Lewis and Clark graduate Craig Waibel promoted to GM of Seattle Sounders

Dec. 1—It took just over a week for the Seattle Sounders to secure a new general manager after Garth Lagerway left the team to become the president and CEO of Atlanta United FC.

The organization kept its hire in house, Wednesday announcing the promotion of senior vice president of soccer operations Craig Waibel to become GM and chief soccer officer.

Only the third GM in Sounders MLS history, Waibel, 47, succeeds Lagerway and now-owner Adrian Hanauer.

"Having grown up in the Northwest, just having the Sounders be a part of my life and my inspiration, when I was growing up as a player, getting to play for them, and now getting to lead them in this role as general manager, it's a special moment and certainly one you think about, but never realistically," Waibel said.

Waibel was born in Portland, but his family relocated to Coeur d'Alene before a final move to Spokane when he was in the eighth grade. He graduated from Lewis and Clark High in 1994.

The move to Washington was a productive one for Waibel, whose soccer career grew once he joined the Spokane Shadow.

One player in the Shadow system at the same time was Abbas Faridnia, who was a few years younger than Waibel.

"Craig was always a stand-up guy, good player, extremely intelligent soccer player, and always a good teammate," Faridnia said. "I mean, even as a younger kid, he was somebody that you would look up to, very good at mentoring and the ins and outs."

Faridnia remembers Waibel even being a hit with the local radio stations, staying on the air for hours because of his wit and comedy acumen.

As a Tiger, Waibel was a three-time, first-team All-Greater Spokane Leaguer before joining the University of Washington for four seasons.

Waibel even housed Faridnia during his recruiting trip to UW before Faridnia decided on attending Gonzaga.

As a centerback, Waibel captained the Huskies for two seasons while securing all-conference and all-region honors in 1997 while leading UW to a No. 1 national ranking.

The Sounders made him their 17th overall pick in the A-League draft in 1999. He played 54 matches, scoring four goals, for the A-League Sounders before they sent him on a brief loan to the Colorado Rapids.

In 2001, the San Jose Earthquakes drafted him 31st overall in the MLS SuperDraft, but he was waived a month later before sticking with the Galaxy in 2001 and 2002, the latter year being an MLS Cup-winning campaign.

Between 2001 and '05, Waibel played for the Sounders and the Earthquakes again, winning the MLS Cup again in 2003.

He ended his career with the Houston Dynamo from 2006-10, grabbing cup wins in 2006 and '07, while playing alongside former Bulldogs forward Brian Ching.

It was a quick turnaround for the Sounders, whose fans voted to retain Lagerway as GM six days before he joined Atlanta, opening the door for Waibel to rise up the ranks.

The Sounders have a unique "Democracy of Sports" as one of their pillars as an organization. Every four years, each season ticket holder votes whether or not to retain the current GM.

"It's been a quick process, I think probably for everyone involved," Waibel said. "Adrian and Garth are both just amazing, amazing people and I was able to stay out of their way when they were talking about Garth staying. And so, these conversations happen pretty quickly, and it all fell into place. It all made sense. When the opportunity was presented, it certainly made sense on my part. I just was grateful that Adrian and the ownership group saw it the same way."

The Sounders almost lost Waibel last offseason to other clubs that interviewed him for their open GM roles. The deals never came to fruition, but not for the lack of effort from either side.

"I've had some opportunities, they didn't work out for one reason or another, and I've ended up with this, which is a wonderful opportunity for me and my family and just from an identity standpoint," Waibel said. "What a neat experience in my life to get to run organization like this in the Northwest where I was born and raised."

He didn't expect the Sounders GM job to open up, nor did he expect to be the one elevated to the role.

"I don't live that way," Waibel said. "I live heart on the sleeve. I still have that part of Spokane in me, where there's only one way to do things and it's through the front door."

His Spokane and LC connections still run deep.

On Monday night, he had dinner with two fellow Tigers. A week ago he went to a Kraken game with one and this past Sounders season, another Tiger attended a Sounders game.

"There's still quite a few connections from my childhood and reconnected with several of my classmates who happen to live near me over here, just coincidentally," Waibel said. "There's a strong contingent of us living on this side of the state."

Waibel is happily anxious for the opportunity to build from a rock-solid foundation, yet one that showed some cracks due to injury and overexertion from a grueling but history-making Champions League showing.

"There are a lot of different ways to take over an organization and oftentimes it follows failures or shortcomings," Waibel said. "That's not the case here. I'm taking over a job filled with expectations of winning. Last year was simply an anomaly. And our challenge this year is to make sure everyone knows that."