Hoops hire college fossil from SMU

FC Dallas announced today that Southern Methodist University coach Schellas Hyndman will take over as the team's head coach effective immediately, according to Hoops GM Michael Hitchcock.

Hyndman brings 31 years of college coaching experience, 24 of them at SMU, where he had a .772 winning percentage and career record of 452-117-47, second among active Division I coaches. He was named Conference USA coach of the year in 2006, after winning consecutive Conference USA titles. SMU lost last season in the second round to Creighton.

He's certainly a respected and experience coach at the college level, but he has absolutely no professional coaching experience. It's a bit of a head-scatcher because MLS is certainly a different animal from college. The wide range of ages, salaries, and abilities, not to mention the strange rules of DPs, SIs and YIs, it's a tall order for someone familiar with the ins and outs, forget about someone who has been doing the same thing for 24 years.

Former college coaches like Bruce Arena and Sigi Schmid were able to make the transition because the league was still in its infancy, still trying to figure out all the nonsensical rules that now define the league. Hyndman will need to learn fast. This makes the firing of Morrow even more ridiculous because Hyndman's hiring represents a step back for Dallas, who will now how to reconfigure and give their new coach time to acclimate himself and build a roster. Of course, they didn't allow Morrow time to do that so the clock may already be ticking on their new coach.