Denis Hamlett - MLS Technical Consultant & Video Analysis Coach

Denis Hamlett is in his second season with the Montreal Impact, his first as a scout, after joining the club on January 7, 2012. He served as assistant coach in the team’s inaugural season in MLS.

Hamlett, from Costa Rica, served as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC in 2011, helping the club in its inaugural season in MLS, but spent most of his coaching career with the Chicago Fire. 

As the Fire’s head coach in 2008 and 2009, he helped the team to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals, as well as the 2009 SuperLiga Final, going 24-17-19 in regular season play and 30-22-22 across all competitions.

He started his coaching career as an assistant, serving from 1998 to 2007 with the Chicago Fire, where he won the MLS Cup in 1998, a Supporters’ Shield in 2003 and four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championships in 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2006.

In 2010, Hamlett took up the post of interim head coach with the men's soccer team at the Illinois Institute of Technology, leading them to the conference final.

As a player, Hamlett was drafted by the Colorado Rapids in 1996, 12th overall, in Major League Soccer's inaugural draft. He won the BIC Tough Defender of the Year award that season, making 31 appearances. His playing career ended the following year when he suffered a stroke caused by a blood protein deficiency.

Prior to his joining MLS, Hamlett played for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in 1992-1993, appearing in 21 games. He also played indoor soccer for four seasons, three of which were with the Harrisburg Heat of the National Professional Soccer League.

Hamlett is a 1991 graduate and soccer alumnus from George Mason, and was inducted into the university’s sports hall of fame in 2006.