Sigi Schmid
Siegfried "Sigi" Schmid was a German-American soccer coach.
Born in Tübingen, West Germany, he moved to the United States with his family when he was a child. He played college soccer from 1972 to 1975 at the University of California, Los Angeles , where he was a starting midfielder. He coached his former college team, the UCLA Bruins from 1980 to 1999. During that period, he became one of the most successful collegiate coaches of all time, leading the Bruins to a record of 322–63–33 . The team made 16 consecutive playoff appearances from 1983 to 1998, winning the national championship in 1985, 1990, and 1997. Schmid also worked with U.S. Soccer throughout the 1990s.
Schmid coached the Los Angeles Galaxy, Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders FC in the MLS. Despite never having played soccer at a professional level, he has the most coaching wins in MLS history and was the recipient of the MLS Coach of the Year Award in 1999 and 2008. Throughout his career, Schmid received praise from critics for his ability to identify new talent. His defensive tactics were also highly regarded in the press and often cited as a factor in his success. However, their deployment in his final two seasons with Los Angeles led directly to the termination of his contract.
After winning the MLS Cup with Columbus in 2008, Schmid was hired by the expansion Seattle Sounders as their first head coach. From 2009 to 2016, Schmid led the Sounders to seven playoff appearances, four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup titles, and an MLS Supporters' Shield in 2014. After lackluster performances in the playoffs and missteps during the first half of the 2016 season, Schmid left the club on mutual terms. He again coached LA Galaxy from 2017 to 2018, dying later that year.
Early life
Sigi Schmid was born in Tübingen, West Germany, on March 20, 1953. At the age of four, he moved with his family to the United States; they took up residence in Torrance, California, in 1962. Schmid's father, Fritz, who had been a prisoner of war during World War II, worked at Pabst Brewing; his mother, Doris, ran a Los Angeles–based German deli, where Schmid worked on weekends. Schmid's family spoke German at home, making him feel German despite spending so much of his life in America. He began school in the United States with little understanding of English and a stuttering speech disorder he did not overcome until high school. In his youth, Schmid visited Germany every summer, playing soccer with the local children and watching Bundesliga clubs play exhibition matches in neighboring towns. In 1964, Schmid played for one of the inaugural American Youth Soccer Organization teams, and was inducted into the AYSO Hall of Fame in 1996.Despite Schmid's early soccer experience, his parents thought a career in the sport was unfeasible and encouraged him to pursue business. He enrolled at UCLA in 1972 and was a starting midfielder for the UCLA Bruins from 1972 to 1975. In his first two seasons, the Bruins were national runners-up in the championships, and advanced to the national semifinals in 1974. In his senior year, Schmid was selected to the 1975 All Far-West team. Schmid completed his playing career at UCLA ranked 11th in all-time assists at the school.
He received his Bachelor of Economics degree in 1976 before earning a Master of Business Administration from the University of Southern California. Between 1978 and 1984, he worked eight months of the year as a Certified Public Accountant.
Coaching career
UCLA and U.S. Soccer
Schmid's first coaching experience was in 1975 for Bishop Montgomery High School. He also founded and coached a small club called the South Bay Vikings. Between 1977 and 1979, he served as an assistant coach under Steve Gay at UCLA. Schmid took over as head coach after Gay left the position in 1980. He began focusing solely on coaching before the 1984 season and was named "Coach of the Year" by the magazine Soccer America. UCLA then won the 1985 NCAA Division I championship by defeating American University 1–0 after eight periods of overtime. In his first 10 years as coach, the Bruins won or tied 85 percent of their games.The Bruins won the 1990 national championship by defeating Rutgers 4–3 on penalty kicks after a scoreless regulation, two sessions of overtime, and another two periods of sudden death. During the 22-game season, UCLA outscored their opponents 61–16. The team continued to thrive in the following season, part of their success coming from Schmid's decision to move Cobi Jones from a midfield position to forward. Jones later played for Schmid in the MLS and became a top player for the national team. Schmid was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Coach of the Year for three years straight, and NCAA Coach of the Year in 1997 after UCLA defeated the University of Virginia to win a third NCAA championship. A reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch wrote that after winning just two titles in 17 postseason appearances, UCLA had finally shed "its 'underachiever' label". The writer also applauded Schmid's decision to move the team's leading striker into a midfield position which led to the player scoring the winning goal.
Schmid spent 19 seasons as the head coach at UCLA, accumulating a record of 322–63–33 , and reaching 16 consecutive playoffs between 1983 and 1998. He earned a reputation for producing some of the nation's best goalkeepers when David Vanole, Brad Friedel, and Matt Reis came through the university. By 1994, he had coached 16 players at UCLA who were later selected for the U.S. national team. Schmid avoided recruiting foreign talent to bolster his squad. He relied mainly on players from California, whom he believed to be less physically aggressive but more creative and attacking.
