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Eric Quill FC Dallas CoachGetty Images
Tom Hindle

'Create a championship culture' - FC Dallas' Eric Quill on MLS Cup aspirations, team's 'road resiliency' and coaching leap from USL

GOAL Convo: Quill moved from USL to MLS and installed a 'championship' mentality after Dallas' poor 2024 campaign

Eric Quill has made it clear from day one: FC Dallas wants to win a championship. That word - championship - is something of a forbidden term for the Texas club, which, in 30 years of existence, is one of the few MLS teams to have never hoisted the trophy - despite its hotbed of local talent.

Many great coaches and players before him have failed. But Quill, who played for Dallas in the '90s and coached their MLS Next Pro team, believes that he can piece it all together.

"Some people are scared to put high expectations on something and on themselves, because when you start talking that way, the expectation becomes big on your back. And I don't mind that," Quill tells GOAL.

It would seem to be a big challenge. Dallas were poor last year, missing the MLS playoffs. The response? A pretty hefty retool. Gone are Paul Arriola and Jesus Ferreira. In there place are perennial MLS MVP candidate Lucho Acosta and a host of new names. This is a rebuilt squad, and are currently ninth in the Western Conference.

"I've always welcomed challenge since I was a young kid," he said. "I've always loved challenges and people telling me I can't do something. And so it's just another moment for me, a growth moment to try to make an organization better than how I found it, and help this place that's been around 30 years reach the pinnacle."

The Houston native is an interesting choice for it all - he had never coached in MLS. Quill served as the head coach of North Texas SC from 2019-21. He guided the team to the inaugural USL League One Championship in 2019 and was named USL League One Coach of the Year. 

He joined FC Dallas after serving as the head coach of USL Championship side New Mexico United. In 2024 he led New Mexico to the USL Championship Western Conference semifinals and the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals, defeating Real Salt Lake along the way. And with the quality of USL improving, Quill says the gap between the two divisions isn't what it used to be.

"You take nothing away from USL Championship," he said. "I've just coached a really great team there, and there are great players in that league that make the jump up in Major League Soccer, or were in Major League Soccer before they went down to the Championship."

The FC Dallas head coach talked about his team's aspirations, the closing gap between USL and MLS and why his squad is so effective on the road in the latest GOAL Convo, a recurring Q&A with central figures in the American soccer scene.

NOTE: This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

  • Eric Quill Dallas BurnGetty

    ON HIS MOVE FROM FROM USL TO MLS

    GOAL: You've been brought in as a new manager, right from the USL. How much of a step up in quality did that feel like for you?

    QUILL: MLS is clearly a first division setup that's got America's top talent in it, and it's got great European talent and South American talent and coming over at younger ages. The depth of the overall roster is a lot stronger in MLS than you get in the USL Championship. But you take nothing away from USL Championship. I've just coached a really great team there, and there are great players in that league that make the jump up in Major League Soccer, or were in Major League Soccer before they went down to the Championship. So it's sort of an escalator movement between the two leagues and players. But there's a lot of quality there.

    GOAL: How much did your ties to Dallas and the community help along the way?

    QUILL: I coached the second team here for FC Dallas back for three years, from 2019 to 2021 and obviously played here as well. So I have a keen familiarity with the club, and the culture of this place. I'm from Texas originally, I'm from Houston, so this is home, so to speak. When I went to Columbus, I was hoping one day, maybe, if the stars aligned, that I would get an opportunity at this job. And didn't know quite when or if it would ever happen. And it's just it happened in the offseason, and I'm truly blessed, and just trying to create a championship culture here and do what nobody else has been able to do here. And that's win an MLS Cup.

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  • Eric Quill FC DallasGetty

    ON A 'CHAMPIONSHIP' MENTALITY

    GOAL: I wanted to pick up on that. I read an earlier interview where you said you weren't afraid to use the word "championship." Why is that so important?

