Probe clears Gregg Berhalter to reapply for USMNT coaching job

Gregg Berhalter © Getty Images

Details of a 1992 attack by former US men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter on his then-girlfriend were released Monday by the US Soccer Association, which released the findings of an independent investigation into the incident at the heart of a feud between Berhalter and player Gio Reyna’s family .

The law firm Alston & Bird wrote among their findings that Berhalter depressed and kicked Rosalind Berhalter (then Rosalind Santana) in the legs when both were freshmen at the University of North Carolina. The two, who were then a couple, have reconciled and have been married for 25 years.

Noting that no charges were filed, the report concluded that Berhalter did not mislead the USSF about the incident, adding that the incident “does not prevent an employer from hiring Mr. Berhalter.”

The attack became public knowledge in December after Gio Reyna’s parents Claudio Reyna, a former teammate of Berhalter on the US men’s national team, and Danielle Reyna, a former classmate of North Carolina’s Rosalind Berhalter and former member of the US women’s national team, Football officials had informed about the incident. Reyna’s parents were upset at how Gregg Berhalter used their son at the World Cup, according to the report.

While Alston & Bird did not determine that the Reynas had blackmailed Berhalter, their contact with then-USSF Athletic Director Earnie Stewart and then-USSF Director-General Brian McBride led investigators to conclude that the federation violated its “policies in Regarding Appropriate Parental Behavior and Communication”.

Berhalter is no longer under contract with the USSF as his contract expired at the end of last year. His former assistant, Anthony Hudson, took over as interim head coach and there is no timetable for hiring a permanent head coach. USSF President Cindy Parlow Cone said the federation plans to replace Stewart and then allow the newcomer to hire the head coach.

Berhalter has expressed an interest in returning to the job. It’s unclear who else might be a candidate for the job, but Sporting Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes said he declined an interview earlier this year, and French newspaper L’Equipe wrote that the former coach of Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane has turned down an offer from the USSF.

Claudio Reyna stepped down as Austin FC’s sporting director in January but has remained with the club as an adviser.