While coaching at UCLA, Schmid began to work with the U.S. national team. He was the assistant coach at the 1991 World University Games and traveled with the team to Germany in the fall of 1992. In January 1993, he was selected as an assistant to Bora Milutinović for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, during which five of Schmid's UCLA players appeared for the national team. He continued as an assistant during the 1995 Pan American Games. After being appointed U.S. Under-20 national team coach in January 1998, Schmid built his squad around defensive tactics. The team achieved second place in their group during the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, defeating England and Cameroon, but were eliminated by the eventual champions Spain in the opening knockout round. Schmid returned to coach the U-20 national team at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship. The U.S. won the group in the opening stage of the tournament without conceding a goal, but lost to Italy in the first round of the knockout stage. One of the forwards on the national team, Eric Wynalda, said that Schmid's organization on the field was disciplined. Wynalda commented that Schmid had a "great handle on the defensive side of the game" while he also admired that the strikers were allowed to be creative. Schmid was inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame in 2004 after working with UCLA, the national team, and the Los Angeles Galaxy.
LA Galaxy
Schmid left UCLA to replace Octavio Zambrano as head coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy five games into the 1999 MLS season. At the time, the team was ranked fifth in the Western Conference with a tally of only three goals. Under Schmid in the remainder of the season, the team had a record of 17–9, finished with the second-best record in the league and won their conference, earning him the MLS Coach of the Year Award. The team's captain, Robin Fraser, gave credit to Schmid's emphasis on defense after being named the MLS defender of the year. Los Angeles lost 2–0 to D.C. United in that year's MLS Cup. Schmid made critical comments of the referees after the match; he received a $1,000 fine and suspension for the first game of the following season.In 2000, Schmid guided Los Angeles to the playoffs but lost in the semifinals to the Kansas City Wizards. The team also played in that year's CONCACAF Champions' Cup, a competition consisting of the best clubs from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The Galaxy defeated the Honduran champion Olimpia 3–2 to win the Cup. Schmid was forced to play an atypical squad since the final was held during the MLS off-season while adjustments to the following season's lineup were being made.
His successful team of 2001 enjoyed attacking play. The squad included experienced players such as Cobi Jones, Sasha Victorine, Luis Hernández, Simon Elliott, and Mauricio Cienfuegos. The Galaxy won the conference by two points and finished fourth overall with a 14–7–5 record. The team went on to lose to the San Jose Earthquakes in the MLS Cup, but won the U.S. Open Cup a week later with a 2–1 overtime victory against the New England Revolution.
Success followed in 2002 when the Galaxy won the Supporters' Shield for having the best regular season record in the league. Schmid was lauded for his defensive tactics after adjusting the team's standard formation to a 3–5–2 early in the season. The shift allowed Alexi Lalas to play as a sweeper without specific marking responsibilities in the three-man defensive line. Schmid also brought Guatemalan forward Carlos Ruiz to the team; Ruiz won league Most Valuable Player award that year. Amidst criticism for failing to win in previous years, the franchise won its first MLS Cup with a 1–0 overtime victory against New England. The team again reached the Open Cup final but lost to the Columbus Crew.
Victory in the MLS Cup earned the team another berth in the 2003 CONCACAF Champions' Cup. Los Angeles advanced past Motagua in the first round but fell against Necaxa in the quarterfinals. In MLS, the club had its first losing season with a 9–12–9 record and no victories on the road. The Galaxy failed to score goals consistently during the year, managing only a fourth-place finish in the five-team Western Conference. In the first round of the playoffs, Los Angeles defeated San Jose 2–0 in the first leg, but during the second leg, conceded five goals in the second half of the match and were eliminated. Schmid was criticized by fans and the press speculated he would not return in 2004. A local writer put some of the blame on a switch to defensive style of play while some players questioned his tactics. After it was announced that he would remain in his role next season, Schmid expected a year of rebuilding the team. The following year, he was picked to coach the Western Conference in the All-Star game. Midway through the season, with the Galaxy in first place, Schmid was fired after a five-game stretch without any wins, in which the team scored only three goals. General manager Doug Hamilton said that the team had a mission "to compete for and win championships", and that "a more entertaining and attractive product on the field." was needed. Schmid left with an overall record of 79–53–32 with a 16–7–3 mark in the playoffs.
Reflecting on his demeanor in Los Angeles, Lalas said Schmid had "epic explosions". One reporter called him "combustible", while another referred to him as "fiery". Lalas also commented that playing for Schmid in Los Angeles required professionalism on and off the field.