Former United States international Earnie Stewart has been named general manager of the men's national team, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced on Wednesday.
Stewart, 49, brings more than 30 years of experience to the post as a player and a front-office executive, including his most recent stint as sporting director of the Philadelphia Union. He will begin his duties with the USSF on Aug. 1.
"Having played for the U.S. men's national team, I'm honored by the opportunity to return to help lead this rebuilding phase," Stewart said. "We have a tremendous amount of young talent and passion in the U.S., and I'm ready to jump in, hire a new head coach and build a culture of success, with the ultimate goal of the U.S. men's national team becoming a world champion."
Stewart is the first person to hold the position, which was created by the USSF board of directors at the beginning of the year in a bid to add more technical expertise to the USSF leadership. His first priority will be to hire a new men's national team manager. His other priorities will include scouting as well as helping to specify a style of play.
The job's duties, as laid out by the USSF, have led to concerns that prospective managers will balk at sharing responsibilities that many view as the exclusive domain of the head coach. There is also concern that the position doesn't extend down into the youth ranks, thus depriving the GM of the responsibility to enact extensive changes. But Stewart indicated he is comfortable with his remit and with taking a collaborative approach.
"In the beginning, you want to make sure that everybody's heard," he said. "It's not just my vision -- it's our vision of how we want to get to success. Having a lot of conversations with people is very important, understanding what has happened in the past and where we're going to go in the future."
Stewart was selected for the position of GM after an extensive selection process conducted by a search committee that included former national team players and current board members Carlos Bocanegra and Angela Hucles, U.S. Soccer CEO and Secretary General Dan Flynn, Chief Sport Development Officer Nico Romeijn, Chief Soccer Officer Ryan Mooney and Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer Jay Berhalter.
"With his breadth of experience as both a player and a technical director, Earnie is the ideal leader to guide the long-term success of our men's national team program," U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro said. "Combined with the structural changes at the federation that we announced in April, this is a further step in our commitment to ensure that soccer operations are run by soccer experts."
The appointment will start nine months after the U.S. failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, but Stewart believes that the failure wasn't systemic.
"I think it's a failure of a cycle," he said. "It obviously hurts, but I don't think it has anything to do with systems. I think it has more to do with the period that you're in. Unfortunately we were on the bad side of that cycle, but now there's a new cycle coming along. There's a new player pool coming along.
"There's a lot of talent in the United States, and it's something that we have to look after and make sure that they reach the highest of their potential. Being able to be there for them, facilitate them in that, is the most important job for us."
The son of a U.S. serviceman, Stewart spent the bulk of his playing career in the Netherlands, playing for VVV Venlo, Willem II, and Breda. He then spent two seasons with D.C. United, helping the Black and Reds to an MLS Cup title in 2004. Stewart then returned to VVV for one season before retiring and moving into the executive ranks.
Stewart served as technical director with Dutch side NAC Breda from 2006 to 2010 before taking on a similar position with AZ Alkmaar, where he spent five seasons.
At the international level, Stewart played 101 times for the U.S., including in three World Cups, scoring 17 goals. His biggest tally came at the 1994 World Cup when he scored the eventual game winner in a 2-1 victory over Colombia.