U.S. Soccer is hoping to hire the next head coach of the U.S. women’s national team by December, with an eye toward the 2024 Olympics.

Interim head coach Twila Kilgore will remain in her position for the team’s October friendlies against Colombia, U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker said Tuesday. When asked for a timeline on TNT’s postgame show following the USMNT’s win over Oman, Crocker pointed to December as the target date.

“Twila will pick up the September and the October camps with the staff,” he said. “And you know, in an ideal world, we’d like to be in a position for the December camp to have the new head coach in place.”

It’s a quick turnaround – quicker than the men’s search, which lasted almost seven months – but speed is necessary with the Paris Olympics less than a year away.

“I fly out tomorrow morning back to Chicago at 6 a.m., and we’re straight back into the search for the women’s head coach’s role,” Crocker said. “Obviously, the men’s head coach hire was really important, and a key part of the job to start with, and now obviously, my focus turns to the to the women’s [team] and the women’s head coach search, and obviously helping Twila and the staff prepare for their event, which is just around the corner in Cincinnati.”

Players have been plenty vocal about what they want to see in the next head coach, with international experience at the top of the wish list.

For Crocker, the ability to make tactical changes during a game is another important attribute that he wants to see in the next coach. He also wants the next coach to be a hands-on presence within U.S. Soccer, including at its Chicago headquarters.

“This is very much a Chicago-based role, someone that’s in and around the office environment 365,” he said. “We want the men’s teams, the youth teams, the women’s teams and the youth and extended national teams. It’s 27 national teams. You want all of them to feel part of something special.”

Mia Hamm won’t be taking charge of the U.S. women’s national team.

As the USWNT continues to look for its next head coach following the departure of Vlatko Andonovski, Hamm shut down any discussion of her own name in connection with the opening. When asked if she would want to coach the team, the USWNT legend offered a quick and decisive “no,” telling TODAY.com she would not have the “bandwidth” or “patience” for the job.

“I’m not the coaching type,” she said.

Her former USWNT teammate Brandi Chastain left the possibility open, saying on Just Women’s Sports‘ “The 91st” that she is “not ready” but would “love to lead this national team sometime in the future.”

“Brandi has always been a consumer of the game, I mean in every possible way, whether it’s been watching as much soccer as possible, talking about it, coaching herself,” Hamm told TODAY.com, “Her husband’s been a longtime collegiate coach at Santa Clara.

“She just loves the game and is incredibly passionate about it, and she believes in her skills to do so — a cerebral player. I can see her coaching at the highest levels. She’ll give everything, that’s for sure.”

While USWNT greats continue to turn the conversation toward more experienced candidates, discussions continue to swirl around who could take the top job. Many top candidates have downplayed the rumors, maintaining that they’re happy where they are. Casey Stoney has said she’s “very happy” with the San Diego Wave, while Australia coach Tony Gustavsson is under contract with the Matidas through the 2024 Olympics.

Twila Kilgore is set to serve as interim head coach for the team’s upcoming friendlies against South Africa on Sept. 21 and Sept. 24.

The U.S. women’s national team soon will bring in a new head coach following the departure of Vlatko Andonovski, and the prospect of a new era brings with it both excitement and nerves for players.

Several players have given their thoughts on what they want to see in the next head coach, and the most common request so far is a coach with ample international experience. On the latest episode of Just Women’s Sports‘ “Snacks” podcast, Alyssa Naeher and Lynn Williams spoke about the emotions behind it all.

The national team will enter its September camp in mere weeks, with Twila Kilgore as the interim head coach. And while there’s excitement in getting the team back together, there’s still a whole lot of new on the horizon.

“There’s going to be a new coach, there’s gonna be a new GM,” Williams said. “There’s gonna be a whole newness that’s in some ways exciting, but also very nerve-racking. Because you just never know, you never know if this coach is going to favor you.”

Williams added there’s a “plethora of things” that come with a new coach. And while there are nerves and some anxiety, there’s also an element of excitement.

“There is excitement. There’s nerves. There’s all of it,” Naeher said. “But I think that’s why we still do it.”

