On Thursday, Huntsville City FC announced the hire of Alec Dufty as the club's new Director of Soccer Operations.
Dufty takes over a role vacated by Matt Cairns earlier in the year, looking to maintain Huntsville's positive trajectory, with the club making the playoffs for the first time in their history. With Huntsville, he'll oversee their on-field product and soccer operations, while working with Nashville to continue to align their player development pathway with the goal of developing players for the first team.
"Alec has such a tremendous wealth of experiences that make him a perfect fit for this role," said Mike Jacobs, Nashville SC's President of Soccer Operations and General Manager. "Having worked in MLS with first teams, second teams, and in college give him the ideal collection of reference points to manage our soccer operations in Huntsville, and his work rate, commitment, and focus enables him to fit seamlessly into ‘The NSC DNA’ with our players and staff. We are so fortunate to have Alec joining our club."
After playing for five seasons as a professional goalkeeper, including a stretch with the New York Red Bulls, he retired in 2012 and began coaching, working at the collegiate level with Florida Gulf Coast University and the University of Illinois at Chicago. He eventually moved to Toronto FC II in 2015 and Sporting Kansas City II in 2016, transitioning to a role with the first team in 2017.
Dufty overlapped with Jacobs for two seasons in Kansas City.
Huntsville City FC won their first-ever playoff match this past weekend, defeating Chattanooga FC 2-0 in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals with goals from Philip Mayaka and Christian Koffi. They'll take on Philadelphia Union II on the road in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Saturday, October 26, at 5 pm CT.
