Emma Hayes is friends with Dawn Staley. How did that happen?

NEW YORK — New U.S. women’s soccer team manager Emma Hayes is a terrific storyteller, not least because she has terrific stories to tell.

She spun a bunch of them in an hour-long meeting with a group of soccer journalists on Thursday in Manhattan, a place she’s known well since she began her coaching career in the Big Apple over 20 years ago.

There were tales of her past, deep dives into what she hopes to do in her new job, and reflections on how the American dynasty has fallen. There was a great yarn about missing a meeting with legendary former Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson last Saturday, the day Hayes’ Chelsea won its fifth straight English league title to cap her 12-season run.

The trophy-clinching win came over United’s women’s team at the club’s famed Old Trafford stadium, and Ferguson was in the stands. He and Hayes were to meet for a glass of wine afterward, continuing Ferguson’s tradition from his coaching days.

“Coaching a game with Sir Alex behind me the other day, I mean, that’s pressure — at his home, I might add, against his team,” Hayes said. “I was late. He couldn’t wait. I was, like, really, really late. I was too busy enjoying myself on the pitch.”

» READ MORE: After more than 20 years of waiting, Emma Hayes’ dream to become the USWNT’s manager has come true

She was in the midst of reeling off names of friends near and far, some who are known worldwide and some who are only known only in American circles. Then she came to one that got everyone’s attention.

“I’m good friends with Dawn Staley,” Hayes said.

Beg pardon?

“Dawn and I, we’re two of a kind, us two,” she continued. “We’ve spent time together in different ways. And, honestly, what an incredible coach she is, what an incredible person.”

How did this happen? Turns out it’s pretty simple: Nike brought them together as part of a collective of coaches that the sportswear giant sponsors. They’ve crossed paths “a few times now,” Hayes said, most recently last month when Nike threw a big bash in Paris. Staley, Hayes, tennis legend Serena Williams, WNBA star A’ja Wilson, and track Olympian Sha’Carri Richardson were among the marquee names.

» READ MORE: Dawn Staley knows it's time for the WNBA to be women's basketball's biggest stage

Hayes’ story served as a reminder that certain traits about coaches transcend sports. You might kick a ball in one, throw it in another, and hit it with an object in a third, but managing people is a universal skill.

So is winning, and these two women have done a lot of it. The London-born Hayes led Chelsea to seven English league titles (including the last five straight), five FA Cups, and the 2021 Champions League final. She won FIFA’s worldwide coach of the year award in 2021.

The North Philly-born Staley has led South Carolina’s women’s basketball team to three national championships in the last seven years and led the U.S. women’s Olympic team to the 2021 gold medal. She also won three straight golds as a player (1996, 2000, and 2004).

» READ MORE: Why this past season might have been the best coaching job of Dawn Staley's career

“It’s the same job,” Hayes said. “It’s a different sport, but Dawn’s experiences of managing her athletes to be something beyond an athlete really resonated with me: who they are as people, not just during their time playing for her, but beyond. I think there’s a lot of similarities with that.”

They’ve shared “a couple of funny moments,” about dealing with the media, which in turn amused journalists (such as this one) who know both of them. And they’ve shared harder stories about the pressure of life in the spotlight.

“Playing on the big stage, both of us, two coaches, we have to produce results at the top level,” Hayes said, “and [there are] the challenges of doing that when you’re at the top. So yeah, I think there’s more similarities than differences, to be honest with you.”

She did acknowledge one notable difference, though.

“She knows as much soccer as I know basketball,” Hayes quipped, “so it’s great we don’t talk about that part.”

But that might change some day. Staley has a history of giving the U.S. women shout-outs on Twitter, and during that Paris trip last month, she went to a Paris Saint-Germain men’s Champions League game with Wilson.

Might we see Hayes at a WNBA game one of these days, or a South Carolina game when she’s settled into her new home in Atlanta?

Stay tuned.

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