Manny Schellscheidt: Coach, Mentor and Hall of Famer

Who he is

Manfred "Manny" Schellscheidt was born in Solingen, Germany. According to the US Soccer Hall of Fame history site, he came to the United States in 1964, having played in Germany for FC Solingen and FC Victoria Cologne. He settled in the New York and New Jersey area and became a player, and then a coach, in a country where the game was still small.

He played for Elizabeth SC, a club in New Jersey that won the US Open Cup in 1970 and 1972. The Open Cup is the country's oldest soccer tournament, open to teams at every level, so winning it twice is a real mark of a strong side. He won those titles as a player, years before he became known as a teacher, which helps explain why his coaching talk always came back to what happens in the game itself.

The first licensed coach

In 1970, Soccer America reports, he became the first coach to earn a US Soccer coaching license. He received his A license at the federation's first licensing course, which was taught by the German coach Dettmar Cramer. Think about what that means for a moment. Coaching licenses are now a normal part of the youth game, and he was at the front of the line when they started.

Coaching career

• 1973: Assistant coach of the Philadelphia Atoms, who won the North American Soccer League championship.
• 1974: Head coach of the Rhode Island Oceaneers, who won the American Soccer League title.
• 1975 and 1976: Coach of the Hartford Bicentennials of the NASL.
• 1975: Coached the US national team for three games, when the federation was using part-time coaches between full-time appointments.
• Over the years: Coached Olympic, Pan-American and national youth teams.
• 1988 onward: Head coach of the men's team at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, a post he held for more than two decades.
• 2000 to 2011: Head of the US boys' under-14 national team program.
• Later: Assistant academy coach with the New York Red Bulls.

Sources differ slightly on how long he stayed at Seton Hall, which is common with older coaching records. One account says 23 years and another says 24, so we've said more than two decades. The National Soccer Hall of Fame inducted him in 1990, as a builder, which is the category for people who shaped the sport off the field as well as on it.

How he thought about coaching

Schellscheidt is known for a patient, player-first view of teaching. Soccer America's interview captures it in his own words.

I believe the game has the power to teach itself and as coaches we are just facilitating the process.Manny Schellscheidt, Soccer America, "Checking in with USA's No. 1 coach"

In the end you can never really teach anybody; people teach themselvesManny Schellscheidt, Soccer America, "Checking in with USA's No. 1 coach"

If I'm doing a good job, I'm putting myself out of a job.Manny Schellscheidt, Soccer America, "Checking in with USA's No. 1 coach"

Those three lines say a lot. He wanted players who could read the game and solve problems without waiting for a voice from the sideline. A coach's real success, in his view, is a player who no longer needs to be told.

What this means for a youth team

You can see this approach on a good youth field. The coach sets up a small game, stops it once or twice with a question, and lets the kids work it out. Players get more touches, make more decisions, and stay interested because they're playing instead of standing in line.

Compare that with a session where the coach talks for most of the hour, or shouts instructions through every game. Kids who are told where to go on every play learn to wait for orders. That's an easy thing to check when you're picking a club, and we cover it in our guide on how to choose a soccer club.

It also affects how parents behave. If the aim is for players to teach themselves, sideline instructions from parents get in the way. A good rule is to cheer, stay quiet on tactics, and let the coach and the players do their work. After the game, ask your child what they noticed, what they'd try next time, and what was fun. Those questions build the same habit of thinking for themselves that he spent his career teaching, and they take pressure off the car ride home.

Why he matters to the pathway

Schellscheidt worked across nearly every part of the American system: amateur and pro clubs, college, Olympic and youth national teams, and a pro academy. He won national titles at the youth, pro and amateur levels, according to Soccer America. That range is unusual. Most coaches spend a career at one level, and few see the game from as many angles as he did, from a Saturday amateur match to a national team bench to a modern pro academy.

His long run with the under-14 national team program stands out for parents. Those are the years when talented players are choosing clubs, switching leagues and starting to feel pressure. A coach who spent more than a decade at that age, and who said the game should do the teaching, is worth listening to. To see how the levels fit together, read our leagues guide, and when you're ready to look at clubs, start with clubs by state.

What we left out

Earlier versions of this article repeated a number of stories and quotes about him that we couldn't trace to a source we could check, including a famous line about the game being the best teacher. He may well have said it. We just couldn't confirm where, so we dropped it and kept to the facts above.