Dave Sarachan

Dave Sarachan (born June 7, 1954) is an American former soccer player and coach. Sarachan spent two seasons as a player in the North American Soccer League and four in Major Indoor Soccer League before retiring in 1982. Since then, he has coached at the collegiate, professional, and national team levels. He served as head coach with Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer from 2002 to 2007 and as interim head coach of the United States men's national soccer team from 2017 to 2018.

Playing career

High school and college Sarachan grew up in Rochester, New York, graduating from Brighton High School in 1972. He then played two years of college soccer at Monroe Community College, where he was a junior college All-American in 1973 and 1974. After the 1974 season, he transferred to Cornell University, where he played two more years, and was named the team MVP as a senior.

NASL Following his graduation, the Rochester Lancers of the North American Soccer League (NASL) drafted Sarachan. He played two seasons, 1976 and 1977, with the Lancers. For the remainder of the 1977 season, he played in Canada's National Soccer League with the Buffalo Blazers and made ten appearances.

MISL After two seasons with the Lancers, Sarachan moved indoors, where he played for the Pittsburgh Spirit, Buffalo Stallions, Baltimore Blast, and Kansas City Comets.

Coaching

Early coaching While playing for the Lancers, Sarachan was an assistant coach at nearby University of Rochester. After his playing career ended, he was an assistant coach at Cornell for one season in 1983. Sarachan finished with a 55–50–31 league record with the Fire and 75–57–33 across all competitions.

Los Angeles Galaxy Sarachan was hired by the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2008 to once again assist Bruce Arena. The two of them led the Galaxy in the second half of the 2008 season when there was really no chance of the team making the playoffs. In 2009, the club brought in 16 new players, and the Galaxy cut their goals against deficit almost in half and was in first place for much of the season. They led the Galaxy to MLS Cup 2009 where they lost to Real Salt Lake on penalty kicks. Sarachan would remain with the Galaxy through 2016, during which they won MLS Cups in 2011, 2012, and 2014.

Return to United States In 2017, Sarachan returned to his previous position of being the U.S. Men's National Team assistant coach. He once again was assisting head coach Bruce Arena, who was in his second stint as head coach for the national team. The U.S. Men's National Team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, and Arena subsequently resigned as the head coach. Sarachan was then named as the acting Men's National Team coach for their friendly match versus Portugal on November 14, 2017. Sarachan remained interim head coach of the USMNT until November 20, 2018. Because of the team's failure to qualify for the World Cup, Sarachan's stint as interim head coach did not involve any tournaments or qualification matches and only friendlies. On December 2, 2018, it was announced that Gregg Berhalter had been selected as the new coach of the USMNT.

North Carolina FC On December 17, 2018, USL Championship side North Carolina FC announced Sarachan as their new head coach. Sarachan left the team on January 14, 2021, shortly after NCFC announced it would move to USL League One.

Puerto Rico On February 24, 2021, it was announced that Dave Sarachan would become the head coach of the Puerto Rico national team for the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Personal life Sarachan is married to his wife Cherie and lives in Southern California with his two children, Ian and Alexa.

Awards and honors Club Chicago Fire MLS Supporters' Shield: 2003 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup: 2003, 2006

On December 27, 2014, the Rochester Lancers of the Major Arena Soccer League inducted Sarachan into the Rochester Lancers Wall of Fame as one of Rochester's "soccer pioneers". Sarachan played for the original Rochester Lancers of the North American Soccer League.