    QUILL: Sometimes this day and age, some managers, or some people, are scared to put high expectations on something and on themselves, because when you start talking that way, the expectation becomes big on your back. And I don't mind that. I've always welcomed challenge since I was a young kid. I've always loved challenges and people telling me I can't do something. And so it's just another moment for me, a growth moment to try to make an organization better than how I found it, and help this place that's been around 30 years reach the pinnacle. That's what gets me out of bed every morning, it's that drive to be the first to do this. We've got a lot of work to do, but I'm hell bent on doing it.

  • Shaq Moore FC DallasGetty

    ON DALLAS' ROAD FORM

    GOAL: FC Dallas have lost just once on the road. What is it about playing away from home for you guys?

    QUILL: I don't know. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is. I just have a group right now that can just get up for it. And credit to my staff, the prep, game preparation and, and what we're doing as far as getting guys prepared mentally and then in-game coaching and trying to make adjustments to win games in tough environments. They're stepping up to the challenge. I think what stands out a lot is we're coming back from being down in a lot of these games... It says a lot about who we are as a group and the way we're trending. And so if we can bring it back home and put that road resiliency in front of our home crowd, I think we're going to shoot up the standings and be where we want to be.

    GOAL: Specifically, that Miami game from April 27. I was watching it, and obviously MLS is so chaotic in so many ways, but not many people would have given you a chance there. You end up winning 4-3. Take me through it.

    QUILL: Going down 3-1 against the first-place team that hasn't lost a game yet, a lot of teams would pack up shop and say let's live to fight another day. And credit to our substitutions. Lalas Abubakar and Pedrinho came in and just flipped the game with their mentality and their quality. Osaze Urhoghide our center back gets the second goal, and I think the competition factor of that goal, him and Maxi Falcon going at each other. And I think it just sparked a drive in our guys, a belief that you don't see very often in what happened.

    I'm just really enjoying the ride with these guys, and the culture of this place is turning into more of a competitive championship culture, where consistency is starting to enter the fray. We've got to keep it going. We're not where we want to be. Our goal is to win a championship, and we've got to keep striving to get there.

  • Lucho Acosta FC Dallas 2025Getty

    ON HIS TEAM 'MAKING REAL STRIDES'

    GOAL: You say a championship is the mentality and the goal. How far off are you from that?

    QUILL: We gotta keep ourselves in that hunt for that top four group. That gives you home field advantage. But we want to climb to the top. Obviously, Vancouver is very strong. But we've got to make sure they're not getting away with the race. So we've got to do our part to stay in it. And that takes grinding out results on the road. Most teams win a lot at home, and they struggle on the road. And we're finding this sort of weirdly opposite effect that we've got to fix, because we're capable of winning on the road and at home. And I think once we fix our home attitude and our home performance, along with our road performance, we're going to be pretty scary for people to face.

    Now it's about staying healthy. So we've got to do a good job managing our top players and workloads, and making sure that we're not losing guys. Teams that are there at the end and get home field advantage most often than not, they stayed the healthiest through the year, and they don't take large spells without their top guys. So that's a key piece. It's also about making sure everybody in this roster is feeling a part of it. We're not riding 11 guys or 13 guys. It's a contribution from all 30 on the roster. And when you have that, that's where the chemistry is really powerful. And guys understand that a hard week on the training field can earn them a job on the weekend.

    And if they play well, they keep their job - but if they lose their job to somebody else, we have a tight team culture where they support the guy that beat them out. It's part of the job. We want to create a selfless environment here where at the end of the day we're all here for the same thing, and everybody wants to play. We get it. But when you fight hard and you work hard, your opportunity will be there. Now, whatever that role is, you got to accept it and own it and be great at it. And I think that's where we're making real strides. We're becoming a team that, everybody's rooting for each other. That's really powerful when you talk about coming back from 3-1 down. There's just a belief in each other that's really fun to watch.