Forget a move “upstairs” to executive level: Sigi Schmid wants to coach in MLS again, harboring a burning desire to win another MLS Cup after his frustrating exit from the Seattle Sounders.
That was just one of several intriguing revelations the veteran coach shared in an in-depth conversation with FourFourTwo USA last week, as he explained his regrets regarding his final season in Seattle and his plans for the future.
“I definitely want to continue coaching,” Schmid, who has returned to his native Southern California for the time being, told FFT's Scott French.
“I'm not ready to be a GM, because I know what a GM has to do, and I wouldn't be a good GM, because I would still think I'm better than the head coach, and that's the kind of GM you don't want to work for … For me, my passion, my desire, my fire is still there to coach. I definitely still want to win another title, win an MLS Cup.”
The Sounders parted ways on July 26 with the only head coach they'd known in more than seven years in MLS, as 2016 saw the ambitious club stumble to a 6-12-2 mark in their first 20 league matches of the season, leaving them stuck in ninth place in the Western Conference, well off the playoff-chasing pace.
From Schmid's perspective, the loss of star striker Obafemi Martins (via transfer to Chinese side Shanghai Greenland Shenhua) on the eve of the regular season and the team's drawn-out search for comparable attacking reinforcements compromised his ability to compete. Seattle signed Designated Player Nicolas Lodeiro and veteran midfielder Alvaro Fernandez less than a week after Schmid's exit.
“We never replaced Oba,” he told French. “If we could have replaced him in March or April, I think it would have changed things, and the replacement, obviously, came too late for me.
“From the standpoint of the timing of when it happened with the new players coming in,” Schmid added, “I was disappointed in not getting that opportunity to put that team through its paces.”
Several pundits have suggested that the former UCLA, LA Galaxy and Columbus Crew SC coach might be well served by shifting into a more executive or advisory role for his next job. Schmid, however, shot down that idea, making clear his desire to remain in the technical area – ideally with LAFC, the new expansion club materializing in his old SoCal stomping grounds.
