GOING OUT ON TOP
2-time Cup champ Ellis to step down
U.S. women’s soccer coach Jill Ellis, who guided the Americans to back-toback World Cup titles for the first time in their history, announced Tuesday she is stepping down from her post.
U.S. Soccer said in a news release that Ellis, 52, will coach the national team throughout its five-game victory tour before transitioning into the role of U.S. Soccer Ambassador in October. She will depart as the second-winningest coach in U.S. Soccer history and the only coach to win two women’s World Cups.
“The timing of this is I think good
“The timing is right to move on and the program is positioned to remain at the pinnacle of women’s soccer.” Jill Ellis U.S. women’s national team coach
not just for me on a personal level, but also for the program, in terms of preparing to start a new (World Cup) cycle,” Ellis said on a conference call Tuesday. “It just felt right. It felt good.”
An English immigrant who got her start as a college coach, Ellis spent the better part of the past two decades
with U.S. Soccer in one capacity or another. She was a scout, youth coach, assistant coach, development director – and then, as of 2014, the head coach of the senior national team.
With Ellis at the helm, the U.S. women’s soccer team won eight tournaments – including one World Cup in 2015 and another this summer – and led the Americans to an overall record of 102-7-18.
They never lost a World Cup match under Ellis’ watch and outscored their opponents 40-6 during her tenure, thriving as she made unconventional moves at several critical junctures.
“Jill was always extremely passionate about this team, analytical, tremendously focused and not afraid to make tough decisions while giving her players the freedom to play to their strengths,” U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro said in a statement. “She helped raise the bar for women’s soccer in the USA and the world, and given the history of this program, the level of success she achieved is even more remarkable.”
U.S. Soccer said it will soon name a general manager for its women’s program, then begin the search for its next head coach. The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo are less than a year away.
“Obviously, the Olympics stand alone. They’re very, very important,” Ellis said. “But I also think it gives a coach an opportunity to really have a world event before the next World Cup, and I think that’s important . ... It just feels like an appropriate break in the cycle.”