USWNT manager Jill Ellis wins FIFA women’s football coach of the year

In 2014, the United States women’s national team made a shocking managerial change, firing Tom Sermanni and hiring Jill Ellis just over a year before the World Cup. That change ended up paying off, with Ellis guiding the USWNT to their first World Cup title since 1999. And in winning that honor, Ellis also coached her way to a FIFA world coach of the year award for women’s soccer.

Ellis has been a fixture on the American coaching scene for decades, starting her career as an assistant in college in 1988. She got her first head coaching job in 1997 and guided UCLA to six consecutive conference titles as their head coach in the 2000s. Thanks to her success at the college level, Ellis was the coach of the Under-20 and Under-21 teams on multiple occasions, as well as an assistant to the senior team.

The United States turned a corner at the World Cup and started playing their best soccer once Ellis made a bold change, inserting 22-year-old Morgan Brian into the starting lineup and moving Ballon d’Or nominee Carli Lloyd from midfield to striker. That change allowed Lloyd to dominate the semifinals and finals, helping the USWNT to the title.