 Wolff playing forD.C. United in 2011 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joshua David Wolff[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1977-02-25)February 25, 1977 (age 48) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Stone Mountain, Georgia, United States | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| College career | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1995–1997 | South Carolina Gamecocks | 43 | (21) | ||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–2002 | Chicago Fire | 84 | (32) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998 | →MLS Pro-40 (loan) | 18 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| 2003–2006 | Kansas City Wizards | 80 | (27) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | 1860 Munich | 34 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Kansas City Wizards | 64 | (16) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | D.C. United | 39 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 319 | (94) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1997 | United States U20 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2000 | United States U23 | 2 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2008 | United States | 52 | (9) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2024 | Austin FC | ||||||||||||||||
| 2026– | Minnesota United FC (Assistant Manager) | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Joshua David Wolff (born February 25, 1977) is an American formersoccer player and current assistant coach forMinnesota United FC.
Wolff was born inStone Mountain, Georgia.[2] He played three years ofcollege soccer at theUniversity of South Carolina, where he scored 21 goals and eight assists in 43 games. He played at South Carolina with futureUnited States national team starClint Mathis. In addition, Wolff played and captained varsity soccer at Parkview High School, Lilburn, Georgia.
After his junior season, Wolff left college and signed withMajor League Soccer. MLS assigned Wolff to theChicago Fire. He set the MLS rookie scoring record (together withJeff Cunningham, since broken byDamani Ralph) by scoring eight goals, doing so in just 14 games with only four starts. Wolff played the following four seasons for the Fire, scoring 24 goals, but suffered through multiple injuries.[3][4]
Before the2003 MLS Superdraft, the Fire traded Wolff, in a cost-cutting move, to theKansas City Wizards in exchange for the third overall pick, which the Fire used to selectNate Jaqua.[5] Wolff missed most of the 2003 season due to injuries. He rebounded in 2004 by scoring ten goals and seven assists during the season. Wolff scored his first career playoff goal on apenalty kick during theMLS Cup 2004. He scored ten goals and ten assists in 2005.
In September 2006, Wolff had a try out with EnglishChampionship clubDerby County. The team was pleased enough with his performance to offer MLS a $500,000 transfer fee. However, British immigration officials denied Wolff awork permit based on the fact he had failed to play the required 75% of theU.S. national team's games in the previous two years.[6]
From England, Wolff traveled to Germany for a try out with2. Bundesliga club1860 Munich. On December 6, 2006, 1860 Munich signed Wolff to a contract through the 2007–2008 season. Munich paid MLS a $191,000 transfer fee. Wolff joined the team during its January 2007 mid-winter training camp but was waived at the end of the 2008 season.
Wolff signed with theKansas City Wizards on June 30, 2008. At the end of the 2010 MLS season, after two and a half seasons back in Kansas City, Wolff's contract option was declined by the club.[7]
On December 15, 2010, Wolff was selected byD.C. United in Stage 2 of the2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft and immediately signed a one-year contract with a club option for 2012.[8]
Wolff announced his retirement on November 28, 2012, and became a full-time assistant coach with D.C. United.[9]
Wolff has scored nine goals in fifty-twocaps since his debut againstJamaica on September 8, 1999. He also starred for the US in the2000 Summer Olympics, scoring two goals and helping the team to a fourth-place finish. As with his club teams, however, Wolff has had trouble securing a definite spot because of continual injury problems. He did play for the United States in the2002 World Cup, assisting on the opening goal in the second-round win againstMexico. On May 2, 2006, Wolff was named to the US roster for the FIFA World Cup in Germany. Wolff played his last national team match versus Spain at Estadio El Sardinero on June 4, 2008.[10]
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 25, 2000 | Los Angeles |  Mexico | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly match |
| 2 | February 28, 2001 | Columbus, Ohio | Mexico | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2002 World Cup qualification |
| 3 | April 25, 2001 | Kansas City, Missouri |  Costa Rica | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2002 World Cup qualification |
| 4 | February 2, 2002 | Pasadena, California | Costa Rica | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 5 | May 16, 2002 | East Rutherford, New Jersey |  Jamaica | 1–0 | 5–0 | Friendly match |
| 6 | 3–0 | |||||
| 7 | June 20, 2004 | St. George's, Grenada |  Grenada | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2006 World Cup qualification |
| 8 | July 16, 2005 | Foxborough, Massachusetts | Jamaica | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 9 | November 12, 2005 | Glasgow,Scotland |  Scotland | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly match |
After a season on the coaching staff atD.C. United, Wolff joined theColumbus Crew in November 2013, and remained an assistant coach until 2018. In 2018, Wolff joined the staff of the United States Men's National Team underGregg Berhalter.
On July 23, 2019, Wolff was announced to be the first head coach ofMLS expansion teamAustin FC, who began playing with the2021 season.[12]
Austin FC had 9 wins, 21 defeats, and 4 draws in their expansion season under Wolff, finishing in 12th in the Western Conference, one point aboveHouston in last. Austin was eliminated from playoff contention on October 16 after a home defeat toMinnesota, with five matches to spare.[13] Wolff played with a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 formation in his first season, and his team was characterized as having high possession numbers, and for building out from the back.[14] Despite having the fourth-highest average percent possession per game at 53.9%,[15] Austin scored the fewest goals in the league at 35. The team went into their match on October 30 againstDallas with a chance to win the first MLSCopa Tejas, but a 2–1 defeat meant that they finished in third.[16] In his first season as a head coach, Wolff was questioned by the fans about his tactics and substitutions.[17][18][19]
Coach Wolff's second year was a stark contrast to what his team had endured in 2021. Though their performance in theU.S. Open Cup ended after a single game, which they lost 2–1 to their TexasUSL Championship opponent San Antonio FC,[20] the team's performance in the MLS season was a different story. Scoring 30 more goals and giving up 16 less goals than the 2021 season,[21] Wolff's team ended with a 2nd-place finish in the Western Conference earning a spot in their firstMLS Cup Playoffs.[22] Under Wolff's guidance the team continued to be successful, exciting fans by making their way to the Western Conference Finals,[23] losing 3–0 to LAFC in a lackluster performance to end their season.[24]
On October 6, 2024, Austin FC parted ways with Wolff after two disastrous MLS seasons where the club fell short of making either the 2023 or the2024 MLS Cup playoffs and finished 12th place in the West in 2023 and in 10th place in the West in 2024.[25]
Wolff's eldest sonTyler plays forReal Salt Lake, and his younger sonOwen played for him atAustin FC.
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Austin FC | January 1, 2020 | October 6, 2024 | 148 | 50 | 31 | 67 | 033.8 |
| Total | 148 | 50 | 31 | 67 | 033.8 | ||
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