CFC finally announced that they have named a new coach today, we’re posting what they had on their site below.

We don’t know much about him — does anyone? What do you all think?

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Chattanooga FC announced yesterday that Bill Elliott has agreed to take the Head Coach position for the team’s 2012 season.

“Bill’s great reputation along with his Chattanooga roots made him an easy choice for us. We felt his successful longevity at the collegiate level will be carried over to CFC and the upcoming season. We’re glad to have him and assistant coach Weekley in 2012,” said General Manager Sean McDaniel.

“I was born and raised in Chattanooga, I attended the University of Tennessee and I never thought I would leave East Tennessee,” said Elliott. “When the position was offered to me at the University of West Florida, it was a opportunity to make a career in my passion — coaching. Seventeen years later, I feel it was a good decision.”

Elliott is very excited to be back in Chattanooga for the summer season. He says he is glad to have his wife Chrissy, his three and a half year old daughter Peyton and his eighteen month old son Trey around his extended family that lives in and around the Chattanooga area.

Elliott has kept up with Chattanooga FC even while he’s been in Pensacola. “I think the CFC organization has done a fantastic job in the past three seasons. They have set a standard in the league and in the southeast and I am honored to be a part of that.” He also had great things to say about former head coach Brian Crossman. “I’ve known Brian Crossman for years, and I believe he did an outstanding job establishing a great foundation for the team. I hope to continue to build on that.”

Assistant Coach Jimmy Weekley echoed that sentiment. “Bill and I are former teammates (with the Chattanooga Railroaders in the ’90’s) and have been friends since college. Bill brings a wealth of knowledge to us. I am very excited to have the opportunity to work along with him in furthering the success of CFC.”

Bill Elliott is one of the top coaches in the NCAA Division II. In his years of coaching he has compiled an overall career record of 307-144-29, including a 248-101-28 mark at the University of West Florida (Pensacola). He is among the top NCAA Division II coaches in the top 30 in career winning percentage(.630) and career wins(150).

From 1995 -2001, Elliott served as head coach for both the men’s and women’s team. He is the only coach in conference history to lead both men’s and women’s programs to the conference tournament, and the only coach to have won both men’s and women’s titles. In his time serving as the head coach for the women’s team he led his team to the GSC tournament every year, winning three titles in seven years. Elliott has also won three men’s and three women’s GSC Coach of the Year awards.

Elliott came to West Florida from Tennessee Wesleyan College in Athens, Tennessee. He spent two successful seasons with the Bulldogs, leading both men’s and women’s teams to the playoffs in each season. Elliott’s 1993 women’s team captured the NAIA District 24 title, and he was named the district coach of the year. Overall, his women’s teams compiled a 17-18 mark and his men’s teams were 17-14-1.

Elliott’s coaching career began in 1992 at Division III Maryville College in Maryville, Tenn. as an assistant under Pepe Fernandez. In his year at Maryville, the women finished 15-3 and ranked 20th in the NCAA Division III. The men finished 10-8.

Elliott played high school soccer at Hixson High School in Chattanooga, where he led his team to a second place finish in the state as a senior captain.

Elliott also played Division III professional soccer in the United States Interregional Soccer League as a member of the Chattanooga Express. He helped lead the Express to a runner-up finish at the 1993-94 Indoor Soccer National Championships. In 1997, he was hired in mid-season as a player and head coach of the U.S.I.S.L. D-III Mobile Revellers with whom he had started the season as a player. In 1998, he was a player and assistant coach for the Pensacola Barracudas.

Elliott earned a bachelor of science in business administration in 1991 and a master’s of science in recreation and sports management in 1993 from the University of Tennessee. He also played played NCAA Division I varsity soccer for the Volunteers. Elliott holds the NSCAA Advanced National Diploma and a USSF A License.

Post by John Q. Chattanooga | Chattanooga FC, Local
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Okay, the news is out: Chattanooga FC has not renewed its ‘contract’ with three season Head Coach Brian Crossman for the 2012 season. You can read the Times Free Press article here, but it seems a bit vague and innocuous… Who knows a bit more about the whole change up?

We here at the Chattahooligan suspect that the failure to win the conference (with three opportunities to do so), the three straight losses to end the season (our longest losing streak ever) and the departure of three good players during the season (Irvin Espinal, Mark Beattie and John Calderwood) may have been mitigating factors in the decision. Hey, those things all came in three’s, weird…

Questions:

Does this include the whole coaching staff or just the head coach (the only one mentioned in the articles)? Who are the other coaches “nationwide” that CFC will be considering? Who should they be considering (since Jurgen Klinsmen is now engaged)?

