. Soccer Youth National Team coaches was hit by a pirate’s raid during the last month of the year. 

Chicago Fire SC hired U.S. U17 Men’s National Team head coach Raphael Wicky as the new head coach of the first team for the MLS franchise last week. The University of Oklahoma followed suit and snatched up U.S. Women’s Youth National Team head coach Mark Carr as the new head coach of the women’s soccer team. 

The late December departure of two Youth National Team head coaches left only Tracey Kevins as the only full-time coach for U.S. Soccer’s youth teams. Kevins, the U17 Women’s National Team coach, is left on an island with a number of important dates in the near future. 

 

U20 Men - Qualifying in June 

U20 Women - Qualifying begins February 22 

U17 Men - No major event in 2020

U17 Women - Qualifying begins March 14

While some of those departures seem as if the coaches are moving onto better jobs, there are some coaches speaking out about their previous jobs. Former U.S. U18 Men's National Team head coach Omid Namzi called the departures "Agenda drive by U.S. Soccer". Tony Meola also commented on the vacancies in a tweet citing the amount of qualified individuals who have already been interviewed for positions but no hirings have been announced as of this post. 

. Agenda driven by @ussoccer https://t.co/I6K6FLfg5L

— Omid Namazi (@onamazi) December 28, 2019

I don’t comment on this much but there have been more than enough qualified coaches (I’m speaking only in the boys side as that’s my knowledge of the people interviewed) to have all of the boys positions filled. This is insane! No further comment 😳

— Tony Meola (@TMeola1) December 27, 2019

For the lone survivor, Kevins’ focus is squarely on the U17’s quest for another Concacaf Championship, which seems realistic if not expected considering the depth in that age group from Alexis Missimo, Allyson Sentnor, Trinity Byars, and many others, that begins in March. However, it’s not even the first major tournament on the schedule for 2020. 

That leaves the higher ups in Chicago with the decisions on the rest of the openings - and a pressing need to get the right person to the right spot as soon as possible. Wicky was the last hire for the group, and he moved on immediately after guiding one cycle through qualifying and a World Cup, which is a good selling point should the decision-makers within the Federation look for an international hire again. The successful Wicky experiment is a sign that high profile jobs await for those who can succeed in that role within the Federation. 

However, the most logical approach for USSF would be to hire within the system already - although Namazi and Meola seem to be suggesting that logic has been thrown out the window - considering the limited time frame between the next camp for most of these teams and the upcoming qualifying events. 

In every Youth National Team camp roster press release, there is a section devoted to the amount of players from the camp who play in the Development Academy. It is a way for the Federation to brag about the amount of talent in their club soccer league. The confidence from inside the headquarters in Chicago about the quality of the Development Academy needs to be backed up with the next hires for the Youth National Team. 

The Development Academy - which is going through some change in leadership as well with Jared Micklos stepping down earlier this year - is designed to develop players and coaches. It’s time for the spotlight to be focused on the latter. The requirements to coach in the Development Academy are lengthy and include obtaining the elusive USSF B License. In theory, every coach at that level is ready to handle one of the openings at the international level. The Federation has also supplied additional resources to help coaches continue their education with the right courses both domestic and abroad. Now is the time for USSF to cash in on those investments in the Academy coaching rank. 

There are plenty of coaches who would jump at the opportunity to take over one of these teams. New York City FC academy coach Matt Pilkington gained some experience on Wicky’s staff at the U17 Men’s World Cup in November. New York Red Bulls Academy Director Sean McCafferty had a successful stint as a coach at Barca Residency Academy in Arizona and is building a program equally as exciting with the Red Bulls’ youth teams. There’s a number of other options out there as well, as USSF should be looking for their next Tab Ramos - a coach who will stick with the program through thick and thin and develop an identity for the youth teams. 

The U20 opening on the women’s side is an enticing job for many club coaches looking to step up. Recent United Soccer Coaches Youth Coach of the Year Adrian Solca (Solar SC, Texas) is a worthy candidate. Solca is fresh off winning the Development Academy Men’s and Women’s U17 National Championship. His experience with the player pool would also be an added bonus. FC Virginia’s Bobby Puppione and NC Courage’s Sean Nahas are a couple of others that should be considered. There will be no shortage of candidates for any of the openings - regardless of the silly requirement to live in Chicago. 

The most pressing need for USSF is to select a qualified coach so they have time to access the player pool and build for these meaningful upcoming international tournaments. The clock will be quickly ticking in 2020 and the focus should be on the Development Academy coaches first.