Frank Schmidt has been the coach of 1. FC Heidenheim for 15 years. No other coach in German professional football has been in office for so long. How did he manage that?
Frank Schmidt, 48, is a person who stands by what he says. In one instance, however, he couldn’t keep it up. That was in 2007, Schmidt had just ended his playing career in Heidenheim and promised his family that he would mow the lawn on Saturdays from now on.
Then 1. FC Heidenheim parted ways with coach Dieter Märkle. And Schmidt was asked to step in. “Play two games, we have to look for a new coach,” it said at first. He won his first game 2-1 against Normannia Gmünd, coached by Alexander Zorniger. His second 9:1. “Go on,” they said. 15 years have passed since then, Schmidt is still a coach.
YouTube video from SWR Sport: “Rapper Chefket meets coach Frank Schmidt for a slightly different interview | SWR Sport”
Frank Schmidt had a completely different plan for life
1. FC Heidenheim was formed in the summer of 2007 by splitting off from the parent club Heidenheimer SB. Two months later, on September 17, Schmidt took over. At that time, the Albstadion only had a grandstand on one side, which could not accommodate more than a few hundred spectators. From here, two donkeys could be observed standing in a meadow next door, Schmidt remembers. Today’s arena has 15,000 seats, the playing field is surrounded by stands. What remains is the old kiosk, which was integrated into the stadium during the renovations. “So that you never forget where you come from. That doesn’t hurt,” says Schmidt.
He was born in Heidenheim and grew up in Giengen an der Brenz in the south of the city. “I was raised simply. Straight, open, honest.” He later did an apprenticeship as a bank clerk. Actually, he wanted to start in a friend’s insurance office after his playing career and make a career there.
“Players want honest communication and not walk over shards”
In his first season as a coach, Heidenheim qualified for the fourth-rate regional league, and the following year they were promoted to the third league. He did his licenses on the side. In 2014, Heidenheim was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga. In 2020 the club was on the verge of promotion to the Bundesliga.
The Heidenheim model is to bring in players who are on the way up, for whom it is special to be able to play for Heidenheim in the 2. Bundesliga. And then, when they have become too big for the Swabian Alb, they are resold. Schmidt’s job is to develop these players and form a team. “That’s the biggest challenge for me as a coach, making sure a team is a team.”
Schmidt is who he is. He doesn’t pretend, doesn’t claim success for himself, doesn’t seek the limelight, but he doesn’t belittle himself either. He has a keen sense of which player needs a hug and which a rebuff. Being a psychologist is his passion, he says. “The players want honest communication and not walk over broken glass or hot coals.”
Frank Schmidt has a feel for how to deal with his players (here Florian Pick).
Schmidt: “I’ve always made decisions about things with full conviction”
He copied that from coach Werner Fuchs, under whom he played at Alemannia Aachen. In 1999, Schmidt, a prolific defender, was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga with Aachen. Five days before the championship game, in which Aachen made the promotion perfect, Fuchs collapsed in training during a cross-country run and died. In the same year Schmidt married and had his first daughter. Rise, the death of his role model, marriage and the first child, all in a short space of time. Schmidt was 25. “In that year I experienced everything that makes up life. It definitely shapes you.”
Heidenheim teaches him diligence; he teaches Heidenheim enthusiasm
He came to Heidenheim in 2003 as a player for Heidenheimer SB. In the industrial city, where there are many middle classes, he saw how hard people work. “Heidenheim taught me to be diligent. If you want it good, you have to work hard for it.”
And as a coach, he taught Heidenheim that football can inspire. “It took a while to let the people come out of themselves bit by bit. The other teams don’t like coming here anymore because there is a special atmosphere in this cramped, small stadium. This cohesion, that the people totally get along identify with the club, that’s something special that I didn’t think at first was possible here.”
Schmidt has rarely heard whispers from the stands in his 15 years. And if he did, he kept calm. In 2017, for example, when the team was in 16th place for weeks. The long-term success has also raised expectations. In the end, he managed to stay up in the 13th place.
Frank Schmidt still wants to play in the Bundesliga
When Schmidt started as a coach, he said somewhat succinctly that he the Volker Finke von Heidenheim want to become “Without knowing what that means and what is happening during this time and how it ages you,” he says today. Now he’s only a year away from catching up with Finke, who coached SC Freiburg for 16 years.
Schmidt still wants to be a coach in the Bundesliga. He has received several offers from other clubs. He rejected her. The constellation has to fit, he once said. His contract in Heidenheim runs until 2027. Enough time to make it into the premier league here.
It is not known how his lawn is doing.