What do you think about the change readers? Is it good or bad to let Crossman go? He did have a winning record every season, and he did take us to the National Championship last year.

Should CFC have kept Coach Crossman?

Post by John Q. Chattanooga | Chattanooga FC
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Speaking of all star performances this season (see the comments on our last post, Post Season Doldrums), who do you think should be nominated this season’s Most Valuable Player and why? It looks like Mike Rabil will not be nominating anyone from the midfield besides Fynn Glover…

We here at the blog are partial to Chris Ochieng, but Thomas Hunter did do a bang up job throughout the whole season…but what do the rest of you Chattahooligans think?

Post by John Q. Chattanooga | Chattanooga FC
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As this weekend rolls around and the NPSL National Championships begin, we Chattahooligans are again reminded of the sad fact that our team is not in it. And as much as we dislike the Madison City field, it is a far better scenario to be playing on it than not. So, we’ll hang our heads low and look forward to next season…

The DC United game last week was a great deal of fun, with some entertaining play by both sides, but the result was not what we wanted. Sure, we looked very competitive — with as good a chance to win the game as the U23s had, and far and away better than we looked against them last year — but a third loss in a row was a tough way to wrap up the year. Especially after leading the league for 80% of the season.

So we’ll hold out with our hopes for a better turn of events in 2012. In the meantime, everyone should look in on the NPSL Semifinals going on tonight between the Southeast champion Jacksonville United FC and the Northeast’s Eerie Admirals and then between the West’s Hollywood Hitmen and the Midwest’s Milwaukee Bavarians. The odds seem to be stacked in Hollywood’s favor as they boast several ex-pro and internationally traveled players, but you play the game for a reason. It is interesting to note that none of last year’s Final Four teams returned this year — though all had pretty good seasons.

Some factoids from the Chattanooga FC 2011 season:

The team finished in third place with 17 points — as Georgia Revolution and Jacksonville United tied for first with 18 points, but since they were tied on head-to-head match ups, Jacksonville went through due to their 6 wins over Georgia’s 5…

Chattanooga FC finished with 5 wins, 2 ties, 3 losses in league play, and 8-2-5 overall.

On July 9, 2011, the team lost it’s first match at home in Finley Stadium since May 2009.

The team’s unbeaten streak in regular season league play (13 games) ended on June 4, 2011 in Jacksonville. The last regular season loss in the NPSL Southeast was on June 27, 2009.

In three seasons the team’s record is 20 wins, 5 ties and 10 losses. All under Head Coach Brian Crossman.

This year, the team won it’s first berth in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup by defeating Rocket City in the semifinals and Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves in the 118th minute in the finals.

The team won it’s second ever international match against CF Monterrey’s U20s.

The team played its first professional opponent, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the USL Pro, in the US Open Cup, losing in overtime by one goal (after leading 2-0 after 75 minutes).

Each of the five losses this season were by only one goal.

12 different players scored this season.

Post by John Q. Chattanooga | Chattanooga FC, National
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Chattanooga, let’s be sure to turn out in big numbers tomorrow night to send off the boys of Chattanooga FC in style as they welcome the DC United U23 team to Finley Stadium for the very first time! This is your last chance to see the guys play before most of them head off home or back to school for the fall. Let’s give them a great send off!

Now, this may be the first season that DC United has hosted a U23 team, but they should be very good — perhaps the best competition we have seen all season. Last year’s Super 20′s (a younger team) handled Chattanooga FC quite easily, beating us 3-0 up in RFK Stadium in Washington DC. Though were it not for great saves in each half by both Richie Masters and Thomas Hunter, the spread could’ve been a lot worse.

What should help swing some things in our favor:

There should be a couple thousand more fans for CFC at this game than the 50 or so than turned out at RFK last July. The DC team may not have played in front of an opposing crowd that big.

The temperature on the field should not be 101º F (with extremely high humidity) as it was last July in DC.

Our guys should not be as nervous as they were last season — several of them were in that game last year. Like going to the playoffs, that experience can help bring confidence.

And we’re playing on our home field (which isn’t exactly a great surface), and knowing the specific nuances of the turf that may help our guys out.

It should be a great night to celebrate the team and get the last of that $4 beer. Let’s turn out Chattahooligans!

Post by John Q. Chattanooga | Chattanooga FC, National
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