PARIS — One day last winter, Crystal Dunn sent Emma Hayes a text.
The message was something along the lines of, “Ma’am, I hear rumors!” Dunn recalled recently, and it was rooted in the bubbling speculation at the time that Hayes was going to become the new coach of the United States women’s national team.
Dunn, a veteran defender who had played a season under Hayes at Chelsea before moving to the NWSL, said Hayes seemed excited but was understandably circumspect in their exchange, and Dunn concluded it by telling Hayes: “I hope it’s true. Because I think you’re going to be amazing.”
Nearly 10 months on, that interaction lives large in Dunn’s memory primarily because Hayes did in fact become the U.S. coach and, in a whirlwind start, has already delivered: The Americans won an Olympic gold medal on Saturday in Hayes’ first major tournament in charge.
It is, by any measure, an auspicious beginning for Hayes, who just came on the job in June after completing the club season. But it is also illustrative of what the future may hold for a program that is very clearly changing.
In a short time, Hayes has touched the team’s personnel, tactics and playing style in…
