Fire picks Klopas as coach
The Chicago Fire will name Frank Klopas the team’s sixth head coach at a news conference Thursday at Toyota Park, sources tell the Daily Herald.
Klopas, the club’s technical director, became interim coach on Memorial Day when he fired Carlos de los Cobos after de los Cobos compiled a 1-4-6 record to start his second season. After acquiring Pavel Pardo, Sebastian Grazzini and Dan Gargan in late July, the team finished the season 7-2-3, just missing the MLS playoffs.
Klopas also led the Fire to the U.S. Open Cup championship match, losing to the host Seattle Sounders.
What remains unknown is whether Klopas will relinquish his technical director duties to player personnel director Mike Jeffries.
Klopas, 45, who graduated from Chicago’s Mather High School in 1984, played for the Chicago Sting and was a member of the Fire’s inaugural 1998 MLS Cup and U.S. Cup championship team.
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