Jill Ellis, whose role as San Diego Wave FC’s president was marked by early success and a disastrous 2024 season, is stepping down to become chief football officer at FIFA.
The Wave’s new owners said in a news release that they are “focused on building the next chapter of the club’s history.” San Diego is expected to announce a new coach in the coming weeks. It was not immediately clear if the club will have a president going forward.
A former coach of the United States Women’s National Team, Ellis found near-immediate success as the top executive of San Diego’s National Women’s Soccer League Club. The team set attendance records in its expansion season in 2022, then won the NWSL Cup in 2023 for finishing with the best regular-season record in the league. Ellis helped assemble a Wave roster that included superstar Alex Morgan, draft picks Naomi Girma and Jaedyn Shaw and San Diego teenager Melanie Barcenas, and the club made the playoffs twice in a row.
Expectations were high heading into the 2024 season, but things almost immediately went south.
Ellis parted ways with general manager Molly Downtain as the season began.
The club struggled to both score and win, and injuries and inconsistent play caused the Wave to crash in the standings. Ellis fired coach Casey Stoney in late June, five months after g her to a contract extension through 2027.
Ellis chose Paul Buckle to replace Stoney, then replaced Buckle following the Olympics with men’s soccer star Landon Donovan.
Donovan went 3-6-1 in 10 NWSL games and 2-1-0 in the Concacaf W Cup and watched as Morgan retired, Abby Dahlkemper was traded and Sofia Jakobbson and Sierra Enge were released. The Wave finished 6-13-7, missing the NWSL playoffs and finishing 10th in a 14-team league. The club announced last month that Donovan would not return as coach.
Off the field, Ellis was accused by former employees of fostering a hostile workplace, though a NWSL investigation said it found “no violation of team policy.”
In July, former team videographer Brittany Alvarado wrote a social media post claiming the club “often perpetuated discrimination against women and demonstrated complete disregard for their long-term mental health.” Alvarado said more than 30 employees had been fired or quit since the club was founded in 2021.
Ellis filed a defamation lawsuit against Alvarado, with the suit saying the former employee “undertook a completely unexpected and malicious campaign to defame … and destroy her hard-earned stellar reputation and livelihood.”
“None of (Alvarado’s) statements about Ellis are true, and all of them are highly defamatory,” Ellis’ lawsuit alleges.
In October, five former employees sued the Wave and the NWSL accusing Ellis of fostering a culture of discrimination and harassment. The lawsuit says the Wave and the league failed to act when told of a toxic workplace culture.
As the 2024 season ended, the Wave were sold by Ron Burkle to the Leichtman-Levine family. New owner Lauren Leichtman, who has known Ellis dating to her time as UCLA’s coach, praised the former club president in a news release Tuesday
“Under Jill’s leadership, the Wave set a standard of excellence as an expansion club in the NWSL,” she said. “The new owners of the club are committed to building a culture of winning on and off the pitch. As we approach the 2025 season and beyond, we will work to further elevate the Wave’s impact in San Diego, on the national stage, and as a globally recognized leader in women’s soccer. Additionally, we are excited to announce that we are in the final phase of identifying a new head coach on the heels of a global search. We look forward to sharing additional developments ahead of the 2025 NWSL season.”
Ellis will work with FIFA’s executive management team, “driving the development and implementation of FIFA’s global football strategy,” the governing body said. She’ll work alongside former Arsenal coach Arsène Wenger, who is FIFA’s chief of global football development.
“I want to extend a huge thank you to the staff and players of the Wave for their profound commitment to the club,” Ellis said. “I wish the club and the Leichtman-Levine family the very best for the future. I would also like to express my appreciation to the City of San Diego for embracing the Wave so warmly into the community.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
