June 18th, 2008 . 8:33 am . By: Buzz Carrick

I think right off the top I have to say that the pres conference today was not what I expected. More specifically, Schellas wasn’t what I expected. I was actually left with the impression of a thoughtful and serious coach. More than any other coaching press conference I have witnessed, Hyndman seemed to seriously think about the questions asked and then give real, actual answers instead of clichés and coach speak. It was quite refreshing.

I have some other thoughts and comments to ad, but first a little history.

Hyndman History with the Hunts

This hire has been a long time coming. As many of you know by now, Hyndman’s relationship with the Hunts primarily stems from when Clark played for and was a captain under Schellas at SMU. The Hunts have frequently used Hyndman as a sounding board for soccer decisions. What many people may not know is that the Hunts first approached Schellas prior to the inaugural 1996 season making him an offer to coach the Columbus Crew, an offer Hyndman obviously turned down.

Even though the Hunts were not involved with the Dallas Burn at the time, when Andy Swift looked to bring in a new coach following the dismissal of Dave Dir, Hyndman was a finalist for the job. Schellas withdrew his name from consideration prior to an offer being made to any coach. Swift eventually made an offer to Mike Jeffries, who chose Dallas over the other offer he received from San Jose.

The Hunts were in the picture during the next era of FCD history, when Greg Elliott offered the coaching position to Hyndman following the dismissal of Mike Jeffries. Once again Hyndman turned the Hunts down. Greg Elliott hired Jeffries’ assistant Colin Clarke instead.

When Clarke was jettisoned by Hitchcock in 2006, the Hunts again wanted to offer the job to Hyndman. Some well placed followers of FCD & SMU told me, and have confirmed it since several times, that Schellas would have taken the job at that junction. Only Hitchcock had other ideas, he was already locked in on Morrow as his own man for the job. The Hunts, having just hired the upcoming “sales star” Hitchcock decided to back their new GM and let him hire Morrow. Indeed one of the reasons Morrow’s firing was so surprising was this “right man for the job” insistence Hitchcock had when he hired Morrow a year and a half ago against the Hunts’ desires.

It should have come as no surprise then that when Hitch canned Morrow the Hunts response was to effectively say to Hitchcock, we did it your way once, now we’re doing it our way. Despite Hitchcock’s search for a coach, once Morrow was out it was only going to be Hyndman’s job if he wanted it. The Hunts had already been talking to Hyndman since this last winter about the possibility of bringing him on as technical director and/or coach either right away or at the end of this next season.

So it’s no shock at all that we quickly arrive at today’s press conference, Hyndman’s vacation aside.

Hyndman Pros & Cons

Cons

The big knock on Hyndman has always been two fold. 1. Hasn’t won the big one and 2. Players don’t seem to get all that much better at SMU. Certainly with his recruiting base they are both legitimate concerns. He was asked about the title thing in the press conference.

I think everyone has their opinion. If you look at our record and the success that we have had at SMU and Eastern Illinois, it hurts me not to have won a national championship. We had a team that could have won but sometimes you lose games that you shouldn’t lost. I don’t think there is another program out there that has been to the NCAA Tournament in 30 out of 31 years. Hopefully a national championship comes here.

Ok fare enough I suppose. I certainly am a guy in the camp of being good all year long and for many seasons rather than sneaking into the playoffs and stealing a four game cup. I’d rather have a good team to watch all the time and win the Supporters Shield, upon which I personally place a higher value. Although I certain understand that’s not a popular opinion. The bottom line in Dallas for three of the four coaches fired here was “if you don’t win a title you’re gone.” One can’t help but wonder if that same standard will hold up now.

I’d like to think the second worry isn’t as big a deal with a pro team. There is a youth setup to develop players in theory, and much of what makes a pro get better is just training day after day and playing game after game. Coaching at the pro level should be about tactics and experience, not about teaching skills. Perhaps I’m just brushing aside what should be a concern, but I don’t think I am. If your team needs to teach and develop pro players to be good then you’ve done something wrong in your drafting and scouting.

I’m also a bit leery that Hyndman’s reputation as a disciplinarian won’t go over with pros. Most pros don’t like an in-your-face tough guy. Schellas talked about the difference in mentality between pros and college kids. Maybe he’s got the right idea.

I think I am very fortunate that I have coached at a high level, had a lot of success and had a lot of players go on to MLS. I think I have always known what the level might be at this stage. It’s all about players. What we have in this room are professionals. At the collegiate level, one of the biggest responsibilities of a college coach was teaching players how to balance their responsibilities with school, social life, and training. Here, they should have an idea of how to do that on their own. I want the same thing that the players want, personal success for them and personal success for the team. I think the players will know if a person can coach or can’t coach. There are no pretenders here.

