AUDIO: Dieter Hecking becomes sports director at VfL Wolfsburg (1 min)
Relegation coach is promoted
As of: May 30, 2026 5:59 p.m
From relegation coach to sports director: Bundesliga relegated VfL Wolfsburg has promoted Dieter Hecking. The club announced this on Saturday evening.
The 61-year-old has signed a two-year contract with the “Wolves” until 2028 as sports director. In the area of sports, he will be responsible for men’s and women’s football as well as the academy.
During his time as sports director at 1. FC Nürnberg, Hecking had already gained experience as a manager from 2020 to 2024. Since the separation from Peter Christiansen in March, the position of sports director at the “Wolves” has been vacant. Experienced coach Hecking took over VfL in March, but as the successor to Paul Simonis and Daniel Bauer, he was unable to prevent the club from falling into the second division.
“He stands for team spirit and identification in Wolfsburg”
“We are very pleased that Dieter Hecking remains part of the VfL family. He stands for team spirit and identification in Wolfsburg,” said Sebastian Rudolph, Chairman of the VfL Supervisory Board. “Dieter Hecking knows the second league and its requirements. He has the right skills for sports management. Together with Pirmin Schwegler and the team behind him, he will seamlessly continue the trusting and good cooperation.”
Hecking: “Descent is still gnawing at me”
“The trust and appreciation of the club, the supervisory board and especially Diego Benaglio and Pirmin Schwegler mean a lot to me,” explained Hecking. “I’m really looking forward to the big task that lies ahead of us, although it will bring with it many challenges, even if, to be honest, the relegation is still gnawing at me. It will now be important to create a positive mood in the club as quickly as possible so that we can tackle the issue of the second division together with the necessary mixture of humility, courage and conviction.”
Hecking’s first task will be to find a successor for himself in the head coach position. Tim Walter, who was last traded to the “Wolves”, will not be there. He stays with Holstein Kiel.
