National team coach Jill Ellis is stepping down after leading the United States to back-to-back Women’s World Cup titles.
Ellis has been coach of the team since 2014, guiding it to victories at the World Cup in 2015 and earlier this month in France. Ellis’ resignation was first reported by The Equalizer, a women’s soccer website.
Her contract was set to expire following this year’s World Cup with a mutual option to extend it through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Ellis will remain with the team for a World Cup victory tour, which kicks off Saturday with a match against Ireland at the Rose Bowl. Following the five-match tour, she will serve as a U.S. Soccer ambassador.
U.S. Soccer will begin the search for a new coach after a general manager for the women’s national team is named.
Over the summer in France, Ellis broke April Heinrich’s U.S. women’s team record for most games coached. Overall, she has led the team in 127 matches, with 102 wins.
Ellis was named head coach after serving as interim coach following the dismissal of Tom Sermanni. Ellis also served as interim coach after Pia Sundhage resigned in 2012.
Ellis was an assistant to both Sundhage and Sermanni. She was on the staff of the gold medal-winning teams at the Beijing and London Olympics.
She also served as head coach at UCLA for 12 seasons.
The World Cup title in 2015 was the team’s first since winning in 1999. Overall, the team has won soccer’s most prestigious tournament four times.
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