I’m also a bit worried about Hyndman’s lack of experience with the cap and MLS rules. Of course our sources say Ellinger has been brought in to help with that, which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Hopefully Hyndman will talk to Director of Team Administration Bobby Hammond a lot as he’s been around a long time and has all the cap and rules down. Even with Hammond’s help there may be some errors and growing pains early in Hyndman’s tenure.

Pros

After having listen to Hyndman talk today, I’m actually optimistic about a few things.

First, as I mentioned above, is what appears to be an openness and sincerity about his manner. Players in general, particularly at the pro level, really want to know where they stand. What do I need to do to get in the team? What’s my place in the depth chart? Do you have plans for me? Under Dir, Clarke, and Jeffries, lack of communication and understanding of their position in the team was a constant bitch and criticism from players. They almost always were mystified about their position and nervous about their place in the team. (Oddly in light of his firing, I didn’t get this complaint much under Morrow who was a better communicator that most.) I am now hopeful that the frankness in Hyndman’s answers today will translate into his dealings with the players.

Second is his toughness, work ethic, and personal discipline. Quite frankly I think FCD has been a bit lacking in fitness this year. Some players haven’t been working as hard as I would like to see to get ready to play. There have been cases where I wanted to see a players dropped for lackadaisical effort or lack of desire. Hyndman I hope can instill some of his grit, work rate, and tenacity that comes through in his SMU teams into the FCD side. Will he be able to? I’m not sure, as I mentioned in the cons section sometimes pros don’t respond well to that stuff.

Third, Schellas knows and seems to have faith in the American players. Under the last two coaches here, Clarke and Morrow, need spots and key positions have always been filled and solved primarily with foreign players. Neither Clarke nor Morrow ever really trusted completely the American kids I don’t think. Hyndman is fully invested and connected in the American coaching and player system. Hopefully we’ll see a move to the younger, more American core of the team with a few foreign highlights to take the team over the top; rather than a core of foreign players with a few American’s filling in the gaps. That’s something I would definitely consider a step in the right direction.

I’m also fairly optimistic about the Ellinger hire, risk of bad trades aside. Ellinger has been very influential in the development of some of the best American players around. If Elligner is here to work with the FCD Reserves and the FCD Juniors program I’d be quite happy. The guy can indeed teach soccer and help make good players out of draft picks and kids. In fact his strength in this area fits well with something that, as I mentioned above, I perceive as a problem for Schellas.

Thoughts & Conclusions from the Press Conference

The past is water under the bridge and it’s time to move forward. From what Hyndman said in the public Q&A, as well as in some one on one discussions with myself and a few other media, I have come up with some conclusions about what we will likely see.

1) A 4-4-2 formation. He didn’t flat out say it, but he talked about his comfort zone and some of the coverage’s this shape would have that he likes. It’s what he almost always played at SMU and I’d bet you’re gonna see it with FCD. He did talk about tactical flexibility, but it was in terms of shifting forward and back in a formation.

Edit: Here’s a quote Tobias Lopez had in the Star-Telegram.

I think, watching this team closely, they may find more success in a 4-4-2.  I’m a strong believer in a 4-4-2 because of the width of the field, 75 yards; you have four people covering the defense instead of three. I think they played well, but sometimes they gave up soft goals, and that could be because they don’t have enough people back there.

2) Play will be possession oriented as it is now. This team is built to hold the ball and move it around. That’s how Hyndman wants to play anyway so it’s a good match of styles.

3) Players will play both ways, Schellas called this a “soccer truth” that he believes in. One dimensional players that can’t defend or can’t get forward will make way for those who can.

4) Each position will have clearly defined responsibilities and tactical jobs. Does that mean roles be overly defined and thus handcuff players in this artistic and instinctual sport? That could be an important question.

5) Hyndman is certainly going to ask for more effort and work from the team, and he may react strongly if he doesn’t get what he wants. Soft players aren’t going to like this new regime I predict.

6) FCD will fill the three open roster spots fairly quickly now that Hyndman is on board. And they will begin to look at bringing in come people during the window. The big question will be the time frame, is there enough to time to evaluate the team, decide what kind of player Schellas wants, find someone to sign, and get them in here.

7) Training sessions are going to be moved up, probably to 9 am.

Final Thought

So walking out of Hyndman intro I was actually feeling fairly optimistic, or at least more optimistic than I was the day before. But then again I’m a glass half full kinda guy, the eternal optimist who looks for the upside of everything.

Ask me again in a month and we’ll see if I still feel the same way.

Categories: 120 Fahrenheit, News.

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