Sounders made a good call in dropping Schmetzer’s ‘interim’ tag

I got preempted by the Seattle Sounders.

My intention was to use this week’s column to lobby for Sounders interim head coach Brian Schmetzer to have the “interim” tag removed from his title. However, the Sounders beat me to the punch, chiseling those seven letters from his desk nameplate Wednesday night during their annual meeting with season ticket holders.

To which I have just one response: What took so long?

Sunday night, the Sounders will attempt to advance in the Major League Soccer playoffs. They carry a three-goal lead into the second leg of their Western Conference semifinal against FC Dallas in Frisco, Texas. And thankfully, they do so with a head coach who no longer has the “interim” cloud hanging over his head.

A couple weeks ago I had a conversation with another reporter about Schmetzer. He was of the opinion that the Sounders would need to win the MLS Cup for Schmetzer to be given the full-time head coaching gig. His reasoning was that the Sounders consider themselves one of the glamour teams in MLS. Therefore, Seattle would have to make a splashy big-name hire in order to placate its rabid fanbase, someone with the stature to match Schmetzer’s predecessor, the legendary Sigi Schmid, who was fired in July. The reporter had former U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley at the top of his list before Bradley took the job managing Swansea in the English Premier League last month.

And let’s be honest, Schmetzer is about as anti-Hollywood as it gets. While someone such as Bradley has jet set his way around the world, guiding teams on three different continents, Schmetzer’s soccer career has barely penetrated the boundaries of Seattle.

But should that be a disqualifier? There’s never been a more loyal servant to the Sounders than Schmetzer. The Seattle native played for the NASL version of the Sounders in 1980. He coached the USL version of the Sounders from 2002-08. He was an assistant under Schmid with the MLS version from the time the team began play in 2009. If the Sounders had a national flag, Schmetzer’s face would be in one corner of it.

Yet there were those who didn’t consider Schmetzer a sexy enough candidate for the head job.

But if there’s one thing fans love more than the pizzazz of big stars and big names, it’s winning. And the Sounders have done nothing but win since Schmetzer was elevated to interim head coach following Schmid’s firing. When Schmetzer was hired, the Sounders were 6-12-2 and in ninth place in the Western Conference. Fans had all but accepted this would be the first time in the franchise’s eight-season history Seattle would miss the playoffs. But after Schmetzer took the reins, the Sounders went 8-2-4 and surged to the conference’s fourth seed.

Seattle earned 28 points in its last 14 regular-season games. Had the Sounders won at that rate the entire season, they would have finished with 68 points. To put that in perspective, Sunday’s opponent, Dallas, won the Supporter’s Shield for the league’s best regular-season record with 60 points. That’s right, under Schmetzer the Sounders were the best team in the league by some margin.

How could anyone think Schmetzer hadn’t earned the right to have the “interim” tag removed?

It wasn’t just Seattle’s results. When I covered Sounders games following Schmetzer’s elevation I came away impressed with how he handled himself in the postgame press conferences. Schmetzer is measured with his answers, always pausing a moment before responding to make sure he has his thoughts in order and says the right things. But while his answers are measured, they’re also honest. He doesn’t shy away from saying what needs to be said, he just makes sure it’s presented in the right manner.

Put it all together and I was convinced. So, apparently, was general manager Garth Lagerwey. When asked at the business meeting why he decided to give Schmetzer the full-time job now, he responded with a single word: “Duh.”

The Sounders will spend Sunday trying to take care of business on the field in Frisco, as they look to hold onto their commanding three-goal lead in the second leg of their conference semifinal.

Perhaps even more important, though, was the the business the Sounders took care of this week off the field.

For more on the Seattle sports scene, check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at www.heraldnet.com/tag/seattle-sidelines, or follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.