5 Candidates To Replace Tom Sermanni

The wait will soon be over for the US Women’s National Team. US Soccer president Sunil Gulati stated in a recent interview with NBC Sports, that the search for a new coach will conclude by mid-May.

This is great news for a US team that will be going on almost two months without a coach by the time a replacement is found. It was a shock to the soccer world when it was revealed that Tom Sermanni was relieved of his coaching duties with the USWNT in early April. Sermanni posted a record of 18-4-2 while at the helm, which caused a lot of confusion when he was officially released.

Now that the dust has finally settled, the US Soccer Federation has turned their attention to finding Sermanni’s successor. Several names have already been tossed around for potential candidates.

We here at The American Pitch wanted to assemble our own list of who we believe the Top 5 Candidates To Replace Tom Sermanni are. This list was well thought out and very well researched, for many reasons. Most of all though, because we believe there are many talented and well qualified coaches that could easily fill the vacant coaching position.

1. Jillian Ellis-(Current Interim US Head Coach) Ellis certainly has an advantage over all the candidates being considered for the next head coach. Primarily because she has tremendous experience with the team and is the acting head coach right now. Her knowledge of the game and years of experience with the organization makes her almost over qualified for this position. The players love her and respect Ellis so there would be no trouble in terms of player-coach relationships.

2. Tony Gustavsson-(Current Coach of Swedish Club Tyreso) Gustavsson has been tagged by both current and former USWNT players as one of the more logical choices to replace Sermanni. His experience with the team stems from his days of being an assistant under former coach Pia Sundhage. What is more, his current club is headed for bankruptcy, making his services available full-time very soon.

3. Omid Nazami– (Current Assistant Coach of USWNT) Just a few weeks before Sermanni was let go, Nazami was brought in as a full-time assistant coach. Because of his rank on the squad, he could very well be next in-line for the head coach position. Nazami has experience coaching both internationally with the USWNT and at the club level with the Chicago Red Stars. This dynamic tandem could be just the right mix to land him the coaching job.

4. Randy Waldrum-(Current Houston Dash Coach) Waldrum’s name continues to come up as a potential replacement. His record as the coach of Notre Dame is quite impressive. On top of that, Waldrum has been the head coach of the USWNT U-23 squad since 2012. His experience coaching within the US Soccer organization does give him a leg-up on many of the candidates being considered.

5. Paul Riley-(Current Coach of the Portland Thorns) Riley is in his first season as coach for the Thorns. Becoming the coach of a defending champ is never easy, especially when you are in a dynamic league like the NWSL. Riley was originally in-line for the England coaching job last year but was unfortunately passed over for a job he rightfully deserved. It would be interesting to see if he could balance club and international duties if he is chosen. That may be one huge factor when determining whether or not he is fit for the position.