Crew coach Schmid will not return

Dec 10, 2008 - 11:51 PM COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) -- Columbus Crew coach Sigi Schmid will not return after leading the team to the MLS championship in November.

The team confirmed Schmid's departure in a statement released Tuesday.

"Sigi Schmid has formally declined our last contract offer and will not be returning as head coach of the Columbus Crew," general manager Mark McCullers said in the statement. "Sigi was the ideal person to turn around our competitive program and create a championship mentality within our club.

"As a result, we are well positioned moving forward and toward continued success. We respect his desire to seek the next challenge and wish him nothing but the best."

Schmid was named the league's Coach of the Year after leading the Crew to 3-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls in the MLS Cup title game on November 23 in Carson, California.

Schmid's contract expired at the end of November and an agreement on a new contract could not be reached. He made no secret of his plans to explore other opportunities and met with officials from the expansion Seattle Sounders last week.

Assistant coach and former Crew player Robert Warzycha is considered the top candidate to replace Schmid, who led the Crew to an MLS-best 17-7-6 record last season.

"At this point in time that's fair to say," McCullers said. "Certainly Robert is somebody I respect and seriously considered for the job the last time it was open."

Warzycha certainly has Schmid's respect.

"Robert has all the qualities and all the abilities and he knows the players to be able to continue what we built here in Columbus," Schmid said. "He's been here since day one as a player. He's been an assistant for a long period. He expressed to me he was willing to stay as my assistant for as many years as I was willing to stay here. I really appreciated that.

"He's ready. He's been a tremendous help here for me and I hope I've been a help to him as he's learned and improved. More so than anything, he's got the experience to do the job."

McCullers said no other candidates have been interviewed.

"I need to focus on the candidate pool a little bit. I haven't had a chance to do that," he said. "That's part of the due diligence to see if there are any other candidates that warrant consideration."

Columbus was 34-33-25 during Schmid's tenure, which began in 2005.