Jason Kreis

Jason Clarence Kreis (born December 29, 1972) is an American soccer manager and former player who currently serves as head coach of USL League One club Fort Lauderdale CF and the United States U-23 team. He coached Orlando City SC in Major League Soccer and was previously an assistant coach under Jürgen Klinsmann for the United States men's national soccer team.[1] Prior to that he was the head coach of New York City FC and Real Salt Lake.

Jason Kreis

Kreis as head coach of Real Salt Lake
Personal information
Full name	Jason Clarence Kreis
Date of birth	(1972-12-29) December 29, 1972
Place of birth	Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position(s)	Midfielder, Forward
Club information
Current team	Fort Lauderdale CF (head coach)
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1991–1994	Duke Blue Devils
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1993	Raleigh Flyers
1994	New Orleans Storm
1995	Raleigh Flyers		(10)
1996–2004	Dallas Burn	247	(91)
2005–2007	Real Salt Lake	58	(17)
Total		305	(108)
National team
1996–2000	United States	14	(1)
Teams managed
2007–2013	Real Salt Lake
2013–2015	New York City FC
2016–2018	Orlando City SC
2019–	United States U23
2020–	Fort Lauderdale CF
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Kreis spent the majority of his playing career in Major League Soccer in the United States, initially with the Dallas Burn, and later with Real Salt Lake. In total he made over 300 professional appearances, was Major League Soccer MVP in 1999, and is currently tied for the fifth highest scorer in MLS regular season history, with 108 goals. He also earned fourteen international caps for the United States national team. At one point in his playing career, he was the all time leading scorer in MLS.

Early life

Kreis played for the Gladiator Soccer Club in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, where his parents were among the pioneers who established this first premier/select club within the state. As a freshman at Burke High School in Omaha, Kreis was selected First Team All-State.[2] He remains the only freshman selected to the first team. Following his freshman year, Kreis and his family moved to Mandeville, Louisiana, where he led Mandeville High School to several Class 5A state soccer tournaments, but never won a state title, losing to Lafayette High in the quarterfinals his senior year. While at Mandeville, he was also a standout performer for the Baton Rouge United Jags, a U-19 Select team that finished as national runner-up in 1991 and won the prestigious Capital Cup tournament in Washington, D.C. He played collegiately at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

Club career

Minor leagues

In 1993, Kreis played during the summer for the Raleigh Flyers of the USISL.[3] In the summer of 1994, he returned to Louisiana to play for the New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers, also of the USISL.[4] After finishing his collegiate eligibility in 1994, Kreis signed his first professional contract with the Raleigh Flyers in the spring of 1995.

Dallas Burn

On August 1, 1995, Kreis signed a contract with Major League Soccer as the league prepared for its inaugural season.[5] Kreis was drafted forty-third overall by the Dallas Burn in the fifth round of the MLS Inaugural Draft. He scored the first goal in Burn history. In 1999, Kreis was the first American-born player to be named league MVP after he led the league in points and goals, and also registered the first 15-goal, 15-assist season in league history. The five-time all-star led his team in goals five times and in points four times.

On June 26, 2004, Kreis scored his eighty-ninth league goal against D.C. United, moving past Roy Lassiter to the top of the league's all-time goal-scoring chart. Kreis remained the MLS all time goalscoring leader for more than three years until Jaime Moreno surpassed his record on August 22, 2007. He ended his ninth MLS season with career totals of 91 goals and 65 assists for 247 points, plus added four goals and two assists in the playoffs. He remains Dallas' all-time leader in games played (247), goals (91), assists (65), and points (247).

