U.S. Soccer has appointed Southampton director of football operations Matt Crocker as the nation’s next sporting director.
The 48-year-old Welshman replaces Earnie Stewart, who led the U.S. men’s national team through the 2022 World Cup before leaving to become PSV Eindhoven’s director of football.
Before his role overseeing the youth academy setup at Southampton, Crocker was England’s head of development teams, where he helped the FA develop the “England DNA” structure that created continuity from youth teams to the senior national team. While with the English FA, England won the 2017 U-17 World Cup, U-20 World Cup and the European U-19 championship.
“My passion is player development, so to have the opportunity to come on board and to help support what is already in place in terms of a player pathway, making sure that we’ve got a clear identity of how we want our teams to look on the field, to make sure that we’ve got a strong culture off the field, in terms of the type of young men and young women that we want to help grow and develop within our system is fundamentally really important,” Crocker said.
Crocker’s first major task will be leading the search for the next USMNT manager. However unlikely, Crocker didn’t explicitly rule out Gregg Berhalter from returning to the role, despite the Reyna family drama that engulfed the team during and after the tournament in Qatar. But Crocker said the most important facet of the search will be finding someone who fits the team’s current identity.
“First of all, the behaviors of the coach in terms of what I see from the current team is an aggressive, a forward thinking, and a fearless team that went to the World Cup and and did some great stuff. And I’m really keen to make sure that we produce a coach that can replicate and continue to drive forward some of those behaviors in terms of creating that aggressive, forward-thinking team.
“Secondly, the style of play is going to be really important. … So to bring a coach in the can deliver that is also going to be fundamental to the process. The third and for me, the most important thing is around leadership. We need the right leader. We need the right head coach to come in and give the players ownership and responsibility to build a really strong culture.
… We clearly want a head coach that is a role model and a cultural leader as well and can inspire the next generation. So the legacy piece around the future is as important, if not more important, than buildup to the next World Cup.”
U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone said that U.S. Soccer interviewed seven candidates in a global search before appointing Crocker, in part due to his experience constructing academy setups with a pipeline to senior national teams.
“Matt has great experience in developing talent implementing a clear and consistent playing philosophy from youth to senior teams and implementing coaching programming,” Parlow Cone said. “He is driven, he’s creative, and committed to building relationships at every level of the game, his passion for the game, his experience and expertise will make U.S. Soccer better.”
According to a U.S. Soccer press release, the sporting director “will be responsible for setting U.S. Soccer’s sporting vision, overseeing the performance of all national teams, implementing the technical development plan, developing sporting culture, philosophy, ensuring greater communication, and sharing of best practices.”
Crocker and U.S. Soccer will have an eventful few years ahead, with the U.S. co-hosting the 2026 men’s World Cup, organizing a bid with Mexico to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup and leading the U.S. national teams into the ’28 Los Angeles Olympics. Crocker will officially assume his new role during the upcoming Women’s World Cup in August.
