'There is everything here to do something great': Wilfried Nancy introduced as Crew coach
From the moment Tim Bezbatchenko embarked on a search for the next Crew coach, one name appeared to line up with all of the general manager's criteria.
Bezbatchenko wanted someone who understood an aligned structure within the club, from the MLS team down through the academy. Wilfried Nancy coached youth soccer in Quebec after emigrating from France before spending five seasons coaching in the CF Montreal academy at the U16, U18 and U21 levels.
Bezbatchenko wanted someone who understood MLS, given the unique nature of how the league operates and the rules for building a roster. Nancy was promoted to assistant with CF Montreal in 2016 and became the team's head coach in 2021.
Bezbatchenko wanted someone with a track record of success and an understanding of player development. Nancy took Montreal, one of the lower-budget teams in the league, to a 65-point season in 2022 and was just three points away from winning the Supporters' Shield, while furthering the development of three players whose contracts were sold for large sums this year.
Columbus Crew coach:Crew make refreshing move in hiring Wilfried Nancy | Michael Arace
And Tuesday morning, Bezbatchenko officially announced Nancy as the Crew's new head coach, the eighth in franchise history.
"With what (Nancy) has done with his prior club over the last two years, it would be impossible for him not to be the guy," Bezbatchenko said. "You start with the team that had some players that other teams had passed by. You saw a person who took those players and, to use that term, coached them up, to really get a cohesive unit and to see them work together. Really play for something, it looked from the outside, that was bigger than themselves. Players that were sacrificing for the collective.
"And then you saw the way that they played. It was attractive, it was entertaining, they were scoring goals. They had the ability to dictate the game. Right from the start, when we learned that he was available, he became the top target."
There were complexities involved, as Nancy had one year left on his contract with Montreal. The Crew had to receive permission to speak with Nancy and ultimately compensate Montreal for the hire; the terms of that compensation were not disclosed. Nancy will also bring with him assistant coach Kwame Ampadu, fitness coach Jules Gueguen and video analyst Maxime Chalier.
And as Nancy was introduced Tuesday, his excitement at his new project was evident. He had goosebumps the first time he came to Lower.com Field, when Montreal faced the Crew in August, and that memory played a factor in his decision to take the job.
"I have to feel things when I want to make a decision, privately or professionally," Nancy said. "When I came here, I saw the stadium, I saw the crowd and I was excited to play the game against Columbus, because the way I see football, it’s really important to have all the tools to express the way I want my team to play. That’s why this is a great opportunity for me."
Nancy got an up-close look at the Crew roster through the two games the teams played in 2022, both of which featured impressive, dramatic comebacks by Montreal. The two games encapsulate reasons the Crew had to move on from Caleb Porter, whose team failed to secure its lead in either game, and bring in the man who orchestrated those results.
The next step for Nancy is to build on what he learned about Columbus in those victories.
"For sure, I know all the players," Nancy said, "but I don’t know the person behind that. My job now is to sit with them and to get to know each other. I am a coach but also, I am a human being. They have to know me, the way I work, the way I think."
Nancy views knowing his players personally as a crucial part of getting the best out of them on the field, and that in turn drives his focus on development, which he views as a way for him to leave a legacy in the sport, beyond just wins and losses.
Part of Nancy's legacy will be the fact that he's the first Black head coach of a major professional team in Columbus, and just the second when the scope is expanded to include major teams at Ohio State (football, men's basketball and women's basketball.) Randy Ayers, who coached the OSU men’s basketball team from 1989 to 1997, is the other.
"This is something that I’m really proud of," Nancy said. "I know where I come from. Education for me is really important. I believe that this is a big, big tool that sometimes we forget. The feeling that I have when I discuss with the organization and the ownership group, they do already a lot of things for the community and for the city.
"For me, to be the first Black coach in Columbus, I am really happy. Hopefully, it’s going to be like that again in the future."
As for the legacy he's crafting on the field, the Crew's preseason is only a month away.
"There is everything here to do something great," Nancy said, "and that’s what I came to do."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Wilfried Nancy leaves CF Montreal to become Columbus Crew coach