Real Salt Lake

On November 17, 2004, Kreis was traded to expansion team Real Salt Lake, becoming the first player in the club's history. Kreis scored the first goal in Salt Lake's history in its second match, a 3–1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy.[6] In doing so, he became the first player in league history to do so for two different teams, as he scored the inaugural goal for Dallas in 1996 as well.[7]

On August 13, 2005, he became the first player in MLS history to score 100 career league goals, during a 4–2 loss to the Kansas City Wizards.[8] The achievement was unexpected from observers, especially out of a 1996 class that included other candidates like Eric Wynalda, Brian McBride, or Joe-Max Moore; Kreis had never been considered a particularly dangerous goalscorer and had only lead the league in scoring once, in 1999.[9]

Kreis was left unprotected in the 2006 MLS Expansion Draft by Real Salt Lake and subsequently chosen by Toronto FC. He was reacquired by Salt Lake on November 17, 2006, with the club sending partial allocation money to Toronto in exchange.[10][11]

He retired as a player on May 3, 2007, to take over as head coach, finishing with 108 career goals.

International career

With only 14 international appearances,[12] Kreis was never able to translate his club success into one with the U.S. national team. He received his first cap on August 30, 1996, against El Salvador at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.[13] Kreis scored his only international goal on September 8, 1999 in a 2–2 draw against Jamaica in Kingston.[14]

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref
1.	September 8, 1999	National Stadium, Kingston, Jamaica	Jamaica	1 – 0	2–2	Friendly	[14]

Coaching career

Real Salt Lake

On May 3, 2007 Kreis retired from professional competition and was announced as the new head coach of Real Salt Lake, retiring as a player and taking over the coaching reins from John Ellinger.[15] At the time of his hire, Kreis became the youngest active head coach in MLS at 34 years and 127 days. He led Real Salt Lake to its first-post season playoff appearance in 2008 and in 2009 he coached the team to its first MLS Cup championship. Kreis is the youngest coach in MLS history to win the MLS Cup. Following the 2009 MLS Cup win, Kreis would lead Real Salt Lake to playoff appearances in every subsequent season through 2013, including an appearance in the 2013 MLS Cup, which RSL lost to Sporting Kansas City in dramatic fashion on penalty kicks. Kreis also guided Real Salt Lake to a very good CONCACAF Champions League campaign in 2011. Real Salt Lake won Group A and made it all the way to the 2011 CONCACAF Champions League Finals, only to lose to 3-2 on aggregate to C.F. Monterrey.

Real Salt Lake signed Kreis to a contract extension on March 24, 2011 that kept him at the RSL helm through the 2013 season, after which he left RSL to become head coach of New York City FC. Real Salt Lake has retired Kreis' number 9 jersey from his playing days.[16]

New York City FC

On December 11, 2013, Kreis was announced as the first head coach of New York City FC, having reached the end of his contract at Real Salt Lake and declining an extension offer from RSL so he could take the New York City FC position.[17] The move came just four days after he missed out on lifting his second MLS Cup with the Utah team, losing on penalty kicks to Sporting Kansas City. It was revealed in the announcement that his contract, starting on January 1, 2014, would see him begin by traveling to Manchester in England to familiarize himself with the set-up of franchise-owners Manchester City.[17]

Kreis' inaugural season with NYCFC ended in disappointment. The club finished with a 10–17–7 record in the regular season placing 8th in the Eastern Conference, failing to make the 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs. He and the club parted ways on November 2, 2015.[18]

Orlando City SC

On July 19, 2016, Kreis was hired by Orlando City SC to replace outgoing inaugural coach Adrian Heath. At Orlando City, he reunited with two of his assistant coaches, Miles Joseph and C. J. Brown,[1] and led the club to its first win in two months during his first game in charge.[19]

On June 15, 2018, Kreis was released by Orlando City.[20]

United States U-23

On March 19, 2019, Kreis was named head coach of the United States men's national under-23 team.[21]

Career statistics

Club career statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
USA			League		Open Cup		League Cup		North America		Total
1996	FC Dallas	MLS	31	13	0	0	2	1	0	0	33	14
1997			32	8	2	0	4	1	0	0	38	9
1998			30	9	2	0	2	1	0	0	34	10
1999			32	18	1	1	6	1	0	0	39	20
2000			27	11	3	1	2	0	0	0	32	12
2001			25	7	1	0	3	0	0	0	29	7
2002			27	13	3	0	3	1	0	0	33	14
2003			18	7	1	0	0	0	0	0	19	7
2004			25	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	26	5
2005	Real Salt Lake		24	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	24	9
2006			30	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	30	8
2007			4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Total	USA		305	108	14	2	22	5	0	0	341	115
Career total			305	108	14	2	22	5	0	0	341	115

