Results matter? Digging into FCD’s TD & Presidents’ records

At the end of the day, soccer is a competitive professional sport and only one thing truly matters: results. Wins and losses. Playoff performance. Coaches are hired and fired for their records.

But what about technical directors, GMs, and presidents? Should their records be considered?

In some ways, yes they should. But in others, maybe not. What an owner might value can be quite different from what the fans value.

Before we start… No, I don’t give a toss about selling players and making the Hunts money. The Hunts are billionaires and can afford to run this team without it. Forbes says Clark Hunt is worth 1.4 billion and it’s likely Dan is similar. Bloomberg says Dan & Clark together control a sports empire worth $6.5 billion.

There is a mechanic in MLS where sales from players can be invested in the team in the form of allocation money. But the amount of money is less than the value of the players you sold in order to keep the league even-keeled. So Dallas doesn’t get the advantage from selling that clubs around the world get. Selling players in MLS remains somewhat counter to winning a title in my book.

So let’s take a look at FC Dallas’ history.

Technical Directors

Quick note: as you read this keep in mind when it comes to average position there are a lot more teams now (29) than in 1996 (10). As the years went by there were more and more, three times as many.

FC Dallas has had, until very recently, just three technical directors in its history: Barry Gorman, Fernando Clavijo, and Andre Zanotta.

Barry Gorman – 2 Seasons

Gorman was hired in April of 2010 so he really shouldn’t get much credit for building 2010 although he was there for most of it. Gorman was shifted off TD duties in the latter half of 2011. He famously exposed Dax McCarty in the expansion draft.

Honestly, It might be more accurate to say Gorman worked for Head Coach Schellas Hyndman than he did club Predicent Doug Quinn.

Season	West Table	Playoffs?	Points	PPG	W-L-T
2010	3rd	Yes	50	1.67	12-4-12
2011	4th	Yes	52	1.53	15-12-7

Gorman Results
Playoffs: 2 for 2
PPG: 1.59
Avg Finish: 3.5
Hyndman and Gorman made FCD’s only MLS Cup run to date in 2010.

But let’s keep it real, it was all Hyndman.

Fernando Clavijo – 7 Seasons

Clavijo was named TD in March of 2012. So while he gets 2012 on his record he didn’t build most of it.

Schellas Hyndman resigned following the 2013 season after missing the playoffs two straight seasons and Oscar Pareja was named head coach.

Clavijo stepped down in September 2018 due to his health, Luis Muzzi – Clavijo’s assistant TD – was named vice president of soccer operations to fill the gap before departing to take over Orlando City that winter.

Season	West Table	Playoffs?	Points	PPG	W-L-T
2012	6th	No	39	1.15	9-13-12
2013	8th	No	44	1.29	11-12-11
2014	4th	Yes	54	1.59	16-12-6
2015	1st	Yes	60	1.76	18-10-6
2016	1st	Yes	60	1.76	17-8-9
2017	7th	No	46	1.35	11-10-13
2018	4th	Yes	57	1.68	16-9-9

Clavijo Results
Playoffs: 4 for 7
PPG: 1.51
Avg Finish: 4.4
Clavijo and Pareja won a Supporters Shield – losing a 2nd on a tie-breaker – and a US Open Cup.

After Clavijo left in September of 2018, Pareja departed to take on Xolos.

Andre Zanotta – 6 Seasons

After meeting Zanotta during player negotiations with Gremio, FCD hired Zanotta in January of 2019. At the time, Marco Ferruzzi was Director of Soccer Operations having replaced Muzzi in that role.

Luchi Gonzalez was hired by FC Dallas in December of 2018, a month before Zanotta arrived. Gonzalez was fired in September of 2021 with Ferruzzi leaving his VP of Soccer Operations gig to become Interim coach.

Nico Estevez was hired in December of 2021.

Season	West Table	Playoffs?	Points	PPG	W-L-T
2019	7th	Yes	48	1.41	13-12-9
2020	6th	Yes	34	1.55	9-6-7
2021	11th	No	33	0.97	7-15-12
2022	3rd	Yes	53	1.56	14-9-11
2023	7th	Yes	46	1.35	11-10-13
2024	11th	No	41	1.21	11-15-8

Zanotta Results
Playoffs: 4 for 6
PPG: 1.33
Avg Finish: 7.5

Officially, Zanotta was promoted to Sporting Director this February, and FCD named Sandro Orlandelli as their new technical director, when I asked Zanotta how his role had changed he said it hadn’t. He was still doing the same thing. So we’ll keep Zanotta at the top of the pile for now.

We can re-evaluate as we learn what Orlandelli’s role is. Certainly, being hired in February of 2024 he didn’t build this season’s roster but he surely had some input along the way.

General Managers and/or Presidents

FC Dallas had five GMs or Presidents before they hired their 1st TD during the run of the 5th one. Some of them have had more soccer in their blood than others but none of them were soccer first TDs. They are mostly businessmen, managers, and marketers.

Billy Hicks – 4 Seasons

Billy Hicks wasn’t a soccer guy. He was a sports businessman with experience in the World League of American Football and the NFL. He left the Burn in February of 2000 to work for the XFL.

Dave Dir was the coach under Hicks and was his own TD in essence. Dir had served as MLS’ chief scout for two years leading up to the league’s launch.

Season	West Table	Playoffs?	Points	PPG	W-L-T
1996	2nd	Yes	41	1.28	19-13
1997	3rd	Yes	42	1.31	16-16
1998	4th	Yes	37	1.16	15-17
1999	2nd	Yes	51	1.59	19-13

Hicks Results
Playoffs: 4 for 4
PPG: 1.33 (1.44 – adjusted for ties)
Avg Finish: 2.75
Dir and Hicks won the 1997 US Open Cup.

