Former Sounders coaches Alan Hinton and Brian Schmetzer share enthusiastic support for the Tuesday hiring of Sigi Schmid as coach of Seattle Sounders FC.

Here's my story from the Thursday paper.

“I saw (his Columbus Crew) many times on the TV and he was the one coach for me in Major League Soccer that had a team,” said Hinton, former coach of the Sounders and Tacoma Stars. “His team played like a team. … I thought he was very inclusive with his players. He seemed to get along very well with them and got them to play very well and fully deserved to win the championship. And I hope he does the same thing here."

The Schmid hiring also drew an unqualified thumbs up from Brian Schmetzer, even after he was in the running for the same job.

“Do I think I could have done the job? Yes,” Schmetzer said Tuesday at the media event introducing Schmid as the expansion team’s first coach. “But do I think that Sigi’s appointment was the right choice for this franchise at this moment? Yes, absolutely, 100 percent. There’s no way that anybody could argue that that man shouldn’t be here being announced. There’s just no rational soccer guy – and I think I’m a pretty rational guy – nobody can argue that.”

Schmid’s returned admiration for Schmetzer could result in a place for him on the FC staff. Schmid said he will likely hire staff from previous soccer associates, but likely not from his Columbus staff. And Schmetzer offers the advantages of familiarity with the local soccer community, a shared a heritage from southern Germany, and apparently compatible soccer philosophies.

“Schmetzer and me are talking,” Schmid said. “I’ve known him a long time. … I think he would be a great addition. But I want to make sure that we sit down and we talk. And for him, too; he needs to be comfortable, because it’s different going from being the head coach to being the assistant, and that’s something that you’ve got to feel good about and be comfortable in.”

Schmetzer said he would have no problem with that. He previously held assistant roles with the Stars and Seattle SeaDogs. He also wants to remain in Seattle. And he is uniquely qualified to provide information on the former USL Sounder players expected to get their chances to make the expansion Sounders’ roster.

“Sigi and I have already talked about the potential for some of the USL guys to come into camp and get extended looks during preseason,” Schmetzer said. “I’ve tried to give him some of the insights that I’ve acquired over the last seven years. Both (general manager Adrian Hanauer) and I feel that those players are important. We know the reality of pro sports. As much as we love some of our guys, we know all of them can’t be there. But we’re going to do all that we can to make sure that they get a more-than-fair look and see if he likes them.”

I got the vibe that an announcement could come very soon.

I got a heads-up about a new soccer-focused web site this week, and wanted to pass it along: www.yousport.com . Their "teams" section includes a growing list of around 200 teams from around the world, including the USA and Sounders FC.

Meanwhile, it's not a bad time to sort of re-launch the TNT's Indirect Kick blog. Things have been pretty busy recently with my other duties of UW football and UW basketball and then the football coaching change. But those things are settling down a bit just as the Sounders are ramping up, and we hope to get back in the game a bit.

And, of course, your input of news and comments always helps.