When Luchi Gonzalez leads FC Dallas out for his first game as a head coach on March 2, he'll have a few people to thank for getting him – among them, former FCD manger Schellas Hyndman.
Hyndman, after all, was not only the man who brought Gonzalez to FC Dallas as an academy coach in 2012, starting him on the path that would lead to him being named first-team head coach on Dec. 16, he was also the man who convinced a college-aged Gonzalez to take a chance on playing for him at Southern Methodist University.
Both career moves proved to be fortuitous for Gonzalez and on Saturday, just two weeks before the start of the MLS season, the two got a chance to share their appreciation for one anther in a rare meeting between the two teams. Following FCD's 2-1 win over Seattle in the Mobile Mini Sun Cup, the team stayed out to scrimmage against Grand Canyon University, where Hyndman has been coaching since 2015, affording the opportunity for a meeting between student and mentor.
“That was special,” Gonzalez told FCDallas.com's Carter Baum. “Coach is a father figure to me, as well as other mentors that I have, but I have a strong connection with him. He taught me a lot about how to be a proper young man, not just a soccer player, but a young man that needs to work hard for his family and friends in this world. Even when I wasn’t playing anymore, he gave me the support as a coach and empowered me come into the academy and help the program take its next steps.”
For more on the two-decade relationship between the current and former FCD managers and their reunion this weekend, head over to FCDallas.com.