Andy Swift – 4 Seasons

Andy Swift took over running the Burn in early 2000. Lamar Hunt and Hunt Sports Group agreed to take over operating the Burn in 2002 when MLS contracts the Miami Fusion and Tampa Bay Mutiny.

Following the 2000 season, Dave Dir was let go and Mike Jeffries was named coach.

Season	West Table	Playoffs?	Points	PPG	W-L-T
2000	3rd (Central)	Yes	46	1.44	14-14-4
2001	3rd (Central)	Yes	35	1.35	10-11-5
2002	3rd	Yes	43	1.54	12-9-7
2003	5th	No	23	0.77	6-19-5

Swift Results
Playoffs: 3 for 4
PPG: 1.27 (1.44 without Southlake)
Avg Finish: 3.5

Swift resigned in July of 2003 during the dreaded Southlake Debacle – a move dictated by the HSG bean counters to save money while Toyota Stadium (aka Pizza Hut Park) was being built – but stayed on to finish the season.

Jeffries was fired (by HSG?) in September of 2003 with Colin Clarke being named interim coach.

Greg Elliott – 2 Seasons

Hired in September 2003 and started officially in October. Elliot was a sports business guy having worked in Hockey before coming to MLS.

For 2004, HSG – realizing the disaster of Southlake – moved the Burn back to the Cotton Bowl. Elliott oversaw the rebranding of the club to FC Dallas for the 2005 season with the team starting the season at the Cotton Bowl due to construction delays before moving into Pizza Hut Park midseason.

Season	West Table	Playoffs?	Points	PPG	W-L-T
2004	5th	No	36	1.2	10-14-6
2005	2nd	Yes	48	1.5	13-10-9

Elliott Results
Playoffs: 1 for 2
PPG: 1.35
Avg Finish: 3.5

Elliot resigned (or was asked to resign?) in August of 2005.

Michael Hitchcock – 4 Seasons

Hitchcock was named GM during the 2005 playoffs. Hitch played college soccer and is a hard-core soccer-lifer even if he’s more of a salesman than a TD.

Hitchcock fired Colin Clarke at the end of the 2006 season after the Rapids upset FCD in the first round for the second straight year. Steve Morrow was hired in January 2007 and fired mid-2008. Marco Ferruzzi was named interim coach until Schellas Hyndman took the job during the 2008 season (June).

It’s in this era that Dan Hunt in particular starts to get more directly involved with FCD, the Denilson signing in particular can be laid at his feet.

Season	West Table	Playoffs?	Points	PPG	W-L-T
2006	1st	Yes	52	1.63	16-12-4
2007	3rd	Yes	44	1.35	10-11-5
2008	5th	No	36	1.2	8-10-12
2009	7th	No	39	1.3	11-13-6

Hitchcock Results
Playoffs: 2 for 4
PPG: 1.40
Avg Finish: 4

Hitch was not renewed after 2009 after FCD missed the playoffs for the 2nd straight season.

2010 – No GM/President

FC Dallas went into 2020 thinking a TD was the answer, hiring the aforementioned Gorman in April 2010. HSG President John Wagner was to oversee the business side of the organization.

So the 2010 season – on the field one of the best in club history – goes to Hyndman, Wagner, and Gorman.

Season	West Table	Playoffs?	Points	PPG	W-L-T
2010	3rd	Yes	50	1.67	12-4-14

Epic season. Only 4 losses and a run to MLS Cup. This is the one that got away. The credit should all go to Hyndman.

Doug Quinn – 3 Seasons

The no President or GM thing didn’t last long and Doug Quinn was brought on board in August 2010.

Quinn was not a soccer guy. The era of the TD had begun and Quinn, it would turn out, would be the last not-Dan Hunt President. Hyndman and his TD were making all the player calls as Dan Hunt wasn’t yet intimately involved.

Season	West Table	Playoffs?	Points	PPG	W-L-T
2011	4th	Yes	52	1.53	15-12-7
2012	6th	No	39	1.15	9-13-12

Quinn Results
Playoffs: 1 for 2
PPG: 1.34
Avg Finish: 5

Quinn resigned in February of 2013 due to an alleged off-field incident for which he was later acquitted.

Dan Hunt – 12 Seaasons

Dan Hunt unofficially ran FC Dallas in 2013 while the owners were allegedly looking for a new president – so we’re giving him that season. Dan Hunt was officially named President in January 2014. He’s overseen multiple head coaches: Schellas Hyndman, Oscar Pareja, Luchi Gonzalez, Marco Ferruzzi (interim), Nico Estevez, and now Peter Luccin (interim)

Since we ran over all the seasons since 2010 under the TDs above, We’re not going to bother with Dan Hunt’s season-by-season list. We’ll just give you the totals.

Hunt Results
Playoffs: 6 for 12
PPG: 1.45
Avg Finish: 5.8

Hunt was in the president’s chair for the Clavijo and Pareja era with a Supporters Shield – losing a 2nd on a tie-breaker – and a US Open Cup.

The Current FCD Setup

It’s important to understand, when speaking of how FC Dallas operates these days, that a committee of people makes players/personnel decisions rather than a TD/Coach pair working hand in hand as it was with prior TDs.

In FCD’s 2024 setup, there’s Sporting Director Andre Zanotta, President Dan Hunt, the head coach (formerly Nico Estevez and currently Interim Peter Luccin), and presumably the new Technical Director Sandro Orlandelli.

When youth and kids are involved, Academy Director Chris Hayden is in the mix too. When North Texas SC is tossed in, their GM Matt Denny is too. For big-money decisions, FCD CEO Clark Hunt is almost certainly in the mix as well.