When Jurgen Klinsmann was the men’s national team coach, he urged talented teens to skip college and go directly to the pros.
Then he sent his son to college. Jonathan Klinsmann spent two years at the University of California, and had a standout sophomore year. He then moved on to Hertha Berlin.
So, the Klinsmann family has come down firmly on both sides of the debate on whether young American players are better off developing in college or the pros. The debate has only grown louder since the US was eliminated from the World Cup and a reexamination of the American development system has picked up.