Gregg Berhalter's back as USMNT boss! What does the controversial coach's return mean for Gio Reyna, Ricardo Pepi and the 2026 World Cup?

On the day the USMNT saw their World Cup ended at the hands of the Netherlands, there was reason to believe that it wasn't the last we'd see of Berhalter as the program's head coach. The team, by all accounts, had a good World Cup. Players spoke of the culture built by Berhalter during his time in charge, and how important that culture would be on the road to 2026.

And then everything changed. Anyone following American soccer knows the story by now: the Reyna comments, the domestic violence incident, and all of the ugliness that followed. A very public disaster for all involved and it seemingly cost Berhalter his job. It would be tough, perhaps impossible, to come back from that, many thought.

U.S. Soccer investigated the allegations, with Berhalter providing full cooperation. An independent investigation determined that Berhalter should be cleared to come back, should U.S. Soccer choose to bring him back.

That decision, any decision, would be put on hold, though, as the U.S. first needed a sporting director.

Berhalter's contract with the U.S. Soccer federation expired in December. We are now in June, and it is just now being confirmed that Berhalter is back. That's a pretty long time between big decisions, but U.S. Soccer had other matters to attend to.

This could have, and would have, been wrapped up in January if not for the controversy. But once that became public, U.S. Soccer had no choice but to take a step back and assess.

The first decision that had to be made was in the sporting director position, with Earnie Stewart announcing earlier this year that he would be leaving the federation to take a role at PSV. The decision was made that the sporting director would eventually choose the head coach, so first, U.S. Soccer had to choose a sporting director.

They found their guy in Matt Crocker, the former Southampton executive. His appointment was announced at the end of April and, although he wouldn't start officially until August, the coaching search was officially under way from the moment he was hired.

Ron Waxman really was the one that started Thursday night with a bang.

The agent announced that his client, Jesse Marsch, would not be hired as the next USMNT head coach in the leadup to kickoff of the USMNT's semifinal match. Marsch, at one point seen as the favorite, was out of the running, but the question quickly became who actually was in the running?

Shortly after, it was reported by the Athletic that it was, in fact, Berhalter that would be getting the job. The news came after weeks of reports about candidates, with U.S. Soccer talking to a number of head coaches from all over the world.

The likes of Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry, both MLS veterans, had been linked. The dreamers of the USMNT fanbase held out hope for a big name, someone like Pep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho. American coaches Steve Cherundolo and Pellegrino Matarazzo were both said to be in the running.

Berhalter, though, is the guy. He himself had been linked to several other jobs, with Swansea, Club America and Sparta Rotterdam among those reportedly interested at one point or another. In the end, though, he's rejoining the USMNT, and there are plenty of players that will be happy about that fact.

One of the key reasons Berhalter is back is that the USMNT players backed him so hard, both publicly and privately.

It started with Christian Pulisic, the face of the USMNT, who was the first player to publicly say that he wanted Berhalter back as the team's head coach.

"Yeah, no doubt, no doubt about it. I think the strides that we've taken in recent years with him in charge, have been evident. I think it's quite clear," he told ESPN back in March. He doubled down on that this past week when asked about Berhalter once again, praising the coach rather than deflecting what could have been an obviously-uncomfortable question.

Tim Weah followed suit with his own public backing: “We are definitely a family and no one can take that away, you know. Gregg really helped us form this type of relationship with each other, so yeah, he was a huge, huge important part of this team so hopefully he comes back.”

That culture, that family atmosphere, was a driving force. The fact is that Berhalter has made it fun to play for the national team again. After all of the chaos that came with the 2018 cycle, Berhalter has helped rebuild this program by empowering players. He built a leadership council to streamline communication between players and coaches and has generally been seen as a player-friendly coach. At the end of the day, the players simply like playing for him, and that really matters at the international level.

There is an elephant in the room, of course: what does this mean for Reyna?

It'll be the first order of business, no doubt, if it hasn't been handled already. Reyna and Berhalter need to sit in a room together, hash it out and figure out what's next. They need to be able to work together.

The relationship between Berhalter and Reyna may never be as close as it once was, of course. Berhalter was an important mentor for Reyna, after all, one of his father's best friends that had known him his whole life.

Berhalter, as USMNT coach, is obviously an important figure for this team. Reyna, as arguably the team's most purely talented player, is vital to that team's future. There needs to be some version of harmony between the two. They don't necessarily have to be best friends off the field, as long as they can work together to do what's best for one another on it.

He won't be the only one that Berhalter will need to mend fences with. Ricardo Pepi, for example, will probably need a bit of love after being left off the World Cup roster, although that was an on-field issue that was very, very different to what happened with the Reyna family.

Both Reyna and Pepi are still young and both have massive, massive futures. Their ability to work with Berhalter will be a very important part of those futures. And Berhalter's ability to let the past stay in the past will be a very important part of finding success in this second go around.

Both Anthony Hudson and B.J. Callaghan made some slight tweaks during their time in charge, but the USMNT still very much plays the way Berhalter set them up all along.

Because of that, the six months without a permanent coach aren't quite as damaging as it could have been. Time may feel wasted and progress may feel halted, but the U.S. was simply on pause under two coaches that didn't erase anything that had been done prior to their times in charge.

Many of Berhalter's principles were on display in the win over Mexico, with the second goal, in particular, a fantastic example of what Berhalter wants from his team. Weston McKennie opens up the defense, Tim Weah gets to the line and Christian Pulisic runs into the space. At the end of it all, the USMNT gets an easy goal.

The players, aside from a select few like Folarin Balogun, will know exactly what they're getting with Berhalter. He has his set principles, although he is willing to shake things up a bit when the situation calls for it, as he did against England at the World Cup. There will be no adjustment period, no learning curve, no introductions to a new player pool. With Berhalter, the USMNT has total continuity, which is all too rare in the international game.

Pessimists will point to two-cycle coaches, though, and the negative results that the second cycle brings. This USMNT is something of a different case, though, as the youth this team is built on always made it something of an extended process. The 2022 World Cup was always seen as a first taste, with 2026 the real test for a team that will, at that point, be hitting their best years together.

Berhalter will now get a chance to continue that process as he guides the likes of Pulisic, McKennie, Weah & Co. towards their primes.

The USMNT treaded water successfully during the interim coach era, going unbeaten under Hudson and Callaghan so far. Now, though, the key is to now continue the process of swimming forward.

This cycle is a complicated one, especially with Berhalter likely joining up after the Nations League and Gold Cup are over. The obvious moment ahead is the upcoming Copa America, a tournament that will be this team's big test on the road to 2026.

It's a weird road due to the USMNT's hosting duties. There are no World Cup qualifiers to grind out, so figuring out a way to keep challenging this group will be vital. You can only gain so much by playing Mexico and Canada, the two other standouts in the region, and, at this point, there isn't too much to be gained by playing many other teams in CONCACAF.

That's one aspect. The other aspect will be player development. Several USMNT stars face uncertain club futures and their path towards the World Cup could very well be defined by transfers this summer.

Berhalter, meanwhile, will be tasked with broadening out the player pool, finding backups or competitors at key positions, while making sure his top guys are challenged for their spots as much as possible. One of the things with bringing Berhalter back is that he'll have his favorites, but there has to be a clean slate now as everyone looks ahead to the World Cup in three years' time.

Now, the U.S. can truly look ahead to that World Cup with a head coach finally in place. The road was longer, and uglier, than it needed to be, and both sides will need to answer questions about that road going forward. The most important thing, though, is that it's all in the past and that the U.S. can finally start building towards some sort of future.