My Sportmanagement Hero | sportmanagement

My Sports Management Hero

Ottmar Hitzfeld

Date of Birth: 12th of January in 1949

Place of Birth: Loerrach, Germany

Nationality: Swiss

Clubs coached:

- SC Zug (1983-1984)

- FC Aarau (1984-1988)

- Grasshopper Club Zurich (1988-1991)

- Borussia Dortmund (1991-1997)

- Borussia Dortmund (1997-1998) (as sports manager)

- FC Bayern Munich (1998-2004)

- FC Bayern Munich (2007-2008)

- Switzerland (2008-2014)

Achievements/Titles:

- FC Aarau -> Swiss Cup (1985)

- Grasshopper Club Zurich -> Swiss Cup (1989, 1990), Swiss "Supercup" (1989), Swiss Championship (1990,1991)

- Borussia Dortmund -> "Supercup" (1995, 1996), German Championship (1995, 1996), Champions League (1997)

- Bayern Munich -> League Cup (1998, 1999, 2000), German Cup (2000, 2003), German Championship (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003), Champions League (2001), Club World Cup (2001)

- "World Coach of the Year" (1997)

* Note: Despite the great career of Ottmar Hitzfeld as a football player, this article focuses on his achievements as a coach and how he is inspiring for me as a young professional.

The Legacy of Ottmar Hitzfeld

After leading Basel to two Championships and a Cup (1972,1973,1975), helping VFB Stuttgart to reach the Bundesliga and scoring 169 goals in 296 appearances mathematics and sports teacher Ottmar Hitzfeld started coaching in the mid-80s. When people in Swiss Football took notice of the improvements, Hitzfeld had made at FC Aarau (he was signed as a coach from '84 to '88 after he led SC Zug to a higher division), where he won the Swiss Cup right in his debut season, the so-called "General" had his breakthrough.

Grasshopper Club Zurich was the stage of Hitzfeld's coaching career, where he really gained recognition throughout Europe. Since he won the club 5 titles from '88 to '91, Hitzfeld had plenty offers from clubs throughout Europe.

“Unlike Sir Alex, he did not build his legacy at one club; unlike Mourinho, he respects the team that he coaches and unlike Guardiola, he did not redefine a club's playing style. What, then, makes him so successful?” Paarth Dubey

Hitzfeld chose for Dortmund in 1991, to bring instant improvements to their style of play, reaching the UEFA Cup final right in his first season. Although, Dortmund lost the final to Juventus, Hitzfeld had turned Dortmund from an average "Bundesliga" side into a highly recognised club. After Hitzfeld took his time to rebuild the team and signed new players like Kohler, Moeller, Sousa and Cesar Borussia Dortmund won the German championship in 1995 and 1996. Furthermore, they won the Champions League after beating the same team that had defeated them six years before in the UEFA Cup final, Juventus. Ottmar Hitzfeld was one of the coaches at that time who was really experimenting with tactics, for example by just playing with three defenders in a 3-5-2 set up, where the midfielders on the wings just turn into right back and left back when loosing ball possession. His ability to read games and react to them in the right manner won him the "World Coach of the Year" title in the 1997 season.

"I believe it is a mixture of a scientific understanding of the game, a wholesome knowledge of tactics and the ability to equip his team with fighting spirit." Paarth Dubey

The great successes of Hitzfeld opened him the opportunity of coaching Bayern Munich, where he won the league by a record margin in his first season, while loosing both German cup final and the world famous Champions League final against Manchester United. In Munich Hitzfeld implemented a far more defensive tactic (5-4-1), which was sometimes unattractive but won the club another three championships, two cups and the Champions League in the following four years. However, in his first season without a title in 2004, a lot of other teams developed and managed to compete at a better level than Bayern, which led to the ending of his contract at the southern German side.

After a three-year break of football coaching Hitzfeld was hired as an interim coach at Bayern Munich for one season before moving on to coach the country, which became his home country in the meanwhile, Switzerland. All in all, Hitzfeld won 25 titles within 26 years as a coach, making him one of the most successful Football coaches of all time.

Why is Ottmar Hitzfeld my Sports Management Hero?

One of the main reasons why I chose Ottmar Hitzfeld to be my sports management hero is, that he is often forgotten besides coaches like Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho or Josep Guardiola. Furthermore, Hitzfeld was never the kind of coach, who tried to force the clubs where he was working into buying new players, but rather adapted to the situation and made the best out of the team he had. He had great leadership abilities and was able to implant his players this absolute will to win, which is why they used to call him the "General". As much as he could be an expressive, inspiring leader in front of the teams he coached, he also kept his feet on the ground, always showed a good and fair behaviour in front of the cameras and had a certain kind of understatement.

Adnan Ouedraogo