The Chicago Red Stars on Friday named Chris Petrucelli their new head coach, ending a monthslong search since Rory Dames was allowed to resign amid allegations of sexual and emotional abuse.
Petrucelli, 59, joins the Red Stars from Southern Methodist University, where he was the women’s soccer coach for nine seasons. He previously held the same position with Notre Dame, leading the Irish to an NCAA championship in 1995, and Texas and has served as a youth national team coach for U.S. Soccer. He compiled a 427-182-54 record in the college ranks.
Terms of Petrucelli’s deal were not released.
“I’m so fortunate to be taking over a team that is extremely talented and hungry for a championship,” Petrucelli said in a statement. “Being graced with the opportunity to work with some of the best players in the world is a position any coach would jump at. I know there’s work to do. I’m excited to get started helping the team accomplish their goals while fostering an environment of joy and positivity.”
More Top Picks Best Massage Tables For Home Use
That “work to do” comes on and off the pitch for the National Women’s Soccer League club.
Rebuilding the club’s reputation in the wake of the Dames scandal will be no easy feat. Two stories by the Washington Post detailed decades of abuse allegations against Dames, who coached the Red Stars from 2011-21 and founded Eclipse Select, a suburban youth soccer club.
Majority owner Arnim Whisler last week told the Tribune the Red Stars allowed Dames to resign in November in part because the club “didn’t have any reason to believe that there was a safety issue in our environment.”
In looking for a new coach, the Red Stars said they gathered a search committee that included the team’s assistant coaches and current and former players in addition to front-office staff and ownership. Further details of the committee were not released.
“We are excited to start a new chapter for the club with Chris as our head coach,” Red Stars chief business officer Vicky Lynch said in a statement. “The importance of this hire is immeasurable. That is why I am incredibly proud that several of our players played an integral role as key members of the search committee.”
The Red Stars in a statement said their candidate list included coaches with a “wide diversity of backgrounds and experience” in soccer but did not go into further details.
Meanwhile, Petrucelli’s hiring comes a little more than a month before the Red Stars are set to begin play in the preseason Challenge Cup on March 20 against the Houston Dash.
Petrucelli is inheriting a staff that was named several weeks before his hiring. That staff has overseen preseason training, which began earlier this month.
Though the Red Stars came up short in last season’s NWSL final, they will be without several key pieces.
Less than two weeks after Dames’ resignation, the Red Stars traded six players — including defender Sarah Gorden, who played every minute in 2021. Forward Kealia Watt’s return is unknown after she tore her ACL in the playoffs, an injury the team did not announce at the time.
More Top Picks Best Massage Chairs For Heart Patients
And little has been done to upgrade the squad. Three hours before announcing Petrucelli’s hiring, the Red Stars announced they traded goalkeeper Cassie Miller to the Kansas City Current for allocation money.
The Red Stars have signed only one player — the return of fan-favorite midfielder Yuki Nagasato — excluding the potential signings of draftees.