1. FC Kaiserslautern has found a new coach. Dimitrios Grammozis is to lead the red devils out of the crisis.

1. FC Kaiserslautern is in a real crisis. The first match after the dismissal of Dirk Schuster also ended in a debacle and was lost under interim coach Niklas Martin with 1:4 against 1. FC Magdeburg. It was the fourth competitive match defeat in a row. FCK has now introduced a new head coach – and it is a familiar name from the region.

Dimitrios Grammozis will be on the sidelines at Betzenberg with immediate effect, the club announced on Sunday. The 45-year-old will lead the first training session on the same day and make his debut in the cup against Nuremberg on Tuesday (6 p.m.).

From 2013 to 2019, Grammozis worked his way up to coach of the U19s at VfL Bochum’s youth academy. He got his first chance in the professional game at SV Darmstadt 98, who signed him in February 2019. After missing out on promotion, they parted ways again in June 2020.

Nine months later, the German-Greek then returned to the Ruhr region and signed for FC Schalke 04, who were still in the Bundesliga. However, he was also unable to turn things around for the miners at the end of the season and was relegated to Bundesliga 2 with Royal Blue.

After a 3:4 against Rostock, Schalke were finished

Grammozis then embarked on the mission of direct promotion. However, Schalke pulled the ripcord after a 3:4 at home against Hansa Rostock on matchday 25 and sacked Grammozis after one year and four days in charge in March 2022. At this point, the team had slipped to sixth place and was six points behind second and third place.

As is well known, Mike Büskens subsequently took the helm and saved S04 from promotion after all. Meanwhile, Grammozis remained without a new job – until December 3, 2023, when the struggling 1. FC Kaiserslautern struck and gave the coach a new chance in Bundesliga 2.