Gregg Berhalter Adds Five to Chicago Fire Staff

Gregg Berhalter is finally finishing up the additions to his technical room ahead of his first season as the Chicago Fire’s director of football and head coach.

The Fire announced that they would be adding Filipe Celikkaya, Tom Heinemann, and Hector Jiménez as assistant coaches for the first team, while longtime MLS goalkeeper Joe Bendik is joining as the club’s assistant goalkeeper coach. Vincent Cavin, Berhalter’s former assistant coach with the USMNT, was appointed as the club’s new director of methodology and talent manager.

“I’m excited to welcome this talented group to the Fire for the 2025 season,” said Berhalter in the announcement. “The collective experience and insight they bring from different levels of the game, both in the U.S. and Europe, will strengthen our efforts to create a top-tier environment for player development and performance. I look forward to working closely with this group and the rest of our staff as we push toward achieving our goals this upcoming season.”

Cavin isn’t the only addition that Berhalter worked with at U.S Soccer. Heinemann had been the USMNT U-15 head coach since 2022, and he won the League A title in the 2023 Concacaf Boys’ Under-15 Championship. News of Heinemann’s addition to Berhalter’s staff was first reported by Alex Campbell of CHGO Fire.

Filipe Celikkaya was the head coach at Sporting CP B in Portugal for the last five seasons. He had previously worked at Benfica, Al-Ahli SC, Shakhtar Donetsk, Vitória SC, and GD Chaves, and he speaks both English and Portuguese.

Bendik and Jiménez each just completed their playing careers. Bendik made 183 MLS starts for six different clubs and is currently in the process of securing his USSF “B” license. Jiménez won three MLS Cups (2011, 2012, 2020) over his 14-year career and most recently featured for Austin FC in 2024. Jiménez holds a USSF “B” license.