WILLIAMSBURG — Twenty-one years ago, Jill Ellis left financial security as a technical writer with Northern Telcom to become an assistant soccer coach at the University of Maryland. Talk about a massive pay cut.
“I got a call from April Heinrichs, who used to be our assistant here at William and Mary,” Ellis said. “She said, ‘I got this second assistant job, it pays $6,000.’ I was making about $45,000. I remember calling my dad and he was like, ‘Go for it!’ My mom said, ‘Are you crazy?’
“It was just one of those things that was about following your passion. I knew at that point I had a bug for coaching and wanted to make it my career. It worked out.”
You could say that. Last summer, with Ellis as its head coach, the U.S. women’s national team won the World Cup for the first time since 1999. Ellis, a 1988 W&M graduate and former player, faced immense pressure and second-guessing from the analysts every step of the way.
But in the end, she managed a group of world-class athletes through high expectations. She was rewarded with a multi-year contract extension and will coach the U.S. in the 2016 Olympics.
Ellis was back in Williamsburg on Thursday and met the Tribe’s players before practice. It was her first visit to her alma mater in a few years, but some things never changed.
“Driving around, I was like, ‘Oh, there’s Confusion Corner!’ ” she said. “Somebody always hits somebody there.”
Since the Cup-clinching 5-2 win over Japan in July, life has been a whirlwind.
“In many ways, it’s been sort of crazy with all the things we’ve been able to do,” she said. “We’re going to the White House in a few weeks. But personally, I have my friends and family around me, and now it’s getting back to business in terms of preparing for the Olympics.”
Ellis’ job performance was under constant scrutiny, especially as the U.S. didn’t blow out its early opponents. TV analyst Tony DiCicco, who coached the U.S. to the World Cup title in 1999, said she was “locked in a system that wasn’t working.” Michelle Akers, a two-time American champion, questioned whether Ellis should be coaching the team.
Which, Ellis knew, came with the territory.
“To be honest, when you go into that job, you understand the expectations,” she said. “I met John Wooden a couple times when I was (the head coach) at UCLA, and I asked him about pressure. And he said, ‘You’ve got to embrace it because it’s an honor to be under pressure. It means people are looking at you to achieve something.’
“So I’ve always taken pressure as something that not only comes with the job but is a responsibility to get something done. You know, I just kept my head down and stayed focused.”
Was she able to enjoy it?
“I did, actually,” she said. “People are like, ‘Did you sleep?’ I did, actually. I think there was one night I was up until 3:40 in the morning. I was making a big decision, I decided, and I went to sleep.
“When you’re in it, it’s a grind. You’re pushing through it. The feeling at the end, pure elation, it was worth every second of it.”
Johnson can be reached by phone at 757-247-4649.
