After finishing his first degree, he moved to the United States, where he attended the university of
New York City. There he coached the
Greek American Atlas (also known as "New York Greek Americans") to three consecutive
National Challenge Cup titles in
1967,
1968, and
1969. He returned to
Athens as the assistant coach of
Greece, under the famous Northern Ireland coach
Billy Bingham, in 1972; the following year, he took over as head coach, and helmed the team from 1981 to 1983, earning the
Alpha Ethniki title in 1982 and 1983. He returned to the United States to become the head coach of the
United States, from 1983 to 1985. A professional version of the USMNT, called
Team America, played in the
North American Soccer League in 1983, based out of
RFK Stadium in
Washington, D.C. After many American stars refused to leave their NASL clubs to play for them, however, Team America could only manage a 10–20 record (and a last place finish) with a patchwork lineup. The following year, Panagoulias led the USA squad in the
1984 Summer Olympics in
Los Angeles, with a 1–1–1 record in the group stage, not sufficient to advance to the next round. After failing to qualify for the
1986 FIFA World Cup in 1985, Panagoulias resigned as USMNT coach. Panagoulias subsequently returned to Athens to coach Olympiacos, winning another title in 1987. He also led
Aris from 1987 to 1990 and
Levadiakos from 1991 to 1992. He returned as head coach of the Greece national team in 1992 and led the team to its first appearance in a
World Cup in 1994, played in his adopted country (by now, Panagoulias was an American citizen). Although he was very popular among Greek fans at the time, the team's poor performance in World Cup '94 (losing all three matches by a combined score of 0–10) attracted widespread criticism, and Panagoulias was replaced by
Kostas Polychroniou. He later coached
Iraklis in 1997 and
Aris from 1998 to 1999. ==Later career==