Introducing the USA Revolution Coaching Staff

I am pleased to announce the new coaching staff for the USA National Australian Rules Football Team, The American Revolution. 

This coaching staff includes 5 past Revolution players.   I am excited to have them on board to help grow this great sport in the USA.  I look forward to having them work with the next generation of American players to go where we have never gone before. 

Chris Carroll, Assistant Head Coach

Thinking his sporting days had ended when he hung up his basketball shoes in college, Chris “Bluey” Carroll was introduced to the game of Australian Rules Football and the St Louis Blues in the spring of 2003 by a group of his friends from college.  With a wide variety of athletic backgrounds, this core of young American players rapidly adopted the game and made the Blues into a national competitor with back-to-back MAAFL titles.  Early the following year he was invited to participate in the Revolution’s winter training camp in LA, and he received his first jumper for the Revolution in an exhibition game that weekend.

In 2005, Bluey was given the USAFL Scholarship to partake in the Essendon Bombers’ preseason.  He joined the Melbourne University Blacks for the season leading into the 2005 International Cup.  A three year stint with the Baltimore Washington Eagles led to a Division 2 National Championship and 2 EAFL titles.  In 2009, he played one game for the Swans of his current hometown Chicago during which injury forced him into retirement.

Career Overview:

• 2003-05 St. Louis Blues
• 2005 Essendon Bombers (AFL) / Melbourne University Blacks (Victoria)
• 2006-08 Baltimore-Washington Eagles
• 2009 Chicago Swans
• USA Revolution Player 2004-08

Dan Sarbacker, Midfield Coach

A two sport athlete in college (soccer, track & field), Sars discovered footy a year after graduation in the fall of 2002. He joined the Revolution in 2003 and has appeared nearly 40 times for the Revolution in exhibitions, international tests, and four International Cups before retiring at the end of the 2014 season.  Captaining the squad for half of that time, he led the national side’s climb back into prominence in the world footy scene at the 2011 International Cup, where the Revolution reached the semifinals.  He has celebrated two USAFL Premierships in four grand final appearances, and was the MAAFL Best & Fairest in 2007.

Sars began coaching soccer in 2000 with Busch Soccer Club in St. Louis and carries a US Soccer National D Coaching License.  He finished with Busch in 2007 sending a majority of his players to collegiate programs, including the Player of the Year as a freshman at Marquette.  After some informal coaching stints around the USAFL, he took an official position with the US Freedom Women’s National Team on their 2009 Australian Tour.  He was an assistant for the first ever women’s international team to tour Australia, and continued his coaching involvement with the National Team programs heading up the men's Development Squad beginning in 2012.

Career Overview:

• 2002-09 St. Louis Blues
• 2009 Milwaukee Bombers
• 2010 Mansfield Eagles (Goulburn Valley FL, Victoria)
• 2011-present Chicago Swans
• USA Revolution Player 2003-14, International Cup Captain 2011
• USA Revolution Assistant Coach 2009
• USA Development Coach 2012-14
• USA Revolution Interim Head Coach 2015

Matt Dainauski, Forwards Coach

Matt Dainauski was an original American Revolution player, playing from 1999 through 2005. He was a playing member of every squad for those 6 years serving as Captain in 2001 at the Atlantic Alliance Cup in London. He played in three 49th Parallel Cups against Canada, and two International Cups -- the inaugural one in 2002 and again in 2005. He has served as an assistant coach in 2006 and again at the IC in 2008.

“Matty D”, as he is known, is considered one of the 4 original club founders of the Denver Bulldogs. Founding them 1998, he is a lifetime club member, having played over 150 games and served as Club president in 2000 and 2001. Matty has won 6 National Championships and was the club’s leading career goal kicker at the end of his Div 1 playing career in 2007. He was the Paul Roos Medallist for Best and Fairest at the 2003 USAFL Nationals, and also took runner up in the Denver Bulldogs B&F in 2004. In 2007 he was named to the USAFL Team of the Decade.

Since 2008 Matty has played in the Division IV squad for Denver, captaining the side to a Grand Final appearance in 2011, and playing in last year’s Div IV Grand Final as well.

Career Overview:

• 1999-present Denver Bulldogs, Division IV Captain 2010-12
• USA Revolution player 1999-2005, Captain 2001
• USA Revolution Assistant Coach 2006, 2008

Jason Becker, Backline Coach

Jason began playing footy with the Milwaukee Bombers in 1999. In 2000, he became the Center Half Forward for the American Revolution, where he played for three years, representing the USA in 10 international matches. In Melbourne in 2002, Jason kicked the first-ever goal in International Cup history. He was also an Assistant Coach for the American Revolution in 2008, 2011 and 2014. 

During his career with the Bombers, Jason's on and off field leadership helped the team grow. With the Bombers, he played in USAFL Grand Finals in Divisions III, II and I.  Jason then coached the Minnesota Freeze, a team that won the USAFL Division III title in their first tournament as a full squad. Only a year later, the Freeze finished the season as Division II runners-up and a year after that took home the Division II flag. In 2014, the Freeze entered Division I. 

Career Overview:

• 1999-2005 Milwaukee Bombers
• 2006-present Minnesota Freeze
• Minnesota Freeze Head Coach 2006-09, 2014-Present
• USA Revolution Player 2000-03
• USA Revolution Assistant Coach 2008-present