Interview with North Texas Soccer Club Head Coach John Gall

John Gall was named the fourth head coach coach in North Texas SC history last November. Here's a chance to get to know him better as MLS Next Pro play continues.

Last weekend, North Texas Soccer Club kicked off its 2024 season with a scoreless draw at home against the Vancouver Whitecaps 2.

Was it the full three points that new head coach John Gall wanted to mark his debut as the fourth head coach in North Texas history? Likely not. But Coach Gall is clear that he wants to build something special, to guide young players to that next step in their professional pathway, as well as open the door, if the opportunity arises, for future opportunities as a coach.

Afterburn Soccer sat down with Coach Gall a few weeks ago to chat about his role, what brought him into the FC Dallas family, and how he plans to get the most out of North Texas Soccer Club this season.

Rewinding to last season, John Gall was named interim head coach with nine games to go in North Texas’ 2023 season after former skipper Javier Cano was dismissed. The season, to put it simply, was not going well for the young club. There was talent, energy, and some great soccer but numerous costly mistakes. While Gall didn’t get North Texas into the postseason over the nine games he coached, the team improved enough that on November 16, the interim tag was removed.

“Honored, privileged, happy. I’m all of those things rolled into one. Obviously, it’s a very prestigious position at our club,” Gall said about the appointment.

Coach Gall hales from South Wales, growing up in a culture infatuated with rugby and football. His dad took him to his first professional match, a Manchester United game, when he was eighteen months old. In other words, he didn’t have much choice in his fandom and remains committed to the Red Devils, despite a lackluster run over these past few years. His family still lives there, and he visits as often as possible.

While he began his career as a player, coaching opportunities came quickly.

“As a player, I always kind of looked at the game analytically. I was always thinking about what is ahead, what is next,” Gall said. “When I came to the States initially to play in college, our English coach had a club and gave me a team right away. I was making $260 a month. It was something I needed to support myself. The coaching side of it was something I enjoyed right away. It was a baptism of fire, dealing with players and parents. I was probably 19 and a half years old, and I was coaching and playing. Just being involved in the game 24 hours a day."

He acknowledged, too, that the Dallas football scene is different, a bit like the Wild West, but also a perfect environment for someone to learn and grow.

His playing career was underway in those days, too, as he hoped to find a permanent foothold in Major League Soccer, admitting though that it was much different.

“I was a training player with the Dallas Burn at the time. I was playing in the USL with the Texas Toros, the farm team of the Dallas Burn at the time. There were several international players with high profiles with the Burn at that time, filling the international spots. There weren’t as many international spots back then. I was a little bit of waiting for my time. I was captain of the Texas Toros. We had some really good players,” Gall said with a wistful smile. "Back in the day in 1999, playing in the lower leagues was an experience. I remember a 24-hour trip on the bus to Raleigh, North Carolina. We arrived on the bus at 7 pm, kicked off at 7:30 PM, and traveled back to Dallas that night. So nowadays, when our players complain about travel conditions, I don’t listen to them for one second.”

Then, opportunity knocked in the form of a chance to coach the boys team at Marcus High School in Flower Mound.

“Again, I was playing and trying to break into the league, and all of a sudden an English guy I knew from club soccer was coaching the boys team at Marcus High School. He was moving to the girls team, so he knew there would be an opening and asked me if it was something I wanted to do. I applied for the job and got it,” he said. “I started focusing on the coaching and really started learning the trade. I was 25 at Marcus High School, coaching 18-year-olds. I spent a long time at Marcus in Flower Mound. Honestly, I loved coaching high school. I loved the program we built, the schools we were representing, and we established something special. We won two state championships, one national championship, had several players that became professional players."

In short order, another opportunity arose as FC Dallas meanwhile was improving and implementing one of the elite academies in North America.

“When I felt that the club situation was a little more secure, I moved to FC Dallas. That was when I started focusing more on developing through the FC Dallas system, through the youth levels,” Gall said. “Fortunately I got moved into spending some time with the first team as a volunteer more than anything, learning the standards, the expectations, what the club means for the community. I was fortunate to get promoted to the U19s then to the second team. Then as interim, the club saw that I was doing a good job and asked me to be the bridge between the first team and the academy as head coach.“

Coaching professionally in any sport is a tough task, but John’s background alone suggests a perfect fit for the culture and emphasis of FC Dallas to develop young players to find their next step. He thrives on helping young players develop. In particular, he has valued seeing guys like Tomas Pondeca and Carl Sainte emerge as first team options and recalls his time coaching Paxton Pomykal as a U11 player. It’s a challenge he relishes.

“It’s something I enjoy seeing. I do have aspirations to coach in MLS. But the time now is to focus on coaching with North Texas Soccer Club, help these guys through me get to Nico and the first team,” Gall answered.

The immediate focus is shaping up a team that was woeful in defense last season. North Texas Soccer Club is young. It’s also a team that balances a lot of different priorities, including giving minutes to first team players coming back from injury or who need some time to develop, like Isaiah Parker who returns to the side after a disappointing loan with San Antonio and Tarik Scott coming back from injury. Academy players might earn opportunities to taste professional soccer, and a smattering of new signings who are new to the FC Dallas environment have been announced. Gall had a hand in recruiting guys like Nico Gordon, Abdoul Zane, and Pedrinho, as well as assisting with the SuperDraft scouting and selections. The new faces should present a clean slate.

“I think, leadership and coaching and pushing a team forward is about learning from our mistakes. We are certainly going to remember some of the things that put us in bad spots. It is not something we are going to dwell on. The team is going to look very different. There will be some familiar faces but for the most part the roster will look very different,” Gall said. "The balance between developing players and being successful is a difficult one, but it is one that I embrace. We are not just here to develop players; we are here to develop winners.”

Tactically, the head coach promises that North Texas will play similarly to the first team, with some tweaks here and there. They will player with determination, eager to express themselves on the ball, control possession, and dominate a game. Mistakes are going to happen - it’s a young side - but those are also opportunities to learn and grow.

Opening with a point at home may not be the sprint out of the gate any coach wants, but it is a start to build upon.

When all is said and done, Coach Gall wants his players to see his professionalism and his drive to help this team achieve its goals.

“I feel 100% convinced that they will see someone obsessed with the game, obsessed with the grind, being successful on a consistent basis,” Gall said about what example he wants to leave his players with. “They are not going to see someone who differs from day to day. I want players to know what the standard is and expectation is. We are going to be a team that is not going to give up. We are going to push. We are not going to quit. We have a bunch of guys who want that, who love it, and I am going to give it to them 100%.”

North Texas plays their next match at St Lous City 2 on Sunday, March 24.

We will post the raw audio from our interview with Coach Gall on our podcast feed if you want to hear more. Subscribe to get a taste of the enthusiasm and energy North Texas’ new head coach brings to the organization.