Amid much speculation and much media confirmation, Luchi Gonzalez has been named as the 7th FC Dallas Head Coach. He will be the 2nd youngest active MLS coach (behind Anthony Hudson of the Colorado Rapids).
Gonzalez first joined the club back in 2012 where he was the U-18 coach until 2014 and became the U-16 coach up to 2018. He was appointed to Academy Director in 2015. He has 3 coaching titles: 2008 Florida State Championship, 2015 U-16 USSDA National Championship, and the 2016 U-16 USSDA National Championship.
“During our exhaustive head coaching search, it was clear that his philosophical approach to the game and love for this organization make him the right choice to guide the future of our first team” stated Dan Hunt on his new coach. FC Dallas has signed 15 Homegrown players coached by Gonzalez since he joined the organization: Kellyn Acosta, Danny Garcia, Jesse Gonzalez, Coy Craft, Alejandro Zendejas, Aaron Guillen, Paxton Pomykal, Jesus Ferreira, Bryan Reynolds, Reggie Cannon, Brandon Servania, Kris Reaves, Jordan Cano, Chris Richards, and Thomas Roberts.
Echoing the homegrown model, it seems fitting that FC Dallas would choose one of their own from the Academy as head coach. With the recently trades and signs indicating that the team is to go young in the upcoming future, Luchi Gonzalez is arguably the most fitting choice for this team. He knows the workings of this club, the players in the first-team and Academy, as well as the model of the club. FC Dallas has not only gotten players from their Academy but now their coach. I think that this is a really interesting choice if you look at the similarities between players and now coach choice.
This is a very exciting time for the club. It is hard to not see that the club is trying to go young. 2019 is shaping to be a very interesting and exciting year. FC Dallas has an exciting upcoming core of players and an exciting up and coming coach. From face value, it seems like the best match. Sure some will say that the Hunts are being cheap and found the cheapest option but how many coaches are going to be familiar with the model that FC Dallas has? How many coaches are really going to take on the challenge of being a club that finds low-cost high-reward players and possibly sells them? How many coaches are going to take the chance at not having the resources like an Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Galaxy etc? We have seen that the model that the Hunts are going for works, look at New York Red Bulls.
There is no saying that Luchi will do well or that he will do bad. I think that 2019 will be a growing season and that there will be much to look forward to. It will be an exciting season to see how the team and Luchi grow. Who knows, maybe he will be as successful as Giovanni Savarese and take FC Dallas far and worst case it proves to be a learning period for everyone. It will be a time of change and learning but surely one that will prove to be very fruitful. Here’s to the future.
Featured Image: FC Dallas
