Klopas to coach Fire for the rest of the season.
CHICAGO, IL—On Monday, Chicago Fire FC announced that they have parted ways with head coach Ezra Hendrickson. Assistant coach Frank Klopas will coach the team for the remainder of the season. Assistant coach Junior Gonzalez has also left the club while assistant CJ Brown and goalkeeper coach Zach Thornton continue on with their roles.
A media conference is set for 2pm CT on Monday with sporting director Georg Heitz and coach Frank Klopas.
“This was a difficult decision, but after careful consideration, we felt that a change was necessary at this time as we work toward our goal of advancing to the playoffs and competing for trophies,” said Heitz in a press release. “We’d like to thank Ezra and Junior for their efforts during the past two seasons, and we wish them all the best in their future endeavors.”
Hendrickson originally joined the Fire as head coach on November 24th, 2021, after spending 13 years coaching at the domestic and international levels. During this tenure with the Club, the team compiled a 12-18-14 regular season record across the last two seasons.
This will be the third time that Klopas has succeeded a head coach at the Fire. He replaced Carlos de los Cobos in 2011 and stayed on the job until the end of the 2013 season. He later succeeded Raphael Wicky on an interim basis for the final few matches of the 2021 season. He has a 36-28-18 record as coach of the Fire. Klopas has also been a player, technical director, and commentator for the broadcasts for the club.
COMMENT: I’m going to start with what Brian Sandalow lead with in his story in the Chicago Sun-Times:
“Sporting director Georg Heitz has missed on every designated player he’s signed. His best moves have been selling teenagers to European clubs, he’s shown no ability to build an MLS winner and has the Fire on track to miss the playoffs for a fourth straight year under his watch. Yet Heitz still has his job, but coach Ezra Hendrickson doesn’t.”
Apple TV commentator Jamie Watson called out Shaqiri for being too nonchalant after giving the ball away late in a match last Saturday against Nashville. He is certainly not the only one. The team is clearly better with Brian Gutierrez in central midfield leading the attack.
Georg Heitz has now struck out on two coaches and each of the five Designated Players have even come close to the impact Hany Mukhtar has had in Nashville. Many Fire fans thought he should have been replaced after last season, but the Fire picked up his option while letting an arguably better replacement in Garth Lagerway go to Atlanta.
If anything, 2024, when the Fire can finally wear red for the home kits, will be a year of massive change. That change will have to occur at all levels of the soccer operations if the Fire miss the playoffs for the sixth straight season (which only one MLS team has ever done) and the fans will turn on owner Joe Mansueto if they have not done so already.
Making the move right now will only work if the Fire manage to go far in the US Open Cup and/or make the MLS playoffs. This team continues to show a disconnect between the talent that is on the pitch and the ability to see out results. Failing both, then Joe Mansueto, whom many in MLS circles is “prepared to do anything” to help the club, will need to go all out to do a massive re-organization of the soccer operations of the club.
(Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story had erroneously mentioned that Frank Klopas replaced Rafael Wicky in 2019. It was 2021. Our bad!)
