Nick Theslof (born December 12, 1975) is an 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 ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and coach, who was midfield coach and international scout to

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He ...

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which play ...

. He is currently an assistant coach for LA Galaxy in

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 ...

. He was one of the first and youngest American soccer players to have played in continental Europe, joining

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

's youth side in 1991 and playing there for two years. Coming from a sporting family, his grandparents were leading

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

Vivi-Anne Hultén Vivi-Anne Hultén (25 August 1911 – 15 January 2003) was a Swedish figure skater who competed in ladies' singles. She was the 1936 Olympic bronze medalist, a four-time World medalist, a two-time European bronze medalist, and a ten-time Swe ...

and

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

Gene Theslof.

Biography

Playing career

Having grown up in a family of renowned skaters, with both his grandparents and parents being skaters, Theslof was exposed to sports being a viable career option from a very early age. While his younger brother Tyler initially chose to become an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

(though he later changed to being a soccer midfielder himself, playing for

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** '' University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the ti ...

), Nick was interested in soccer and began playing for the youth

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor socc ...

club, the

Cleveland Crunch The Cleveland Crunch are an American professional indoor soccer club located in Cleveland, Ohio competing in as a charter member of the Major League Indoor Soccer (MLIS). The rebranded Crunch returned to indoor play as a member of the MASL 2 in ...

. In 1991, his coach at the club, former English striker Ron Wigg, advised then

head of youth development

Huub Stevens Hubertus Jozef Margaretha "Huub" Stevens (; born 29 November 1953) is a Dutch former professional football manager and player. Playing career Stevens was born in Sittard. While active, he played for Fortuna Sittard and PSV. During his time at P ...

to have a look at Theslof, during a match for which PSV's reserve team had come to Cleveland. Stevens, impressed with Theslof's potential, offered him a youth contract at PSV, which Theslof accepted and moved from his home in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022, He subsequently played for PSV for the next two years, before his career abruptly ended due to an Achilles injury. He later moved back to the United States and attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, where he later played for their

team, where his performances were lauded. On February 1, 1998, 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 ...

selected Theslof in the

1998 MLS College Draft The 1998 Major League Soccer College Draft was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 31 and February 1, 1998. The College Draft was followed by the 1998 MLS Supplemental Draft. Format On Saturday, January 31, 1998, Major League Soccer held ...

, but he was released during the 1998 season without playing a first team game. He moved to the Orange County Waves for the 2000

USL A-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

season. In 2005 and 2006, Thesloff inserted himself into several Blue Star games.

Coaching career

Theslof began his coaching career as Dr. Jay Martin's assistant at

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

between 1998 and 2000, winning the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

national title in 1998. Following his stay at Ohio Wesleyan, Theslof became head coach of the

Orange County Blue Star Orange County Blue Star was an American soccer team based in Irvine, California. Founded in 1997, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Southwest Division of the Weste ...

, a team of the American Premier Development League and spent time with Juergen Klinsmann who enjoyed Amateur Soccer in Southern California. During that time he also coached future American national team players

Sacha Kljestan Sacha Bryan Kljestan (; born September 9, 1985) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. Youth and college Kljestan was raised in Huntington Beach, California, and played for th ...

and

Sal Zizzo Salvatore "Sal" Zizzo Jr. (born April 3, 1987) is an American retired professional soccer player who played as a winger or full-back. Career Youth and amateur Zizzo attended Patrick Henry High School, where he played soccer and baseball. A ...

. In 2004, Theslof coached his old club PSV's youth squad in the Netherlands. After Klinsmann became manager of the German national team, he appointed Theslof as coach and scout in 2006 during the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, where he wrote detailed match summaries and reports for Klinsmann. In February 2008, after he was appointed manager of

, Klinsmann appointed Theslof as a second assistant coach and scout. On April 27, 2009 Klinsmann and his two assistant coaches were released early, even though they had won five of the previous seven league games and were only three points behind league leader VfL Wolfsburg.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theslof, Nick Living people 1975 births American expatriate soccer players American soccer players Soccer players from Minnesota University of California, Los Angeles alumni American people of Finnish descent American people of Swedish descent Columbus Crew players UCLA Bruins men's soccer players Orange County Blue Star players FC Bayern Munich non-playing staff American expatriate sportspeople in Germany Soccer players from Columbus, Ohio USL League Two players A-League (1995–2004) players Columbus Crew draft picks Chivas USA non-playing staff Toronto FC non-playing staff Association football midfielders Association football forwards Expatriate footballers in Germany