Former U.S. national team coach Jill Ellis was in Zurich last November as part of a FIFA mentoring program when her friend, France national team coach Corinne Diacre, stood up to speak to the group of women in attendance.



Diacre shared stories from her experience coaching a men’s professional team, Clermont Foot, in France’s Ligue 2. The room buzzed during the presentation as Diacre talked about how the opportunity arose, about what it was like to work with an owner who felt she was the right fit and about what made the job different from her previous gigs.



“We just drilled her with questions,” Ellis said.



In the end, the conclusion Diacre reached was much the same as the one Ellis found while taking part in U.S. Soccer’s pro licensing course along with several MLS coaches: The job of coaching men is no different than the job of coaching women.



“The game is the game and managing players is managing players,”...