Revolution's Steve Nicol Named Coach of the Year
October 16, 2002 - Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release
NEW YORK (Wednesday, October 16, 2002) - Major League Soccer announced today that New England Revolution Head Coach Steve Nicol has captured the 2002 MLS Coach of the Year Award. Despite carrying the tag of interim head coach, Nicol led his surprising squad on an improbable run to the Eastern Conference Championship.
After assuming the reigns of the Revolution on May 23 after the squad stumbled to a 2-4-1 start, Nicol proceeded to guide New England to a 10-10-1 record, which included a six-game unbeaten streak to close out the season. Under Nicol's direction, the Revs completed a phenomenal rise from the bottom of the table to the Eastern Conference Championship and the second seed in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
The Revolution continued to rally under their interim head coach in the postseason, possibly removing the uncertainty of Nicol's contract status with an impressive march to MLS Cup 2002. With voting for the award completed before the end of the MLS Cup Playoff Quarterfinals, the Revolution's successful playoff run was not a factor in voting for the honor.
Nicol, formerly an assistant under the departed Fernando Clavijo, pulled the strings behind the Revs' charge from worst-to-first in the Eastern Conference. A loss at the hands of the Chicago Fire on August 18 sent the Revolution to last place in the East and the bottom of the League standings - seven points from the eighth and final playoff berth. The Revs went 5-0-1 in their next six matches to pull even with Columbus on the last day of the season, capping the run with a 3-0 win against the MetroStars, a team that had already beaten Nicol's side three times during the regular season. A former standout with the Scottish National Team and England's Liverpool, Nicol led an unlikely cast to just its third postseason appearance. The Revolution started the season with former Budweiser Scoring Champions in Mamadou Diallo (2000) and Alex Pineda Chacon (2001). Diallo was eventually traded, while Pineda Chacon, last year's Honda MVP, took a back seat after the immergence of scoring phenom Taylor Twellman. The Revolution shored up its defense with the addition of Mali defender Daouda Kante, who combined with U.S. National Team defender Carlos Llamosa to ignite the Revolution down the stretch.
The MLS Coach of the Year is an annual award given to the League's top coach as determined through votes cast by MLS coaches, general managers, players and members of the Professional Soccer Reporters Association. Other finalists for the honor included Mike Jeffries of the Dallas Burn and Sigi Schmid of the Los Angeles Galaxy.
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