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June 4, 2008
SMU'S HYNDMAN, FCD MET MONDAY
Schellas Hyndman interested in pro job
By Phil Stephens
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SMU coach Schellas Hyndman interviewed with FCD Dallas general manager Michael Hitchcock and the Hunt Sports Group about the head coaching vacancy open at Pizza Hut Park.
Photo by Phil Stephens |
So much speculation has emerged considering potential FC Dallas head coach candidates, it is hard to separate rumors from writer preferences. But bank on this--SMU head soccer coach Schellas Hyndman has officially interviewed club representatives about the job, and according to Hyndman, he is very serious about the position.
"I met with Michael Hitchcock, HSG president John Wagner, as well as Daniel and Clark Hunt on Monday at the Hunt Sports Group (HSG) headquarters," Hyndman said. "Obviously, they had received permission from SMU to talk to me about the position.
"I thought the meeting was very positive. They asked about my coaching philosophies, what I think of FC Dallas as a team and its strength and weaknesses."
He didn't want anybody to jump to conclusions about what is happening. For one thing, he is headed to Europe this week for a family vacation to take in some of the Euro Championship games (at least four) and needed to get at least the initial meeting out of the way before he left.
"They have hired Hitchcock to make these kind of decisions. Nothing has been offered; we just had conversations, but I am interested in the job."
Hyndman said his philosophy was to deal with what is in right in front of him. Right now, that is a vacation, and then it is right back to SMU where he has summer camps ahead and preparation for the fall season.
"I have a great job here, a great team coming in and I don't want to lose sight of a really good thing at SMU. If there is a job offer, I will deal with it."
Still, Hyndman didn't enter into the interview process without being serious. He values his relationship with the Hunt family too much for anything less.
"I don't want to waste their time and I know they don't want to waste mine just to wind me up... If the opportunity came, I would have to really think hard. I enjoy where I am and we continue to find success. There would be a ping pong match in my head."
Hyndman said he would not be interested in a lot of MLS positions because he doesn't want to move his family. Dallas is his hometown now and all of his family now lives in Texas.
But the question must be asked. Why move from SMU where he has 24 years of high-end success, incredible job security, a great income and impeccable peer recognition?
"A lot of it is about the challenge," he said. "My challenge right now is to win a national championship. But it is funny thinking about it. We are never quite content where we are. As a coach, any coach, would want to coach at the highest level if the opportunity comes along."
Hyndman has been asked to interview so often for the FC Dallas coaching job that reporters and bloggers usually say he is just tweaking SMU for a raise everytime he even considers it. Now some blog comments have hinted that there is some unseen issue between Hyndman and the new SMU athletic director Steve Orsini. Orsini has pushed to make a difference in SMU athletics in all sports, not just football.
It would be hard to criticize Hyndman's record on the Hilltop as the school's winningest coach in any sport and the only one to take the school to the final four in any sport in the last decade (he has done it twice). Orsini can stand on improvement and still say Hyndman has not won a national championship in his 24 years at SMU.
Hyndman says he is not fishing for another raise. As for pressure on him to "win it all," he just says no one applies pressure like himself.
"I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes thinking about it, or get up in the morning with it on my mind," Hyndman says. "No one wants the national championship for SMU more than I do."
That is one reason he is excited about this fall, because he knows his team will be picked among the elite in pre-season. It returns an MLS-ready midfielder in Bruno Guarda and at least eight players that have seen starting time, plus a bumper recruiting class of 15.
There are so many reasons for Hyndman to stay right where he is at, but there is that nagging question that still bugs him as a coach, the challenge of successfully guiding a professional team. He believes he can do a lot to create an atmosphere of winning for FC Dallas, bringing discipline and structure to a team that is going through an emotional time right now.
He says he is not naive to the criticism he would incur if chosen to be the new FCD coach or to the criticism he has already received by blog site comments on the rumor or speculation that he may well be the new coach. He said he knows better than to get worried about public speculation and admits it is just better to not even read the speculation he knows is out there.
"How long does it take to learn how to coach in the pros?," he asked, "One month, one season, one year? At least two of the previous coaches at Dallas had not been a professional head coach before this job, or any kind of head coach. I have coached more than 700 games as a head coach.
"But it boils down to this. At the end of the day, it is a players game. If they believe in me, they will play for me. I know how to fix a team, but before they can win, I must have players on board with me, to be in it with me."
How does he feel about the position of a technical director? Would he consider doing both jobs for the club, as has been rumored?
"Sure, I could do both jobs," Hyndman said. "But I think both jobs would suffer because of it. I think Hitchcock and the HSG see the wisdom of that."
The SMU coach said he isn't going to take the job just because it is there, or if he is offered the job again. He has been down this path before and has thought carefully about what it entails and the rewards and risks it offers. One reason he would consider it is even though there are high risks, there are also high rewards.
"You can be sure Schellas Hyndman will not make a decision like this until I know FC Dallas can meet my needs," he said. "As of now, I haven't heard back from them."
Right now, SMU is definitely meeting his needs and he is happy there. And he still has challenges there he has not accomplished.
The professional coaching window will not be open forever to Hyndman and he knows that. Any decision he makes this summer will likely be far reaching, whether it would be to enter the professional arena or finish out the remaining years of an already legendary legacy at SMU.
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