By Canadian Press

Columbus Crew’s Wilfried Nancy named Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year

Nov 20, 2024 | 8:18 AM

Wilfried Nancy has been voted the 2024 Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year, becoming the first Columbus Crew head coach to earn the accolade since Schmid himself in 2008.

Under Nancy, the defending MLS Cup champion enjoyed a record-breaking regular season, setting franchise marks in points (66) and goals scored (72) and tying the team record for wins (19).

Nancy, a former CF Montreal coach, earned 40.2 percent of the vote, ahead of Inter Miami’s Gerardo (Tata) Martino (33.03 percent) and Colorado’s Chris Armas (6.59) in balloting by Major League Soccer players, club officials and media.

While Nancy had a small edge over Martino in voting by the media (38.8 to 36.0 percent) and tied him in club voting (38.24 percent), he had a big lead among the players (43.03 to 24.85).

Armas is a former Toronto FC head coach.

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This year the Crew led the league in goal differential (plus-32), finished second in the Supporters’ Shield standings at 19-6-9 and was one of only two teams to win at least nine games at home and on the road.

Columbus and Miami (79 goals) were the only two teams to eclipse 70 goals in 2024. The Crew were also the first side since Philadelphia in 2022 to score at least 70 goals while allowing 40-or-fewer goals in a single season.

Under Nancy, the Crew have scored a league-best 139 regular-season goals since 2023, tied for the fifth-most in a two-season span in MLS history, and are the only MLS club to average two goals per game over the span. The club set a record with 18 different goal-scorers during the year and tied the club’s single-season record (1998, 2012, 2017) with 21 different players recording a goal contribution.

Columbus won the Leagues Cup in 2024, downing Los Angeles FC 3-1, and reached the final of 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup final in June, losing 3-0 to Mexico’s Pachuca.

The Crew’s league playoff run ended in the first round, beaten by the seventh-seeded New York Red Bulls in a penalty shootout.

Nancy coached Montreal during the 2021 and ’22 seasons before joining Columbus in December 2022. The 47-year-old Frenchman had served as a Montreal assistant coach since January 2016 and previously was a coach at the Montreal academy since its inception in 2011.

Mathieu Choiniere, Alistair Johnston, Ismael Kone, Kamal Miller, Jonathan Sirois and Joel Waterman, all part of Canada’s squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname, played for Nancy during his time with Montreal and its academy.

Montreal captain Sam Piette and Columbus forward Jacen Russell-Rowe are among other Canadian internationals to have played under Nancy.

Across all competitions, Nancy had a 38-25-16 record in Montreal. He was a finalist for the coach of the year award in each of the last three seasons.

The award honours the best head coach in MLS during the 2024 regular season.

The late Schmid coached the Los Angeles Galaxy (1999-2004 and 2017-18), Columbus (2006-08) and Seattle Sounders (2009-16), recording an MLS-record 240 regular-season wins, with another 26 post-season victories. He was named coach of the year in 1999 and 2008, collected five U.S. Open titles, including four with the Sounders, and is one of only two MLS coaches to lead their team to a CONCACAF regional title, guiding the Galaxy to the 2000 Champions Cup.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2024.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press