COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Columbus Crew began an administrative overhaul today with the hiring of Gregg Berhalter as its seventh head coach in club history.
The adjustments will also mean there is no more room for Brian Bliss, who served the final eight games of the season as interim head coach when Robert Warzycha in September, and a change of duties for President Mark McCullers who will turn his attention from the post of general manager to focus primarily on the club’s business operations.
“For some time now, we have agreed that the General Manager responsibilities should live with someone specifically housed in the competition division of our club. This is a natural evolution in the growth and development of our organization,” he said.
Berhalter will combine the job of head coach with the duties of the team’s first-ever Sporting Director, overseeing all player personnel decisions, McCullers said.
Terms of Berhalter’s agreement were not disclosed.
A former United States international, U.S. Men’s National Team veteran and Major League Soccer player, Berhalter made professional soccer history in 2011, becoming the first American to manage a European professional club, when he was hired as the Head Coach of Swedish side Hammarby IF.
The team’s former technical director, Bliss departs after six seasons, serving as interim coach for the final eight matches of 2013, during which he went 4-4-0.
McCullers says Bliss’s departure will “provide Berhalter the opportunity to implement his vision for the Crew’s soccer operations.”
“Now is the time for us to consider the overall structure of the technical side of our organization,” McCullers said.
“Brian has been a loyal and invaluable executive within our club over the past six years. We feel that now is the appropriate time for full-scale changes to our soccer operations, and unfortunately Brian’s departure is a part of that process, chairman and Investor-Operator Anthony Precourt said.