D.C. United and the Washington Freedom both have head coaching jobs to fill this winter. Let’s talk candidates and buzz.
Starting with D.C. United, one name that I’ve heard is Denis Hamlett, a former player at George Mason who spent ten years as an assistant with the Chicago Fire before a two-year stint as head coach. He was fired after accumulating a 24-17-19 record and going to two Eastern Conference finals. He’s currently the head coach at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Hamlett interviewed earlier this year for the Portland Timbers job, which was eventually filled by John Spencer.
At this point, I can’t speculate as to where Hamlett might fall in the preferred pecking order, only that there is some interest. D.C. certainly seems intent on exploring its options, both international and domestic.
On the women’s side, a leading candidate could be right under the Freedom’s nose, as former U.S. women’s national team coach April Heinrichs still resides in the Washington area, and the word I’m getting is that she has expressed interest in replacing departed Jim Gabarra, who didn’t take long to land on his feet at Sky Blue FC.
Heinrichs was the U.S. coach from 2000-04, a position she inherited from after spending half a decade as the assistant to Tony DiCicco. After guiding the U.S. to a silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and a third-place finish at the 2003 Women’s World Cup, Heinrichs finally got to the top of the podium in 2004 at the Athens Summer Olympics. Heinrichs spent 2006 as the head coach at the University of California, Irvine, but she has been out of coaching since.
Another candidate’s named that I’ve heard is Terry Foley, who is currently the director of player personnel for the Philadelphia Independence.
