Fire's Jeffries, Klopas make a good team
About six months in, the partnership of Frank Klopas and Mike Jeffries appears to be working well.
It's early, of course, and they'll be the first to say that. But after a winter spent traveling around the world while rebuilding the Fire's roster, Jeffries and Klopas are thrilled to see the team off to a 1-0-1 start after last year's disappointing season.
They're also thrilled to spend a little more time at home.
Jeffries came onboard last fall as director of player personnel in a move the team did little to publicize. He joined Klopas, the technical director the past few years, in the front office working with coach Carlos de los Cobos and Andell Sports Group managing director Javier Leon to begin building what they hope will be a championship roster.
Klopas focused on Europe, and the team signed defender Josip Mikulic and trialist Marko Maric in the off-season. Jeffries, with help from Leon, focused on South and Central America, and the team added Uruguayan forwards Gaston Puerari and Diego Chaves.
“It's been a great help for me, for sure, because Mike is someone who's been in the league, he's coached in the league, he's got a lot of experience,” Klopas said. “He's very process oriented, very strategic in the way he thinks long term.
“We're very different. Sometimes I get very excited right away, but it's good to be able to bounce things off Mike also because you can't just look for one year. You've got to be thinking down the road, what does this mean in Year 2, Year 3, Year 4. I think we complement each other. I think we've got different strengths. But I think we work very well together.
“There's no egos here. Sometimes I know I'm more the guy people talk about, but I wouldn't have been able to do this without Mike's help.”
Jeffries, a former Fire assistant coach and Dallas Burn head coach, has been low key since rejoining the club, with Klopas doing most of the media interviews. But they maintain it's a partnership. Ask them who ranks higher in the organization, and Klopas holds both hands together, flat, side by side, to show that they are even.
“The good thing about this is, it's all about the team,” Klopas said. “It's all about the team. It really is.”
They have split up the work according to their strengths, so no effort is duplicated.
“For me it was important that we put structure on everything and sort of say, this is what I'm doing, this is what Frank does,” Jeffries said.
The duo got off to a good start in the off-season when they picked up veteran defender Cory Gibbs in the re-entry draft. They brought in a strong group of trialists and kept those who stood out.
“We also felt like at this point we needed to be a little younger, a little more dynamic in certain areas, so that was a key criteria as we tried to go forward,” Jeffries said. “We knew that it was going to be a big, big turnover. It's always difficult to mesh different styles. We were trying to find a group of good guys who we felt like could fit together in terms of how we played.”
Sort of like the two guys putting the roster together.
oschwarz@dailyherald.com