Matt Crocker joins U.S. Soccer with World Cup, coaching search awaiting him
New U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker hasn't even started yet, and already there's a ton to do.
The 48-year-old Welshman, who will remain in his current role as director of football with Premier League struggler Southampton until the summer, has to meet with U.S. women's national team coach Vlatko Andonovski, who's about to lead the two-time defending champs at the World Cup. He must commence the search for a manager for the U.S. men, who have been led on an interim basis by Anthony Hudson since Gregg Berhalter's contract expired last year. He needs to find a place to live in Chicago, where the federation is based.
Crocker must do all of that before he officially begins his new job as the country's top soccer officer on Aug. 2. But first, his top priority is to listen.
"The U.S. has always been a passion of mine," Crocker, whose earliest coaching experiences involved working with youth teams in Arkansas and Kansas, said Tuesday after being introduced by USSF president Cindy Parlow Cone and CEO JT Batson during a Zoom conference with reporters. "I've watched it from afar. Clearly, I've got a lot to learn, both in the men's and the women's game.
"It would be wrong and silly of me to come in and think that I've got all the answers," he added. "I haven't."
Many USMNT fans in particular had been clamoring for a candidate with no previous connection to U.S. Soccer to replace former sporting director Earnie Stewart, who left for Dutch power PSV Eindhoven in February. Now they have one. And despite Southampton's struggles this season — the club sits last in the Prem — Crocker's work history across gender lines and his track record of success at the youth level clearly intrigued the federation.
His time with England's Football Association stands out. Before rejoining Southampton three years ago (he'd spent an earlier spell as academy coach for the Saints), Crocker oversaw an unprecedented run of success for England's youth national teams.
"My passion," Crocker said Tuesday, "is player development."
According to Parlow Cone, Crocker emerged from a group of seven other people who interviewed for the post.
"We had the sort of widest possible pool of candidates and men, women from all sorts of different backgrounds, nationalities, and soccer backgrounds, to make sure that we are approaching this in a way that led us to the best positive outcome," Batson said. "We started with a list that had dozens of names on it, and whittled that down, and ultimately, unanimously, put forth Matt as our candidate, and we're excited to introduce him today."
Crocker will join U.S. Soccer the day after the USWNT plays Portugal in its final first-round match at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. Given the late stage of preparation Andonovski's team is in for its title defense, the best thing Crocker can do there is stay out of the way. His more pressing task is to find the coach who will helm the U.S. men through the crucially important 2026 World Cup on home soil.
"Clearly, we want to get the right head coach to lead the program in place as soon as possible," Crocker said. "What we don't want to do is to rush and make the wrong appointment."
Asked by FOX Sports what sort of candidate he was looking for, Crocker didn't get into specifics.
"What I see from the current team is an aggressive, a forward-thinking, and a fearless team that went to the World Cup and did some great stuff," Crocker said. "Clearly, there's been some great foundations put in place by Gregg and by Anthony around the style of play, and we want to continue to evolve that style of play."
Berhalter remains available to return for a second World Cup cycle. Crocker demurred when asked if he'd consider bringing the coach back. He was similarly coy in ignoring a question about his interactions with American coach Jesse Marsch, who turned down an overture from Southampton earlier this year.
"It would be unprofessional of me right now to talk about individual names," Crocker said. "Gregg has done a fantastic job, and I intend to follow up with a number of candidates, both internally within the organization."
The same goes for the USMNT general manager role most recently occupied by Brian McBride. McBride's contract was not renewed when it expired in January, and U.S. Soccer has not confirmed that he will be replaced. Kate Markgraf remains GM of the USWNT.
"It's very, very difficult for me on day one to say, ‘Yes, we need a general manager, and when that will happen,’" he said. "I want to really listen and learn. So I'm going to take some time first to make sure that we get the right structure in place, and I'm looking forward to doing that with the staff as quickly as I possibly can."
There's a ton for Crocker to do. Time is running short. But he also knows that along with the burden comes a huge opportunity.
"You've got a [women's] team that is the world's best, and has been world's best for 12 out of the last 13 years, and then you've got a men's team that is a young, dynamic, forward-thinking team that has achieved some success in the last World Cup," Crocker said.
"We want to build on that."
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
