Dieter Hecking is back in the Bundesliga after taking over at struggling Bochum. - © IMAGO/Maik Hölter/TEAM2sportphoto

bundesliga

Dieter Hecking: Who is the experienced German coach charged with saving Bochum's bacon?

05.11.2024

Dieter Hecking has been cherry-picked to reverse relegation-threatened Bochum's fortunes. bundesliga.com has the lowdown on the journeyman head coach...

Data correct as of 19 November 2024

Dieter Hecking

Age: 60 (born 12 September 1964)
Club: Bochum
Role: Coach
Country: Germany

Key stats

A former midfielder who made over 200 appearances across Germany's top two divisions, Hecking brings a wealth of experience to the table at Bochum. He's been in the coaching business since 2000, with highlights that include steering Alemannia Aachen back into the Bundesliga in 2006, securing Nuremberg's top-flight status via the 2009/10 relegation play-off and winning the 2014/15 DFB Cup and 2015 Supercup at the helm of Wolfsburg.

Hecking also held the top position at Verl, Lübeck, Hannover, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Hamburg, before returning to Nuremberg in 2020 as sporting director and later assuming coaching duties on an interim basis. He took over at Bochum in November 2024, signing a deal through to the end of the 2024/25 season, with the Ruhr club winless and bottom of the Bundesliga.

Coaches a bit like: Ottmar Hitzfeld

Hecking typically favours a 4-4-2 formation, sometimes switching to a 4-2-3-1. He sets his teams up to attack, but isn't one to experiment with players in different positions. It's an old-school approach out of the playbook of legendary Bundesliga coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, who enjoyed tremendous success in charge of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

Did you know?

Nowadays accustomed to cracking the whip from the dugout, Hecking spent three years as an intermediate police officer in his native Castrop-Rauxel before signing professional terms with Gladbach.

Hecking - pictured here following Wolfsburg's 2014/15 DFB Cup triumph - has overseen over 650 matches as a head coach. - imago/MIS

What they're saying

"He's an outstanding coach with charisma and aura who gives us something. You simply believe everything he says." - Bochum attacker Gerrit Holtmann

"Wolfsburg in two years under Dieter Hecking - just madness. They've become title contenders." - former Bayern head coach Pep Guardiola, speaking in July 2016