Academy Physical Performance Coach

The Chicago Fire Football Club (Chicago Fire FC) is Chicago’s premier professional soccer club competing in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top U.S. domestic league. Founded on October 8, 1997, on the 126th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, the Club began play in 1998, becoming the first and only expansion team in North American sports to win a title in its first year of existence.

Beside MLS Cup 1998, the Fire have won five other major domestic titles, including the 1998, 2000, 2003, and 2006 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups, and the 2003 MLS Supporters’ Shield.

The Club’s Football Operations department is guided by one vision: to build a world-class club that inspires greatness, helps unite Chicago, and wins championships. To that end, Owner and Chairman Joe Mansueto named former U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Gregg Berhalter as Director of Football and Head Coach ahead of the 2025 regular season, leading the Fire to the postseason for the first time since 2017 in only his first full season with the Club.

Berhalter and his staff operate out of the Endeavor Health Performance Center, the $100M state-of-the-art training facility of Chicago Fire FC, its second team Chicago Fire II, and the Chicago Fire Academy.

In addition, Mansueto announced his commitment in 2025 to build a $750M+ privately financed downtown stadium in Chicago in 2028. The stadium will anchor Chicago’s newest neighborhood, the 78, a 62-acre development and entertainment district located along the Chicago River just south of Roosevelt Road. For more information on our bold plans, visit

The Academy Performance Coach at Chicago Fire FC will play a critical role within the development of our player talent pool. Working with a Multi-Disciplinary Team, optimizing the physical performance, robustness, and overall well-being of athletes. Key skills needed include a clear understanding of long-term player and athletic development, excellent ability to coach strength, power and movement skills and efficiency, while complementing their technical / tactical soccer development.

We are looking for someone with a passion for youth athletic development.

This individual will work closely with the Head of Physical Performance & Player Wellness (Academy & Fire II), coaching and medical staff to ensure that players are physically prepared for the demands of the game, develop personalized training programs, and support the overall performance goals of the club. A successful candidate will possess excellent communication skills, a strong work ethic, and the ability to adapt to a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

The Academy Performance Coach will report to the Head of Physical Performance & Player Wellness (Academy & Fire II).

• Under the Head of Physical Performance & Player Wellness (Academy & Fire II), work in partnership with Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT), including technical staff, athletic trainers, mindset staff and wider support staff, to provide an integrated High-Performance LTAD program for Academy players, in line with club and department philosophy
• Direct and/or assist in delivery of field, prehabilitation, strength, rehabilitation sessions and match day warm-ups in team and individual settings, teaching proper technique and safety for all exercises and movements
• Collaborate with the Head of Physical Performance & Player Wellness (Academy & Fire II) and agreed squad specific technical Coaches, to design and optimize training schedules
• Proactively collaborate with the Head of Physical Performance & Player Wellness (Academy & Fire II) to best develop high potential players
• Direct and/or assist with GPS distribution, collection, download, and cutting, wellness monitoring, testing administration, RPE collection, compiling, analysis, and reporting
• Orderly file relevant performance documentation on agreed Chicago Fire FC platforms
• Contribute to and advance LTAD programming and curriculum, data collection, testing, analytics, and reporting to develop high-performance football-oriented solutions
• Direct and/or assist with delivery of scientifically based optimal recovery strategies post-training and post-match
• Deve…