Naeher knows she’s in an interesting position right now, given that her Chicago Red Stars are in the midst of an ownership change. Amid all the transitions, “there’s nothing in my life that’s remotely stable at the moment,” she told Williams and co-host Sam Mewis. She is facing down plenty of questions: What is next for the Red Stars? What is next for the USWNT? What will the USWNT coach bring to the table? How will the national team prepare for the 2024 Olympics?

“There is excitement in the newness, newness is always scary,” Naeher continued. “Change is always scary. It’s always trying to hold on to not changing because you always [would] almost rather sail with what’s known then explore what’s not. It probably shouldn’t be that way. But we hold so tightly on to what we know.”

While there will be some familiarity with Kilgore in the September camp, players also know that this camp will be a good time to press the reset button. From here on, the team is moving forward and leaving the 2023 World Cup in the past.

Naeher would love to see the next coach of the USWNT bring out the best in each individual player as part of the collective whole. She also wants to see the team build its own identity while also respecting and representing the identity honed by the generations before.

“We have so many talented players, not just in the group of 23 that we just had, but even extending beyond that,” she said. “And how can we hone in on what each special skill is and create a new identity, but that is also representative of the 25 years that have come before us.

“I think that’s the fun part of a new challenge is, it’s our identity. It’s the new team’s identity, but it’s building off of all the building blocks of what’s come before us and each team that’s come and worn the jersey and represented the crest has all left a mark and their own imprint on the federation. That’s what we started building it on. And now it’s our opportunity to add our own little building blocks and create our own different things building on the past and looking towards the future all in one fell swoop.”

Crystal Dunn knows what she wants from the next U.S. women’s national team head coach. To start: She wants the new coach to “know the ins and outs of what international soccer feels like.”

Speaking with the Philadelphia Inquirer, the 31-year-old defender acknowledged a level of “unsettledness” among the players as they wait on the hire. But she’s excited for the next chapter.

Former head coach Vlatko Andonovski was a “really nice guy” that cared about the players as people. In turn, he was “highly respected” by the players, according to Dunn. But “the reality is, you don’t always do the job the way that you want to do it,” she said.

“We listened to the strategy and the tactics. And I think all parties involved are responsible for us not meeting our standards, and I think the blame can’t only fall on the staff,” she said. “Players, I think, we didn’t perform to our best ability, and that happens.”

Even still, it’s time to turn the page.

“The quicker we can dive into what this new future is going to look like, the better,” she said. And that new future does need to start sooner rather than later, especially with the Paris Olympics looming next summer.

The next coach needs to understand what it takes to run a national team in general. But Andonovski’s successor also must be aware of the attitude and legacy of the U.S. national team in particular, Dunn said.

“I think it has to be someone who understands the history of the U.S. women’s national team, and I think just understanding American soccer and what our league is built on, the players that we develop, and just really trying to get the best out of us,” she said. “That’s my hope for the next coach, is someone who’s just going to tap into each individual and be able to raise their level even higher.”

For the USWNT to find success, though, it will take everyone – not just the coach – operating at the high level .

“It’s a hard job,” she said. “Every time we step into a camp, step into a World Cup, an Olympics, it’s like, we’re either in the final or it’s a bust. And with that, we face that pressure, but that pressure is also on the staff. I think it takes everybody to really cultivate that message, and be able to perform and fire on all cylinders — and it’s not easy.”

The U.S. women’s national team faces an uncertain future as the program hunts for its next head coach, starting midfielder Andi Sullivan said Thursday.

Sullivan played every minute of the USWNT’s four matches at the 2023 World Cup, which ended in a disappointing Round of 16 exit for the defending champions. Head coach Vlatko Andonovski resigned after the elimination, starting the timer on the search for his successor with the 2024 Olympics just 11 months away.

“You need to get someone quickly in order to have as much time to prepare, but you also don’t want to rush and make a decision that may not be the best option, especially for the long term,” Sullivan said. “There’s a lot of work to do from now to the Olympics. And there’s a lot of work to do for years and years and years to come.

