Chris Agnello
Encyclopedia
Chris Agnello an American soccer coach. His most recent position was as Coach/General Manager of the Portland Timbers
Portland Timbers (USL)
Portland Timbers was an American professional soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 2001, the team played in various leagues at the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, including the USL First Division and the USSF Division 2 Professional League, until the end of...
soccer team in the USL First Division
USL First Division
The United Soccer Leagues First Division was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico....
.
Chris Agnello developed into one of Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
's top youth players in the early 1980s, winning a state championship with Woods Cross High School and being named the Gatorade National Player of the Year for Utah in 1985. Following high school, Agnello received a scholarship and played for Warner Pacific College
Warner Pacific College
Warner Pacific College is an urban, Christian liberal arts college located in Southeast Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1937, the college is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities...
in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
.
Upon returning from Portland, Agnello focused his energy and love of the game into coaching. He has coached several Utah state champion youth club teams, winning numerous high school championships with both boys and girls teams in Utah. His abilities as a talented young coach were noticed early on as he became one of the youngest state ODP coaches before quickly moving up the ranks and coaching at the regional ODP levels for both the girls and boys programs.
Agnello helped establish the Utah Blitzz
Utah Blitzz
Utah Blitzz was a professional soccer team in the USL Second Division. It withdrew following the 2004 season, after winning the championship.-Year-by-year:...
of the United Soccer Leagues (USL)
United Soccer Leagues
The United Soccer Leagues is the organizer of several soccer leagues with teams in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. It includes men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Leagues currently organized are the USL Pro, the USL Premier Development League, the W-League, and...
D3 Pro League (now USL Second Division
USL Second Division
The United Soccer Leagues Second Division was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, part of the United Soccer Leagues league pyramid...
) and led the team to five conference titles and two league championships. Agnello, was D3 Pro League’s Coach of the Year in 2002 and compiled a 64-21-11 regular-season record over five seasons (2000–04) with the Blitzz.
As coach/general manager, Agnello was responsible for everything from negotiating contracts to making sure sponsor banners were hung straight to gametime coaching. Agnello also helped establish the Junior Blitzz recreational youth soccer program and Blitzz FC, Utah's largest elite youth program. The programs included about 15,000 young soccer players.
Before joining the Timbers Agnello served as an assistant coach with Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake is an American professional soccer club based in Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. The team competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. They currently play their home games at Rio Tinto Stadium. Real Salt Lake won...
of Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
. There, Agnello assisted with the training and coaching of Real Salt Lake’s first team and reserve team during the franchise’s inaugural 2005 season.
In September 2006, Agnello resigned as coach and GM of the Timbers under intense controversy. During the 2006 season the Timbers had underperformed and finished next to last in the USL First Division.