Joshua David Wolff (born February 25, 1977) is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

coach and former player.

Playing career

College

Wolff was born in

Stone Mountain, Georgia Stone Mountain is a city in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 6,703 as of 2020. Stone Mountain is in the eastern part of DeKalb County and is a suburb of Atlanta that encompasses nearly 1.7 square miles. It lies near and ...

. He played three years of

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

at the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

, where he scored 21 goals and eight assists in 43 games. He played at South Carolina with future United States national team star

Clint Mathis Clint Mathis (born November 25, 1976) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward or midfielder. He appeared at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, scoring one goal. He also played in Major League Soccer for the MetroStars, wh ...

. In addition, Wolff played and captained varsity soccer at Parkview High School, Lilburn, Georgia.

Professional

After his junior season, Wolff left college and signed with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. MLS assigned Wolff to the Chicago Fire. He set the MLS rookie scoring record (together with

Jeff Cunningham Jeff Cunningham (born August 21, 1976) is a former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He is Major League Soccer's third-all-time leader in regular-season goals scored with 134. Born in Jamaica, Cunningham initially played for ...

, since broken by Damani Ralph) by scoring eight goals, doing so in just 14 games with only four starts. Wolff played the following four seasons for the Fire, scoring 24 goals, but suffered through multiple injuries. Before the 2003 MLS Superdraft, the Fire traded Wolff, in a cost-cutting move, to the

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City is an American professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The administrative offices are located in downtown K ...

in exchange for the third overall pick, which the Fire used to select Nate Jaqua. Wolff missed most of the 2003 season due to injuries. He rebounded in 2004 by scoring ten goals and seven assists during the season. Wolff scored his first career playoff goal on a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

during the

MLS Cup 2004 MLS Cup 2004 was the ninth edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), which took place on November 14, 2004, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. It was contested between D.C. United and the Kansa ...

. He scored ten goals and ten assists in 2005. In September 2006, Wolff had a try out with English

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

. The team was pleased enough with his performance to offer MLS a $500,000 transfer fee. However, British immigration officials denied Wolff a

work permit A work permit or work visa is the permission to take a job within a foreign country. The foreign country where someone seeks to obtain a work permit for is also known as the "country of work", as opposed to the "country of origin" where someone ho ...

based on the fact he had failed to play the required 75% of the U.S. national team's games in the previous two years. From England, Wolff traveled to Germany for a try out with 2. Bundesliga club

1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; ''sechzig'' locally ; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of the German football pyramid. Their current home gr ...

. On December 6, 2006, 1860 Munich signed Wolff to a contract through the 2007–2008 season. Munich paid MLS a $191,000 transfer fee. Wolff joined the team during its January 2007 mid-winter training camp but was waived at the end of the 2008 season. Wolff signed with the

on June 30, 2008. At the end of the 2010 MLS season, after two and a half seasons back in Kansas City, Wolff's contract option was declined by the club. On December 15, 2010, Wolff was selected by D.C. United in Stage 2 of the 2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft and immediately signed a one-year contract with a club option for 2012. Wolff announced his retirement on November 28, 2012, and became a full-time assistant coach with D.C. United.

International

Wolff has scored nine goals in fifty-two

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

since his debut against

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

on September 8, 1999. He also starred for the US in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, scoring two goals and helping the team to a fourth-place finish. As with his club teams, however, Wolff has had trouble securing a definite spot because of continual injury problems. He did play for the United States in the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, assisting on the opening goal in the second-round win against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. On May 2, 2006, Wolff was named to the US roster for the FIFA World Cup in Germany. Wolff played his last national team match versus Spain at Estadio El Sardinero on June 4, 2008.

International goals

Coaching career

After a season on the coaching staff at D.C. United, Wolff joined the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

in November 2013, and remained an assistant coach until 2018. In 2018, Wolff joined the staff of the United States Men's National Team under Gregg Berhalter. On July 23, 2019, Wolff was announced to be the first head coach of

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

expansion team

Austin FC Austin FC is an American professional soccer club based in Austin, Texas. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 2018, the club began play in the 2021 season. Their home stadium is Q ...

, who began playing with the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. Austin FC had 9 wins, 21 defeats, and 4 draws in their expansion season under Wolff, finishing in 12th in the Western Conference, one point above

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

in last. Austin was eliminated from playoff contention on October 16 after a home defeat to

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, with five matches to spare. Wolff played with a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 formation in his first season, and his team was characterized as having high possession numbers, and for building out from the back. Despite having the fourth-highest average percent possession per game at 53.9%, Austin scored the fewest goals in the league at 35. The team went into their match on October 30 against

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

with a chance to win the first MLS Copa Tejas, but a 2–1 defeat meant that they finished in third. In his first season as a head coach, Wolff was questioned by the fans about his tactics and substitutions. Coach Wolff's second year was a stark contrast to what his team had endured in 2021. Though their performance in the U.S. Open Cup ended after a single game, which they lost 2–1 to their Texas

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

opponent San Antonio FC, the team's performance in the MLS season was a different story. Scoring 30 more goals and giving up 16 less goals than the 2021 season, Wolff's team ended with a 2nd-place finish in the Western Conference earning a spot in their first MLS Cup Playoffs. Under Wolff's guidance the team continued to be successful, exciting fans by making their way to the Western Conference Finals, losing 3–0 to LAFC in a lackluster performance to end their season. On October 6, 2024, Austin FC parted ways with Wolff after falling short of qualifying for 2024 MLS Cup playoffs.

Personal life

Wolff's eldest son Tyler plays for

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

, and his younger son

Owen Owen may refer to: People and fictional characters * Owen (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Places United States * Owen, Missouri, a ghost town * Owen, Wisconsin * Owen County, Indiana ...

played for him at

Coaching statistics

Honors

Chicago Fire * U.S. Open Cup:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

Western Conference Championship:

Kansas City Wizards * U.S. Open Cup:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Western Conference Championship:

United States *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolff, Josh 1977 births Living people American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players in Germany Chicago Fire FC players MLS Pro-40 players Sporting Kansas City players TSV 1860 Munich players D.C. United players Olympic soccer players for the United States CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players United States men's international soccer players South Carolina Gamecocks men's soccer players Soccer players from Georgia (U.S. state) Sportspeople from Stone Mountain, Georgia Major League Soccer players A-League (1995–2004) players Major League Soccer All-Stars 2. Bundesliga players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players D.C. United non-playing staff Columbus Crew non-playing staff Men's association football forwards Austin FC head coaches 20th-century American sportsmen