“So it depends on what strategy they’re going to take with that, and it’s all interesting stuff. So the future is uncertain, for all of us.”

Under Andonovski, Sullivan cemented herself as the starting defensive midfielder. But a new head coach could bring a new formation, a new style of play and new personnel preferences.

Still, the change at the head coaching position was an expected one after the USWNT underperformed in Australia and New Zealand. While the team felt prepared for its matches, that didn’t translate onto the pitch, backup goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury said.

“I like Vlatko. He’s a good coach. And I felt we were prepared for the games, but there was clearly a disconnect between our preparation and then what actually was executed in the game,” she said. “That’s not good enough for the U.S. women’s national team. So you have got to make changes, and hopefully we can get things right before the Olympics.”

Sullivan and Kingsbury are not the only players who haven spoken about the team’s World Cup loss and its plans for the future.

Their Washington Spirit teammate Ashley Sanchez, who made the World Cup roster but did not receive any playing time, has said that her role did not match what Andonovski had told her heading into the tournament.

“I felt for her because I know her skill level and ability and that she can really be a game changer,” Kingsbury said. “She handled it as well as she could have.”

Back in the NWSL, Sanchez showed off her game-changing ability, as she scored just 40 seconds into her return for Washington.

“Revenge mode was coming,” Spirit coach Mark Parsons said. “It came really quick, and I think that helps. Being involved, she’s now feeling good.”

Lindsey Horan, who served as the USWNT co-captain for the World Cup, has said not all players were not set up to succeed Down Under.

“We did not get the best out of every single individual,” she said. “I don’t think everyone was fully prepared. … Could I have done more to help those players? Because I don’t think we got the absolute best out of some of them because of the way that we were set up.”

The U.S. women’s national team did not set its players up for success heading into the 2023 World Cup, captain Lindsey Horan said.

The 29-year-old midfielder reflected on the USWNT’s World Cup run in conversation with Christen Press and Tobin Heath, her teammates on the 2019 title-winning team. During that tournament, the coaching staff prepared players to come up big in the biggest moments. But that did not happen in 2023, Horan said on “The RE-CAP Show.”

Head coach Vlatko Andonovski resigned after the USWNT’s Round of 16 exit. While Horan did not mention him by name, she did share what she wants to ask his successor.

“(How do you plan on) getting the best out of your team without overcomplicating everything? Because I could talk about the last four-year cycle, and we don’t need to get into every single thing, but that’s not what we did,” she said. “We did not get the best out of every single individual. I don’t think everyone was fully prepared.”

Horan did not absolve the players of guilt, noting that any lack of preparation falls on their shoulders as well. She also shared her individual regrets, saying she has asked herself constantly in the weeks following the tournament: “What more could I have done to help the team?”

As the captain, Horan had taken it upon herself to mentor the younger players, particularly Sophia Smith, as they dealt with the pressures of their first World Cup.

“Could I have done more to help those players? Because I don’t think we got the absolute best out of some of them because of the way that we were set up,” she said, referencing the structure put in place heading into the tournament as a potential limiting factor.

Still, Press and Heath, who sat out this year’s tournament with injuries, praised Horan for her leadership.

“I think that you shined in an environment where there was very little light,” Press said. “And I think that you can have a lot of peace with how you carried the team through that tournament.”

The U.S. women’s national team has a winning formula, Briana Scurry said. But former head coach Vlatko Andonovski botched that formula at the 2023 World Cup.

The former USWNT goalkeeper, who won the 1999 World Cup and two Olympic gold medals with the team, spoke with the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Tannenwald after the U.S. was eliminated from this summer’s tournament. And she did not hold back in her evaluation of Andonovski.

Andonovski resigned from the USWNT after the Round of 16 exit, the earliest ever for the program. And the disappointing World Cup finish came after a third-place finish at the 2021 Olympics.

“Vlatko had two bites at the apple and didn’t get it done,” Scurry said. “And a lot of people might say, ‘Well, that’s ruthless,’ but I think it’s just how we organize and how we work with the women’s team. The standard, the bar, is so incredibly high, and he obviously wasn’t up to the task.”

