Berhalter Formally Introduced as Fire Head of Soccer, New Coach

CHICAGO, IL–At the Waldorf Astoria in downtown Chicago, Chicago Fire FC owner Joe Mansueto and new director of football and head coach Gregg Berhalter held their press conference formally introducing the later to the Chicago media and public.

Mansueto revealed that he, outgoing sporting director Georg Heitz and Senior Vice President of Football  Operations Eddie Rock got together to find a replacement for Heitz. They had 80 candidates who expressed interest and they narrowed it down to three finalists. The search was initially just for a new director of football, but Berhalter impressed as a person who could do the dual role as director and coach like he did in Columbus.

“I’ve known Gregg for three to four years now,” said Mansueto. “As soon as I bought into the Fire five years ago, Gregg was kind enough to reach out to me and suggest lunch. We got together for lunch, and even on that first lunch I was super impressed with his knowledge of the game. I got to know Gregg over the subsequent few years. We would have lunch occasionally, get together. He’s got just such a deep background in the sport. As you know, over 30 years of experience, both as a player and as a coach. So he’s played in Europe, the Bundesliga, the Premier League, ended his career at the LA Galaxy. He has played in MLS. So a wide variety of experience as a player.

“When we came across Gregg, he expressed a desire to do both, Sporting Head and Head Coach. While
that was not initially our intention, because of who Gregg is and he had succeeded in this dual role
before, we were confident that it would work under Gregg’s leadership.

“From my perspective, what I wanted to do, what I try to do, is to create an environment where people can
do their best work. And if he can do his best work as Director of Football and Head Coach so there’s this
seamless connection, I’m fine with it, and he will build underneath him an organization to offload the
things — obviously you can’t do two full-time jobs, but he will build an organization around him, and I have
every confidence he can do that.”

Mansueto also noted Berhalter’s deep ties to Chicago stemming from when he was US Men’s National Team coach and interest to get to know the club straight away by visiting the players and discussing the roster.

“There were really two main reasons that made this opportunity compelling,” said Berhalter. ” The first thing was alignment. Me and Joe are very aligned on where we want this club to go. It’s really about creating an established,
successful, top-performing club in Major League Soccer and having consistency throughout the time that
we’re here.

“The second thing is about potential. This market, this club, this team has a ton of potential, and that’s
what makes it exciting. When I think about the new training facility coming online, it’s probably one of the
top one or two or three in Major League Soccer comparable to top Europe even facilities and an amazing
facility to welcome players into.

“The market of Chicago, the fan base here. I really see this opportunity as a sleeping giant, and we’re
going to give everything we have to make this team, to return this team to the top of Major League
Soccer.”

Frank Klopas will become Vice President of Soccer Operations after Saturday’s season finale against Nashville. Mansueto said that Klopas was enthusiastic about Berhalter coming in.

“As soon as we mentioned to Frank the possibility of bringing Gregg on, he got behind it 100 percent, and
he said, ‘You got to get this guy, you got to get this guy. I’ll step aside. I still want to be part of the
organization.’ Which he will, and he was very active and a key part in helping to recruit Gregg to the Club.
A huge thank you to Frank for all he has done.”

Mansueto also wanted Klopas to have a ‘meaty’ role within the organization and not just a ‘ceremonial’ one.

Berhalter addressed his sacking from the US National Team after their disappointing performance at last summer’s Copa America for the first time.

“So it’s a really difficult moment when you get fired as a coach,” said Berhalter. “I don’t want to liken this to life and death at
all, because it’s not. You’re still alive, but it is like mourning a death. You wake up the next day, and you
feel really bad. Your confidence takes a hit, and it’s a really difficult moment. For me it was really about
being with my family in those moments and giving myself the time and the freedom and the space to feel
sad and feel bad.

“You know, we didn’t perform well in Copa América, and when you don’t perform well at a high level,
there’s consequences. I take full responsibility for that, but it still hurts.”

Berhalter also continued to mention the vision that Mansueto has for the club and the potential alignment with the new performance center on the way as well as an opportunity to invest in the upcoming transfer window with two (maybe three) open designated player spots.

Also part of the alignment that was mentioned in earnest for the first time was a new soccer-specific stadium for the Fire being “the last piece of the puzzle”. The Fire currently play at Soldier Field, but the Bears have five days’ priority before their home games which leads at times to games moved to SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. There are also summer concerts that contribute to the Fire playing most of their home games in the spring and late fall.

“We are active in looking for a stadium, a soccer-specific stadium for the Fire,” said Mansueto. “We’ve been doing site tours. We’re looking around. To me it’s the last piece of the puzzle with this Club. I think when I came in five years ago, we moved first to Soldier Field, which was a good move. We’ve revamped the business side under Dave Baldwin.”

“Now we have new sporting leadership. We have the Endeavor Health Performance Center coming online.
The last piece is the stadium, and we don’t have the optimal solution there because of the limitations I
referenced. Having our own soccer-specific stadium is what we would like to see, so we’re actively
pursuing that. If we can find the right parcel in Chicago, I think we’ll move forward on it.”

Mansueto mentioned in an article in Crain’s Chicago Business that the Fire would privately fund the new stadium when it came to pass. At least the Bears, White Sox, and Red Stars have lobbied the State of Illinois for public subsidies. Crain’s also mentioned that Mansueto has toured Lincoln Yards on the city’s North Side, The 78 in the South Loop and the former Michael Reese Hospital site south of McCormick Place as possible destinations for a new venue.

Lincoln Yards was the site of a possible stadium for a USL side a few years ago from developers Sterling Bay, but the projected was shut down after local opposition to noise. The 78 is also eyed by the Chicago White Sox in their quest for a new stadium. Related Midwest CEO Curt Bailey said a Fire stadium and White Sox stadium could both fit at The 78, which spans 62 acres along the South Branch of the Chicago River. The Reese site was on the short list of alternative sites for the Bears before focusing on the site just south of Soldier Field where the Lakeside East building currently stands. Manuseto also hasn’t ruled out working with the Red Stars on building a stadium together.

Of course, all of that is in the distant future. As for 2025, Berhalter has these goals for the Fire.

“I think two things. First of all, a very clear identity on the field. When you look at our team, you should
see something very similar game-over-game, and it should be very strong, very established.

“The second thing would be making the playoffs. I think that is a minimum requirement in MLS, and that’s
what we’re striving for next year. Really it’s just about being a consistent top performer throughout the
years, but it needs to start with an identity and then actually making that first step.”

All of this has been billed as a “Path to Tomorrow” since the Berhalter hiring was announced. Thursday was another day in setting that vision for tomorrow.