In separate conversations with nearly two dozen current and former players, coaches and executives, Magee’s theory was the one repeated most frequently. If you can’t do that, he kindly shows you the door.”

“He demands you be a good person, a good teammate, and understand your role. He surrounds himself with the best people then kind of lets them do their thing. “He, better than anyone, recognizes winners. Soccer Federation and a former FIFA vice president.Īctually it’s not a secret at all said Mike Magee, who played under Arena three times in two cities. Full stop,” said Sunil Gulati, the only three-term president of the U.S. “Bruce is the most successful coach in the history of the United States. Two seasons later, that team won the national championship. Since taking over at the University of Virginia 43 years ago, he’s finished a full season with a losing record just once, going 8-9-1 in his third year with the Cavaliers. That consistency is a hallmark of Arena’s success. And it wouldn’t be wise to bet against the team since seven of Arena’s 13 full seasons as an MLS coach have ended in the league championship game. That’s something top-seeded New England, which received a first-round playoff bye, will begin chasing when it plays in the Eastern Conference semifinals Nov. The only thing missing now is Arena’s sixth league title, which would tie him with the NFL’s Bill Belichick - with whom he also shares a stadium and an owner - for most championships for an active coach in a professional team sport in the U.S. “I did with some reluctance because I wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do.”Įvery number is a record, as are the 73 points the Revolution gathered this season, earning Arena his 13th postseason appearance and, almost certainly, his fourth coach of the year award. “I don’t even know why I took the job, to be honest,” he said on a recent quiet morning. The answer, he said, continues to elude him. When Arena is in the mood, the still early-morning hours - when he has only the soaring pine, birch and oak trees outside his office window for company - offer a chance to reflect on how he got here. After turning around more organizations than Lee Iacocca, Arena came out of retirement 2½ years ago to take over a floundering franchise that hadn’t had a winning season in four years and guided it this year to the best regular-season record in MLS history. The most successful American soccer coach of all time, he has never had a team perform at a higher level than this season.

On most days, Bruce Arena is among the first to arrive at the New England Revolution’s training center, a 68-acre complex carved out of densely wooded wetlands 30 miles south of Boston.Īt 70, Arena is at both the apex and the end of his career.

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