Utah's new Major League Soccer team hired three assistant coaches, one of whom is familiar to Utah soccer fanatics. Chris Agnello, coach of the state's previous professional team, the Utah Blitzz, will join Peter Mellor and Brian Johnson on the RSL sidelines.

Ellinger certainly is pleased with the help.

"I feel very excited about our coaching staff," Ellinger said. "It's a great deal of experience. I feel like we don't have any holes in our coaching staff."

Mellor worked closely with Ellinger for six years at U.S. Soccer's U-17 residency training program in Bradenton, Fla. He also was the national goalkeeper coach and coordinator for U.S. Soccer and played for 18 years as a professional goalkeeper in the English League.

"He was the first guy I wanted," Ellinger said. "We've got a great relationship, and I have a great deal of trust in his decision-making ability."

Mellor also will coach RSL's reserve team.

Johnson is leaving his current position as an assistant coach at Ohio State. He played for five years with the Kansas City Wizards, appearing in 67 games and starting 34. He helped the Wizards win the 2000 MLS Cup in his final year and ended his career with 3,413 minutes.

"Brian was someone I thought of immediately as someone I would want on the team," Ellinger said.

Making the jump from Ohio State to MLS, Johnson said, is a big move.

"It's a huge step," Johnson said. "It's the start of hopefully a long coaching career; that's why I'm so excited to get started with it."

Agnello, the team's third assistant, fills a unique role for the team.

"We wanted our fourth coach to know something of the local community and know something of the local players," Ellinger said. "Chris was the obvious choice."

Agnello played at Woods Cross High School and Warner-Pacific College before earning a masters degree in sports science from Utah. He coached various elite levels of youth soccer in Utah before the Blitzz's inaugural year in 2000.

Agnello seemingly has less experience coaching at the highest levels, but he is not concerned. The Blitzz, although a second-tier team in the United Soccer Leagues, operated at the first-tier level.

"It may not be quite as big a jump as people think," Agnello said. "MLS will be a tremendous experience. The magnitude of this is not lost on me."