SOCCER AMERICA FEATURE: John Ellinger moves up

John Ellinger left his job of six years with the U.S. under-17 national team coach to become Real Salt Lake's first coach, the latest move in a career that's been full of risks and success.

By Will Kuhns

As John Ellinger charts new territory for himself, he is coming back to where it all started.

One of Ellinger's first tasks as head coach of Real Salt Lake was the MLS SuperDraft, which, by coincidence, took place in Baltimore this year. Ellinger grew up in Laurel, Md., went to Frostburg State in Maryland and coached for 10 seasons at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC).

This is not Ellinger's first professional head coaching job — that was a stint with the Washington Diplomats of the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 — nor his first MLS job — that was in 1996 as an assistant for the Columbus Crew. But it is a pinnacle of his career thus far.

"It's just great. I never really envisioned something like this, even when I was doing the APSL thing," says Ellinger, 53. "I knew I wanted to coach at the Division I college level, and when I left Columbus in 1996, I knew I'd like to return to the league some day. A couple opportunities have come by since then to get back in the league, but I definitely like this one the best because it's an expansion team and you kind of get to put your stamp on it."
For the past six years, Ellinger has been so successful as coach of the U.S. Under-17 team that the question hounding his name in soccer circles is whether he can make the jump to the pros and deal with grown men.

Kansas City coach Bob Gansler believes that Ellinger can.

"I think people forget that he has worked with adults, too," says Gansler. "And then again, coaching is coaching. It's the same game, you just have to take a look at your clientele."
Gansler administered Ellinger's U.S. Soccer Federation coaching courses at the C, B, and A levels and, when Gansler was U.S. coach, selected Ellinger to coach the National "B" team.

"Ellinger stood out because he was so thorough, so attentive to every detail and because of his calm demeanor," Gansler says. "I don't recall John ever raising his voice. I don't recall him exploding. He's able to deal with things as they come. I think he's confident he can solve the problem. He's insightful, and it's like raising kids — the louder you speak, the less you're heard. So then you're whispering, and you've got their attention. Sometimes that works with grownups, too."

Perhaps it's fitting that Ellinger came back to where it all started, since he's still using the same even-tempered, easy-going manner he had from the beginning, as Frostburg's assistant lacrosse coach in 1974.

Ellinger's style helped him establish smooth relations with fellow coaches and administrators as he dabbled in all levels of coaching — youth, high school, college, professional and national teams. It steadied his Columbia City United youth team when it scored four goals while down a man to win its second straight national title in 1997. It allowed him to check, with dry wit, the often-saucy egos of the U-17s, seven of whom — Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey, Oguchi Onyewu, Ed Johnson, Eddie Gaven and Jonathan Spector — are already senior internationals and solid pros. He also managed to handle the frenzy surrounding Freddy Adu, whom he had in residency for four semesters.
And it helped him earn a fan who would become the marquee player on his first MLS team.

MARQUEE MAN. Clint Mathis makes it sound like he returned from Europe strictly for John Ellinger. Granted, there was also the feud with his coach, Ewald Lienen at Hannover 96 of Germany's Bundesliga. Irked about a lack of playing time and a lack of communication, Mathis celebrated his first goal after a long drought by gesturing to Lienen about giving him more playing time. The result was two months on the bench.

Yet for a guy who left MLS just over a year ago saying he needed a new challenge, Mathis sounds plenty eager to be back.

"I knew I was never going to play for [Lienen] again," Mathis says. "I had my agents checking out a couple clubs in Europe, but when I found out John was going to be the coach at Salt Lake, I kind of ixnayed on the other clubs and put John at the top of my list."

Mathis played for Ellinger at the 1997 World University Games, where the U.S. team finished third, its best-ever showing at that event. The two kept in touch ever since, with Mathis speaking on several occasions to Ellinger's U-17 teams about the rigors of professional soccer. Mathis says that at some point he promised Ellinger he would play for him if Ellinger became an MLS head coach. What did Mathis like so much about Ellinger to make such a pledge?

"I can say it in a word: He's honest," Mathis says. "He knows the game and while a lot of coaches know the game, he doesn't beat around the bush. He tells you what's on his mind and what's in his heart, which is pretty much what I do."

Mathis felt that Lienen was dishonest with him, and therefore did not deserve an apology for the celebratory protest.

"He wouldn't listen to me any other way," Mathis said. "I would never take anything back."
As each of his last two seasons in MLS concluded, Mathis received heavy criticism from then-MetroStars coach Octavio Zambrano (in 2002) and general manager Nick Sakiewicz (2003). U.S. coach Bruce Arena once publicly questioned Mathis's work ethic. Those stories, combined with the Lienen fiasco, cement for Mathis the reputation of, at best, a coach's headache, or at worst a problem child. But that reputation entices Ellinger rather than repelling him.

"Clint's a player who has his personality and his passion — that's part of Clint's game and I respect that," Ellinger says. "I don't think it's a problem at all. In fact, when he's at his best, he's using that part of it to his advantage. I never want to change that about him. I know how competitive he is. Clint will be one of the leaders on this team."

CRAFTING RSL. With the brazen Mathis forging the new club's identity, Ellinger looks to round out Real Salt Lake's inaugural season roster. The most experienced players, along with Mathis, are forward Jason Kreis, the league's all-time leading goal scorer, and journeymen midfielders Andy Williams and Brian Kamler. The team also has three other players with at least five MLS seasons under their belts: forward Chris Brown and defenders Rusty Pierce and Evan Whitfield. Those more than one season of experience include: Nelson Akwari, Matt Behncke, D.J. Countess, Dipsy Selolwane and Jeff Stewart.

Although the team is pursuing Brian Dunseth (in Sweden the past two years after seven seasons in MLS), Trinidad and Tobago defender Marlon Rojas, and "a 6-foot-5 Bosnian center back," Ellinger says, it isn't likely to use all of its assets immediately.

"We're still going to have some Transitional International and Senior International spots available at the start of the season, for sure," Ellinger said. "We just felt, being an expansion team, that we'd have to wait and see where we stand after a month or two."

"Obviously systems are geared toward your players and their strengths," Ellinger says. "We'd like to play with four in the back, but I think the guys we have will certainly give us some options. The toughest part will be patience, because I'm a very competitive person, and our goals will be just like every other team in the league: to make the playoffs, win MLS Cup and win the Open Cup, but as an expansion team we have to be patient."

Yet for many among his "home" crowd at the draft in Baltimore, Ellinger has already achieved a lot through patience and perseverance.