Published: Thursday, July 14, 2011
Sounders coach gets contract extension
SEATTLE — In the midst of perhaps the best run in franchise history, Sounders FC has reached an agreement with Sigi Schmid to keep the head coach around well into the future.
Schmid, who’s in the final guaranteed year of the contract he agreed to before Seattle’s expansion season in Major League Soccer in 2009, signed a deal that can potentially keep him in Seattle through the 2015 season.
“I’m excited and really happy,” said Schmid, whose team is coming off a quarterfinal win in the U.S. Open Cup and is unbeaten in eight straight league games. “I’m proud that the ownership felt it was something they wanted to do. I love Seattle. I love coaching here and I love being here. So to be able to know that I can continue here is tremendous.”
While the timing of Schmid’s re-signing coincides with a hot streak, the deal had a lot more to do with the big picture, according to general manager and minority owner Adrian Hanauer. Seattle has made the playoffs in each of its first two seasons, while also winning two straight U.S. Open Cups. Just past the midway point of season No. 3, Sounders FC is near the top of the standings again.
“We’ve had ups and downs; were going to continue to have ups and downs,” Hanauer said. “But when you look at the body of work and what this team has accomplished, and what Sigi has accomplished, and what Sigi has put together in terms of a coaching staff and infrastructure and the successes, to me it was a no-brainer.”
Hanauer declined to get into the specifics of the deal, but described the contract saying, “There are some guaranteed years and there are some triggers for success that we actually came together and worked on to come up with a cool structure that we like. And I think it’s fair to both. If we’re successful, Sigi’s here through 2015. But it does give the club the option.”
Schmid said his first few years in Seattle exceeded his expectations, even getting in a not-so-subtle dig at Portland by saying, “To me, this is Soccer City USA.” He added that he has no intention of coaching anywhere else in his career, though he conceded he thought the same thing when he took MLS jobs in Los Angeles and Columbus. Schmid said he wasn’t worried about getting a deal done.
“It’s not something where I came into the season with the last of the guaranteed years and said, ‘Hey, hey, can we hammer this out? Can we talk about this?’” he said. “It was like, it’ll get done when it gets done and it’ll run its course when it runs its course. I was always confident of the job I was doing. I was confident of what they felt about it. Being able to stay is tremendous.”
New-look field
With Seattle hosting Manchester United for a friendly next week, natural grass has been installed on top of the normal FieldTurf surface at CenturyLink Field. Sounders FC trained on the field Thursday, and plays Colorado at home Saturday. This is not the first time grass has been put in for a game — Seattle played friendlies against Barcelona and Chelea on a temporary surface in 2009 — but players say it is better this time around.
“The grass looks good,” goalkeeper Kasey Keller said. “I think of all the games that we’ve put grass on here, this is probably the best it’s looked. I don’t know if it’s because they’ve had some time to lay it earlier and the weather’s cooperated a bit, but it feels pretty good today. The ball bounces a little bit, it’s skipping, so hopefully it’ll be solid for the next couple of games.”
Once the grass is removed from the stadium, it will be sent to Archbishop Murphy High School in Everett to be put on the school’s football field.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.
Schmid, who’s in the final guaranteed year of the contract he agreed to before Seattle’s expansion season in Major League Soccer in 2009, signed a deal that can potentially keep him in Seattle through the 2015 season.
“I’m excited and really happy,” said Schmid, whose team is coming off a quarterfinal win in the U.S. Open Cup and is unbeaten in eight straight league games. “I’m proud that the ownership felt it was something they wanted to do. I love Seattle. I love coaching here and I love being here. So to be able to know that I can continue here is tremendous.”
While the timing of Schmid’s re-signing coincides with a hot streak, the deal had a lot more to do with the big picture, according to general manager and minority owner Adrian Hanauer. Seattle has made the playoffs in each of its first two seasons, while also winning two straight U.S. Open Cups. Just past the midway point of season No. 3, Sounders FC is near the top of the standings again.
“We’ve had ups and downs; were going to continue to have ups and downs,” Hanauer said. “But when you look at the body of work and what this team has accomplished, and what Sigi has accomplished, and what Sigi has put together in terms of a coaching staff and infrastructure and the successes, to me it was a no-brainer.”
Hanauer declined to get into the specifics of the deal, but described the contract saying, “There are some guaranteed years and there are some triggers for success that we actually came together and worked on to come up with a cool structure that we like. And I think it’s fair to both. If we’re successful, Sigi’s here through 2015. But it does give the club the option.”
Schmid said his first few years in Seattle exceeded his expectations, even getting in a not-so-subtle dig at Portland by saying, “To me, this is Soccer City USA.” He added that he has no intention of coaching anywhere else in his career, though he conceded he thought the same thing when he took MLS jobs in Los Angeles and Columbus. Schmid said he wasn’t worried about getting a deal done.
“It’s not something where I came into the season with the last of the guaranteed years and said, ‘Hey, hey, can we hammer this out? Can we talk about this?’” he said. “It was like, it’ll get done when it gets done and it’ll run its course when it runs its course. I was always confident of the job I was doing. I was confident of what they felt about it. Being able to stay is tremendous.”
New-look field
With Seattle hosting Manchester United for a friendly next week, natural grass has been installed on top of the normal FieldTurf surface at CenturyLink Field. Sounders FC trained on the field Thursday, and plays Colorado at home Saturday. This is not the first time grass has been put in for a game — Seattle played friendlies against Barcelona and Chelea on a temporary surface in 2009 — but players say it is better this time around.
“The grass looks good,” goalkeeper Kasey Keller said. “I think of all the games that we’ve put grass on here, this is probably the best it’s looked. I don’t know if it’s because they’ve had some time to lay it earlier and the weather’s cooperated a bit, but it feels pretty good today. The ball bounces a little bit, it’s skipping, so hopefully it’ll be solid for the next couple of games.”
Once the grass is removed from the stadium, it will be sent to Archbishop Murphy High School in Everett to be put on the school’s football field.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.
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