By Will Martin
It was announced on Friday, October 18th that Schellas Hyndman will step down from his coaching duties from FC Dallas at the conclusion of this season.
One final home game remains Saturday October 19th with the Seattle Sounders. Hyndman joined the FC Dallas family in 2008, made an MLS Cup appearance, and amassed 244 points as coach for FC Dallas which is the most in their history.
“I truly appreciate the opportunity to be a part of the FC Dallas family for the last five years,” Hyndman said. “After a lot of thought and consideration, I feel the time is right for me to step down as head coach of FC Dallas. I want to thank the Hunt family for their support and friendship, our players, coaches and front office for their dedication and effort during my time here, and especially the great FC Dallas fans.”
In five seasons with the club, Schellas Hyndman had a collective record of 62-57-58 while earning himself an MLS Manager Of The Year award in 2010 for his teams efforts and hard work. A couple of things not lost on FC Dallas Chairman Clark Hunt who was quick to give his thanks to Coach Hyndman.
“My family and I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for Schellas both as a coach and as a person, and we sincerely appreciate his contributions to the club over the last five-and-a-half seasons,” Hunt said. “Having had the pleasure of knowing him for the last 30 years, I have seen first-hand his commitment to his craft and the passion he has for the game. We wish him well in the next chapter of his life, and he will be missed.”
After Saturdays 1:30 start time with the Seattle Sounders FC Dallas plays one final game on October 26th with the San Jose Earthquakes in California.
Dan Hunt, vice president of Hunt Sports Group, echoed the family’s sentiments about Hyndman.
“We are very grateful for Schellas’ hard work and commitment to FC Dallas,” Dan Hunt said. “Whether with our fans, our front office or in our community, he has always represented FCD and our family with class, and we wish him nothing but the best in the future.”
In 2007, Hyndman was enshrined into the Walk of Fame at Toyota Stadium, an honor given to those who have made significant contributions to the sport of soccer in Texas. He is also a former president of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (2005).
Before joining FC Dallas, Hyndman spent 31 seasons as a college head coach, including 24 at nearby Southern Methodist University. Hyndman ranks fifth all-time in victories among Division I coaches, posting an all-time college record of 466-122-49, which includes a record of 368-98-38 at SMU and 98-24-11 at Eastern Illinois University, where he was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame. In 31 years as coach, he led his schools to 30 NCAA playoff appearances, 11 quarter finals and five final fours (three in Division I, two in Division II). He was named National Coach of the Year in 1981 and also earned eight League Coach of the Year honors during his career (WAC: 1997, 1998, 1999; MVC: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004; Conference USA: 2006).
In the last few weeks there were fan chants of ‘Fire Schellas!’ with the Bronx Cheer hand clap. I now change that to ‘Thank You, Schellas’. He was always easy to talk to about anything. He will be missed.
Two people now have left their respective clubs who began their journey in 2008. I’ll get to Nolan Ryan in my next post. We here at Blitz Weekly we wish Schellas Hyndman the very best in whatever he does next in life. You can expect a long and laborious search for the next FC Dallas coach to earn that distinction.
