COLUMBUS, Ohio — At the beginning of December, the Columbus Crew named Wilfried Nancy as the team's new head coach. Nancy becomes the 10th head coach in the club's history.
Nancy is making history of his own becoming the first Black head coach for the team.
Nancy is one of three Black head coaches across Major League Soccer, and the French native is proud that his role might be inspiring others.
"The fact that I am a Black head coach, to be honest with you, I am proud of it. I hope I can change the mentality," Nancy said. "It shouldn't be a question because I am a human being so the fact that I am a human being and the coach of the Columbus Crew should mean I am competent."
Nancy's first head coaching job in the MLS was with Montreal FC. When he was hired there was just one Black coach in the league.
"I would like to inspire people they can realize that impossible is an opinion like I like to say," Nancy said.
While he wants to bring another MLS Cup to Columbus, Nancy is also focused on making sure he grows the men on his team both on and off the pitch.
"I am a teacher of the game, my job is for the player to be better but also as a person," Nancy said.
Nancy said that one of the many reasons he chose Columbus was because of the diversity that is shown within the organization.
"I'm really happy to be part of the club because I can see that all the people that we work together, there is a lot of diversity and for me this is really important," Nancy said.