Scurry, 51, also questioned Andonovski’s overreliance on younger players in his starting lineup, especially when compared to the more experience-heavy USWNT lineups of tournaments past.

“I have no problem with the younger players,” she said. “They deserve a chance, they should be expected to be in there. But they should not be tasked with carrying the load, because it’s too much.

“That’s why we win so much, because we have an understanding [that] there’s actually, like, a formula about it. And he broke the formula.”

Andonovski’s departure leaves the USWNT with a vacancy at head coach, and likely with several other positions to fill as well. USWNT general manager Kate Markgraf, who was a part of the group responsible for hiring Andonovski, will also step down when her contract with U.S. Soccer expires at the end of the month.

When asked if she would be up for a position with U.S. Soccer, Scurry did not say no.

“I would definitely consider it,” she told the Inquirer.

Carli Lloyd, the U.S. women’s national team great turned Fox Sports analyst, made headlines during the 2023 World Cup for her frequent criticism of her former team. Lloyd also offered suggestions for what head coach Vlatko Andonovski could have done differently.

That doesn’t mean Lloyd has any interest in the USWNT’s head coaching vacancy, however. The two-time World Cup champion shut down the possibility in a post on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.

“A definite no,” she wrote of herself as a candidate. “Not qualified, no coaching licenses and no experience. They’ll land a good one. It’s important to get it right.”

Since retiring following the 2021 Olympics, in which the USWNT won bronze, Lloyd has been vocal about her beliefs on the state of the program.

Andonovski’s resignation has triggered speculation about his replacement, ranging from Lloyd to Tony Gustavsson, the Australian head coach and former USWNT assistant under Jill Ellis. Lluís Cortés and Laura Harvey also have been linked to the opening. Harvey, a former USWNT assistant, is currently the head coach of the NWSL’s OL Reign.

“I enjoyed my time at U.S. Soccer. That’s no doubt,” Harvey said. “The U.S. women’s national team is probably the top job in the world, if not a top three job in the world. That’s just reality. And if my name is anywhere near it, then that’s an honor.”

When asked about the opening, USWNT legend Brandi Chastain said she would “love to lead this national team some time in the future,” while acknowledging she is not yet ready for the job.

Whatever direction the USWNT decides to go in, there’s no doubt Lloyd will have an opinion – and she won’t be afraid to share it.

“They need a fresh start,” she wrote on X. “Someone who hasn’t been part of the program. Wouldn’t be wise to recycle coaches. Too much history.”

Kate Markgraf will exit as the general manager of the U.S. women’s national team when her contract expires at the end of August, U.S. Soccer announced Friday.

In August 2019, Markgraf became the first general manager of the USWNT. She helped hire head coach Vlatko Andonovski, who resigned Thursday, as the successor to coach Jill Ellis, who led the team to the 2015 and 2019 World Cup titles. The Equalizer was the first to report Markgraf’s departure on Friday.

“It has been an incredible honor to work with the players, coaches and staff at U.S. Soccer on the mission of keeping our program at the top of the women’s game,” Markgraf said in a release. “I am proud of the foundation we have built, and even more proud of the character and commitment demonstrated by our players as they represent the United States on and off the field. I look forward to supporting all of our programs and have every confidence that we will maintain our standards of excellence moving forward.”

While U.S. Soccer had discussed a contract extension with Markgraf before the 2023 World Cup, she declined to sign one, sources told The Equalizer. Her departure from the role was planned ahead of the tournament and is not in reaction to the USWNT’s Round of 16 exit, per the report.

A former USWNT defender, Markgraf won the 1999 World Cup with the team and played in two more. She also won gold medals at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.

Following the dismissal of men’s national team general manager Brian McBride in January, U.S. Soccer hired Matt Crocker as its sporting director. The federation is not expected to hire a men’s general manager, instead giving some of those responsibilities to Crocker. Whether that also will be true of the USWNT general manager position remains to be seen.

