NSCAA Past President Schellas Hyndman, the men's coach at Southern Methodist University, was named the head coach of FC Dallas of Major League Soccer June 17.

"We feel that Schellas is the right type of leader for this team to help us reach our potential," said FC Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock. "He is a passionate leader, a strong leader. A trademark of the teams Schellas has coached is that they are disciplined, hard-working, they fight for one another, and they are difficult to play against. And I think that's a direct reflection of the type of leader Schellas is."

Hyndman has been an influential part of the NSCAA Academy staff for a number of years. As a member of the Senior Academy Staff, he has shaped the instruction of NSCAA candidates and has taught NSCAA courses throughout the nation as well as in England and Brazil. The former NSCAA Vice President for Education and NSCAA president in 2005, he also is an NSCAA Director of Coaching Emeritus. He was presented the Association's Mike Berticelli Excellence in Coaching Education Award at the NSCAA Convention in Baltimore last January.

Hyndman spent 31 years coaching in the collegiate ranks, first at Eastern Illinois, then for 24 seasons at SMU. His overall college record is 466-122-49, good for fourth on the all-time list of NCAA Division I coaches. He led his teams to 30 NCAA playoff appearances, 11 quarterfinals and three NCAA Division I College Cups.

Hyndman earned eight league Coach of the Year honors in his 24 years at SMU. He was named NSCAA Coach of the Year in 1981 after guiding Eastern Illinois to the NCAA Division I finals in the school's first year at that level. Twenty-one players that played for him at SMU have been drafted by MLS teams since 1996, including seven first round selections. Fourteen of those players have appeared in a combined 714 MLS regular season games since 1996. SMU ranks seventh among schools whose players have appeared in MLS contests.

"This is a very special day for me and my family," said Hyndman. "All of us that are competitors, we all strive to do something special, and I think this is the opportunity to do something special. My goals are very simple: to continue to find success for FC Dallas, to compete for an MLS championship, and to make Dallas very proud of the team that we put on the field."

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