Former U.S. women's national soccer team coach Jill Ellis talked informally with D.C. United last week about the club's head-coaching vacancy, the Washington Post reported Thursday.
According to the newspaper, Ellis is believed to be the first woman ever viewed as a candidate to become the head coach of a Major League Soccer team. It's an idea The18 floated last year.
Per the report, the sides were merely seeing whether there was enough mutual interest to engage in further discussions, but that the team regarded her responses as "impressive."
Ellis, 54, guided the U.S. team to Women's World Cup championships in 2015 and 2019. In six years on the job, she logged a 106-7-19 record before resigning last autumn. She is still working for the U.S. Soccer Federation, charged with increasing the number of female coaches.
The Post reported that other candidates to replace Ben Olsen, fired by D.C. United earlier this month, include ex-New York Red Bulls coach Chris Armas, U.S. under-23 coach Jason Kreis (formerly Real Salt Lake head coach), and former U.S. men's national team player Steve Cherundolo.
