Gregg Berhalter was not in the unemployment line for very long.
Chicago Fire F.C. made the announcement on Tuesday that they have hired the former United States men’s national soccer team head coach Berhalter. The 51-year-old Berhalter will be serving as the Fire’s head coach as well as their director of football. Berhalter is set to oversee all aspects of the Fire’s sporting operations, the release adds.
The Fire play in Major League Soccer (MLS) and finished last season 13th of 15 in the Eastern Conference with 40 total points. This season has been even worse as Chicago is now 15th in the East with only 30 points as the regular season is about to draw to a close.
As for Berhalter, he served as USMNT head coach from 2018-22 and then again from 2023-24. But Berhalter was an unpopular and underperforming coach whose teams often struggled in attack. The last straw for Berhalter came in this year’s Copa America tournament, which the United States failed to make it past the group stage of. Berhalter then got fired by the USMNT following calls for his job from some major fan groups.
Still, Berhalter, who has since been replaced by the USMNT with a big-name coach ahead of the 2026 World Cup, comes with vast experience managing in MLS. He began his coaching career as an assistant for the LA Galaxy and also managed the Columbus Crew from 2013-18. For an underwhelming Fire side that hasn’t had a top-three finish since 2017 and hasn’t won a trophy since 2006, they don’t have a lot to lose by bringing in Berhalter.
