John Ellinger (born October 4, 1951) is a former American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

coach of the Under-17

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ha ...

, and former head coach of

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. Ellinger played collegiately at

Frostburg State University Frostburg State University (FSU) is a public university in Frostburg, Maryland. The university is the only four-year institution of the University System of Maryland west of the Baltimore-Washington passageway in the state's Appalachian highlan ...

, graduating in 1973. He also played club ball with the Washington Soccer Club at the start of his coaching career. After graduating from Frostburg State University, Ellinger taught physical education at Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring, MD, where he coached a number of sports, including soccer. During this time, Tony Stevens, President and Founder of the Olney Soccer Club, served as an early mentor for Ellinger, helping to expand his sophisticated understanding of the game. Ellinger also served as the varsity wrestling coach at John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, Maryland for the 1988-89 season. Ellinger was Tom Bichy's assistant at

Montgomery College Montgomery College (MC) is a Public college, public community college in Montgomery County, Maryland. Founded officially in 1946 as Montgomery Junior College, its name comes from the county in which it is located. The earliest start date that c ...

from 1979 to 1981, where the team achieved a No. 5 national ranking. He left Montgomery to coach at the

University of Maryland, Baltimore County The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...

, where he stayed from 1981 to 1990. Ellinger became a U.S. Soccer National Staff Coach in 1992, and has held a number of different jobs since then. Most notably, he has been the coach of the U-17

since 1997, and Director of Youth Development since 2001. In his role as coach of the U-17's, Ellinger has also headed up the USSF's Bradenton Academy, where many of the United States's most talented youths are developed. While at Bradenton, Ellinger had a significant role in developing many of the most outstanding of American soccer players, including Landon Donovan,

DaMarcus Beasley DaMarcus Lamont Beasley (; born May 24, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player. A left-footed player, Beasley played both as a left winger and left wingback throughout his career. He retired from soccer after the 2019 MLS Season. ...

, Bobby Convey, Edward Johnson,

Chad Marshall Chad Marshall (born August 22, 1984) is an American former professional soccer player. During his 16-year career, he played for Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders FC in Major League Soccer. He was a three-time MLS Defender of the Year Award wi ...

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, Danny Szetela, and Jonathan Spector. In 2005, he joined Real Salt Lake to become the new expansion team's first coach. Previously, Ellinger had one season of professional coaching experience as an assistant coach for the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

in its inaugural 1996 season. On May 3, 2007, he was replaced as RSL's head coach after two losing seasons, followed by a win less start in the first month of his third year. Ellinger's overall record with the club was 15-37-16. After losing his coaching position, he was retained by RSL as the club's technical director and director of soccer operations, where he remained until September 2007. Ellinger became an assistant coach at

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

on June 19, 2008. Head Coach

Schellas Hyndman Schellas Hyndman (born November 4, 1951) is a retired soccer coach. He was previously head coach of FC Dallas in Major League Soccer. Despite having a limited career as a professional athlete, Hyndman is one of the most successful college socc ...

indicated he valued Ellinger's previous experience coaching in MLS. On November 15, 2012, FC Dallas announced Ellinger's retirement. During his time as an assistant coach at FC Dallas the team compiled a 53-46-47 record. The best record of the team during that time was in 2010 with a 3rd-place finish in the Western Conference on a 12-4-14 record and runner-up in the 2010

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

final.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellinger, John American soccer coaches Real Salt Lake coaches 1951 births Living people Frostburg State University alumni UMBC Retrievers men's soccer coaches FC Dallas non-playing staff Soccer players from Baltimore Frostburg State Bobcats men's soccer players Association footballers not categorized by position Association football players not categorized by nationality