“It’s imperative that we continue to evolve and innovate, and we are excited about the path that lies ahead,” Crocker said in a news release after Andonovski’s exit. “We understand the challenges and have engaged with stakeholders from various corners of our sport — players, coaches, and other individuals within the soccer landscape. The insights and perspectives gathered during these discussions have been instrumental in shaping our forward-looking plan.

“Our commitment to excellence remains unshakeable, and we believe this strategic plan will set the foundation for our women’s national team to achieve greater heights in the years to come.”

Markgraf and Andonovski’s departures come in the wake of the USWNT’s worst-ever finish at a World Cup. Before being eliminated by Sweden in a penalty shootout in the Round of 16 earlier this month, the U.S. had never exited before the semifinals.

U.S. Soccer has already begun reaching out to potential candidates for Andonovski’s replacement, including England coach Sarina Wiegman, who said Friday she has “no plans to leave” the Lionesses. After a disappointing World Cup finish, the USWNT is facing urgency to prepare for the next major tournament, the 2024 Paris Olympics next summer.

With the departure of Vlatko Andonovski, the U.S. women’s national team is on the hunt for its next head coach. And Andonovski’s successor has a big job ahead, with the 2027 World Cup on the horizon and the 2024 Olympics just around the corner.

For USWNT veterans Tobin Heath and Christen Press, who discussed the coaching search on the latest episode of “The RE-CAP Show,” that means finding a candidate with both short- and long-term vision.

“We want to win the Olympics, we need to put ourselves back on track, back in the category that we want to be in,” Heath said. “And then we have a long-term focus toward the next World Cup.”

In the short term, Heath said, player identification is key. The new coach must have a “keen eye and understanding” of what it means to play at an international level and what is required of those players.

The current U.S. player pool is very distinct in its American playing style, which doesn’t always translate to the international game. But that doesn’t mean players can’t or won’t fit at the international level.

“You need somebody, a leader, with a keen understanding of the system that is going to be played, how to implement the system, and which players are best for the system,” Heath said. “That doesn’t mean: Who are the best players? Who’s scoring the most goals? Who’s everyone talking about? It’s not that at all.”

Press agreed with Heath, noting: “I think the point you’re making is, it’s not always the best player, because it’s the right players. And that’s player identification as a key part of a short-term strategy to turn this team around.”

With the Olympics coming up, the next USWNT coach will need to identify the “super factors” that can lead the team to victory. The 2015 and 2019 World Cup-winning teams each had a clear identity and a clear understanding of what each player needed to do.  Even today, Heath and Press could identify the key factors from their 2015 and 2019 title runs.

As a result, the duo wants to see a coach who can come in and identify those factors on the changed USWNT roster.

“You don’t want to take away the best pieces of what the U.S. women’s national team are,” Heath said. “So somebody with an understanding of what we talked about, the DNA of a national team player — it’s very clear DNA, you don’t want to just scrap the whole thing.”

Another important factor in the new coach is player buy-in, Heath and Press said.

“I want to see a coach that not only do these players believe in them, respect them, but they want to fight for them,” Heath said. “You can tell coaches that players want to play for.”

Heath pointed to England’s Sarina Wiegman as an example of a team leader who has achieved that with her players. She also identified Australia’s Tony Gustavsson, who served as a USWNT assistant in 2015 and 2019, as a strong leader and teacher.

“For this group of players, when I think of what’s important – because there are so many young players and so many players that have not been at this level and have not had this responsibility – I do think you need a teacher,” she said. “You need somebody that is not developing with the players. We cannot have somebody that is learning at the same time that the players are learning.

“And we need somebody that is a proven winner. You have the best team in the world, there is no excuse to not go out and get the best coach in the world.”

The USWNT features plenty of strong pieces for whoever takes the reins. But that coach will need to make sure those pieces are used correctly.

“Obviously there’s a lot of noise from the World Cup and from the USWNT’s performance,” Press said. “And I think one thing that we have talked about is, people are saying, I’ll be the savior, I can do it. But the truth is, we don’t need a savior. We need a strategy.”