The Chicago Fire have a “new” head coach as the club removed the interim tag and named Frank Klopas as their new coach. Klopas took over as head coach following Ezra Hendrickson’s dismissal last season.
“We conducted a thorough process with numerous well-qualified candidates, and we believe that Frank Klopas is the right person to lead the team,” said Chicago Fire FC sporting director Georg Heitz. “Frank is hardworking, has strong relationships with our players and staff, and knows what it takes to be successful in this League.”
This will be Klopas’ second stint as the head coach with his first spell coming in 2011.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
“I have never made it a secret of how much I care for and love this club. Chicago is my home and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to help this club become successful,” Klopas said. “Stepping back on the field is where I feel I can best help this club now and for the future. I want to build a culture of winning.
It’s the mentality I want from every player that puts on a Fire jersey, a winning mentality where everyone will do whatever it takes for the success of the club.”
Klopas is going to have his work cut out for him in building a winning mentality.
The last time the Fire made the playoffs was back in 2017. Since then, the Fire have finished near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Chicago missed out on the playoffs last season despite a format where nine out of the 15 teams in the conference qualify.
However, it was the closest the Fire have come to reaching the playoffs as they were in the hunt up until the last matchday of the season.
Sneaking in, however, is not the goal Klopas wants for the Fire.
“Our goal shouldn’t be to sneak into the playoffs,” Klopas said. “We want to build a team that is competing to win trophies every year.”
Again, Klopas is going to have his work cut out for him.
Not only have the Fire only made the playoffs once in the last seven years, they’ve only made the playoffs twice in the last 14 years.
The Fire are hoping that stability in the front office and on the field will lead them to where they want to go. Heitz, who has come under scrutiny, recently signed a contract extension.
With a sporting director and now a head coach in place, it is up to Heitz to construct a roster that will help Klopas build a team that is not only fighting for a place in the MLS playoffs but, as Klopas stated, competing to win trophies every year.