Source: MLS[22]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 14 November 2019

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record								Ref
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Real Salt Lake		3 May 2007	10 December 2013	267	111	68	88	381	304	+77	041.57	[23]
New York City FC		11 December 2013	2 November 2015	35	10	8	17	51	60	−9	028.57	[24]
Orlando City SC		19 July 2016	15 June 2018	65	22	13	30	90	117	−27	033.85	[25]
United States U23		19 March 2019	Present	5	2	1	2	8	4	+4	040.00	[26]
Fort Lauderdale CF		15 February 2020	Present	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—	[27]
Total				372	145	90	137	530	485	+45	038.98	—

See also

• List of Major League Soccer coaches

References

1. DelGallo, Alicia (July 19, 2016). "Orlando City hires former NYCFC coach Jason Kreis". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
2. NEBRASKA USA TODAY – Wednesday, June 8, 1988
3. Flyers top Dynamo 2–1 in a shootout The News & Observer – Wednesday, June 9, 1993
4. "KREIS LEADS GAMBLERS' ROUT, 5–1" Times-Picayune (New Orleans) – Saturday, July 9, 1994
5. "Flyers' Kreis signs deal with Major League Soccer" The News & Observer Wednesday, August 2, 1995
6. Edward, James (April 10, 2005). "Donovan shoots L.A. Galaxy over Real S.L." Deseret News. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
7. "Storylines | City vs. Real Salt Lake". Orlando City Soccer Club. June 30, 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2017. Kreis scored the first goal in RSL history – and became the first player to score the first goal for two clubs, having scored Dallas' first goal in 1996...
8. Black, Michael (August 14, 2005). "Real notes: Hitting century mark a Real big deal for Kreis". Deseret News. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
9. Connolly, Marc (August 14, 2005). "Kreis, the unexpected record holder". MLSnet.com. Archived from the original on May 20, 2007. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
10. "Real Salt Lake reacquires rights to captain Jason Kreis" (Press release). Real Salt Lake. November 17, 2006. Archived from the original on May 6, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
11. "MLS all-time scoring leader Kreis chosen by Toronto". ESPN. Associated Press. November 17, 2006. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
12. Lodes, Kirk J. (2008). The American Soccer Guide. Mobile, Alabama: Infosential Press. p. 70. OCLC 213482683. Retrieved July 12, 2016 – via Google Books.
13. "International Friendly: USA 3, El Salvador 1 (Aug. 30)". Soccer America. August 31, 1996. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
14. "Late goal gives U.S. tie with Jamaica". Sports Illustrated. September 9, 1999. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
15. Real Salt Lake captain Jason Kreis retires, named head coach Archived May 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
16. Davis, Randy (March 25, 2011). "Real Salt Lake extend Kreis' contract through '13". MLSSoccer.com. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
17. "Jason Kreis named as Head Coach". nycfc.com. December 11, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
18. "New York City part ways with head coach Jason Kreis". mlssoccer.com. November 2, 2015. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
19. Diaz, George (July 31, 2016). "Orlando City finds love with Jason Kreis in first game". Orlando Sentinel. Tronc. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
20. "Orlando City SC Agrees to Part Ways with Head Coach Jason Kreis". OurSportsCentral.com. June 15, 2018.
21. "Jason Kreis Named Head Coach of U-23 MNT". USSoccer.com. March 19, 2019.
22. "Jason Kreis". Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
23. "Real Salt Lake: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
24. "New York City FC: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
25. "Orlando City SC: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
26. "United States U23: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
27. "Fort Lauderdale CF: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved April 18, 2019.

External links

• Jason Kreis at Major League Soccer