Search for next USMNT coach is first item on Matt Crocker’s agenda as U.S. Soccer sporting director

U.S. Soccer officially announced Matt Crocker as its new sporting director in a news conference Tuesday.

Crocker, currently the director of sporting operations at the English Premier League’s Southampton, will start his new role on Aug. 2, but will begin immediately in leading the search for the U.S. men’s national team head coach and supporting the U.S. women’s national team ahead of this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Crocker spent seven years with England’s Football Association as head of development teams and strategic and cultural lead, helping to establish the “England DNA,” which is the playing and coaching styles in national team set-ups. In that role, he designed and implemented organizational blueprints for both the men’s and women’s national team set-ups from the under-15 level through to the senior national team. He also played a role in coaching education.

During that time, England’s men’s teams won both the 2017 Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups, as well as the 2019 Under-19 title.

“Matt has great experience in developing talent, implementing a clear and consistent playing philosophy from youth to senior teams and implementing coaching programming,” U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone said. “After spending some time with Matt, it…