(July 31, 2002)

Spirit Coach Crow Flying Off To New Job With WUSA

SAN DIEGO CA (July 31, 2002) When the San Diego Spirit travels to Atlanta for a WUSA game next week, general manager Kevin Crow won't be there just to coach. He'll be house hunting, too.

Crow confirmed yesterday that he's leaving the Spirit next month to become the WUSA's chief operating officer, a newly created position at the league's Atlanta headquarters. "It's a good career move, and I'm excited about it," said Crow, who took over as Spirit coach after firing Carlos Juarez in early June. "At the same time, it's not an easy decision to leave San Diego after 20 years here. But I think people should look at that as a good sign for the league.

"I wouldn't be moving across the country if I really didn't feel that this thing was headed in a positive direction and had long-term life. Most people who know me say, 'Wow, I can't believe you're leaving San Diego.' "

Crow will continue coaching the Spirit through the end of the season, which, barring a miracle, will be Aug. 11. The Spirit (4-9-4) is in seventh place with four games remaining, needing to win all of them to have any mathematical chance of claiming one of the four playoff spots.

In his new job, Crow will oversee the league's general managers. His first task: Hire one in San Diego.

When he fired Juarez last month, Crow said he hoped to have a permanent coach in place by the end of August. He's still sticking to that schedule, saying he has narrowed the search to "two or three people."

Normally, you would hire a GM first and let the GM hire a coach; but given the unusual timing, Crow acknowledged that they both could be hired at about the same time.

"The people I've been talking to about GM, I've been very candid with them about who I've talked to about coach," Crow said. "It should be a really smooth transition."

This is the second time a Spirit general manager has been stolen by the league office. Lynn Morgan was the original Spirit GM and subsequently was promoted to the WUSA's CEO.

She hired Crow, who molded the Spirit into arguably the league's model franchise - off the field, at least. Despite its record, the Spirit routinely plays to near-capacity crowds at 7,035-seat Torero Stadium at USD, has by far the highest local and national TV ratings in the country and has players who work tirelessly promoting the team in the community.

"Kevin's got a very strong business and financial background, and he's also a very accomplished soccer player," Morgan said of Crow, who played nine years for the Sockers and made 13 appearances with the U.S. national team. "Finding that combination is very rare."

Crow, 40, first learned about the opening a month ago, after Morgan successfully lobbied the league's investors to create the position. He finalized details last week and informed the players after practice yesterday.

"One of the things that impressed me the most about Kevin is the people he has brought on board," said Spirit captain Julie Foudy. "He's kind of got the machine rolling. The next person who comes in will already have a great staff under them."

[Source: Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union Tribune]