Since he first retired from soccer nearly a decade ago, Landon Donovan unretired to play nine games with the Galaxy, spent six months in the Mexican league with León, played eight games in the Major Arena Soccer League, helped found a team in the second-division USL Championship and coached it to two playoff appearances, became part owner of a team in Wales and a strategic advisor to a third-tier team in England, and did soccer commentary for Fox and ESPN.
For many athletes retirement means the end of a career; for the peripatetic Donovan, it’s become an opportunity to try out a whole bunch of new ones. His most recent choice may be the most surprising however, because nine days ago Donovan, widely considered the best male player in U.S. soccer history, was named interim coach of a women’s team, the San Diego Wave.
“I’m pretty surprised myself,” Donovan said.
Yet the most interesting part of the story isn’t so much that Donovan got the job. It’s how he got it. When Wave president Jill Ellis reached out to him earlier this month looking for recommendations for an interim coach to replace the fired Casey Stoney, Donovan recommended himself.
“He and I were having a conversation, and he sort of said, ‘you know, I miss coaching. I would like to be considered for this’,” Ellis said. “And I was like, ‘wow. OK.’
“So we moved on it. And I think it’s been a terrific move.”
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So far the results have been mixed, with Saturday’s 2-1 home loss to Angel City following a 2-0 CONCACAF W Champions Cup win in Panama. That hasn’t shaken Ellis’ confidence though. Sure, Donovan has had no connection with the women’s games in his long career. But he wasn’t hired to coach women. He was hired him to coach soccer players.
“It’s not about coaching men or women. It’s about coaching a person,” said Ellis, who coached the women’s national team to consecutive World Cups titles. “Landon Donovan has the most astute emotional intelligence I’ve even see. He’s going to connect with people and players.”
It’s a trait Donovan, 42, earned the hard way. Despite his unparalleled success, the six-time MLS Cup champion battled depression so severe he…