The Seattle Sounders' talented coaching staff has been key to the club's continued success, and general manager Garth Lagerwey is optimistic that things will stay that way even as head coach Brian Schmetzer's contract is set to expire at the end of the year.
Speaking on the Sounders Weekly podcast Tuesday, Lagerwey said that while negotiations naturally take time, he is "optimistic" the parties will agree to a new contract, at least in the case of Schmetzer, a Seattle soccer legend.
"Brian's been here for 20 years," Lagerwey said. "This isn't just about the Sounders. It's certainly not about my relationship with Brian and Brian's relationship with the club long predates anything I've had to do with it, and it's just kind of hard for me to imagine reaching anything other than a positive outcome at the end of the day. Negotiations aren't always linear. They take some time but I think we'll get there in the end."
As for Schmetzer's team of assistants, Lagerwey was full of praise of their talents, which he feels may put them in the running for vacant jobs in MLS.
"Right now within MLS, we have the D.C. job, we have the Atlanta job, the LA Galaxy job open, and we have some really good assistant coaches on our roster, so we have to be ready for somebody like Gonzalo Pineda or Djimi Traore or Preki to get considered for those jobs," Lagerwey said. "Those guys are going to be desirable for those jobs."
Lagerwey, though, only takes this type of attention for his assistant coaches as a sign of success for the club, and for the coaches themselves.
"When you have sustained success, that's what happens in pro sports and I'm not a guy who worries about that, but that's a good thing," Lagerwey said. "If we're hiring good people, if we're signing good players, those folks will always be sought after by other organizations and that's part of what we do and so in some sense, we'll be rooting for those guys because they deserve it and they've earned it."
