As the Portland Timbers picked up a big three points in their 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake in Utah Wednesday night, the match also marked a career milestone for head coach Caleb Porter -- it was his 100th game in charge as an MLS head coach.
Since taking over the head coaching duties ahead of the 2013 season, Porter has gone 39-25-36 which ties San Jose Earthquakes head coach Dominic Kinnear (40-25-35) for the fewest losses (25) in MLS history in a coach’s first career 100 games.
Moreover for the 2013 MLS Coach of the Year, Porter’s winning percentage of .570 in that span puts him at eighth overall all-time among MLS coaches in their first 100 games and fourth among active coaches behind LA's Bruce Arena (62-37-1 – .625), Seattle's Sigi Schmid (52-33-15 – .595) and Kinnear (.575).
Top Winning Percentage by MLS head coaches in their first 100 games (Active MLS coaches in bold):
Coach |
Wins |
Losses |
Draws |
Winning Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Octavio Zambrano |
62 |
33 |
5 |
.645 |
<strong>Bruce Arena</strong> |
<strong>62</strong> |
<strong>37</strong> |
<strong>1</strong> |
<strong>.625</strong> |
Bob Bradley |
57 |
36 |
7 |
.605 |
<strong>Sigi Schmid</strong> |
<strong>52</strong> |
<strong>33</strong> |
<strong>15</strong> |
<strong>.595</strong> |
Frank Yallop |
48 |
31 |
21 |
.585 |
Robert Warzycha |
44 |
28 |
28 |
.580 |
<strong>Dominic Kinnear</strong> |
<strong>40</strong> |
<strong>25</strong> |
<strong>35</strong> |
<strong>.575</strong> |
<strong>Caleb Porter</strong> |
<strong>39</strong> |
<strong>25</strong> |
<strong>36</strong> |
<strong>.570</strong> |
Preki |
45 |
33 |
22 |
.560 |
Schellas Hyndman |
39 |
27 |
34 |
.560 |
Tom Fitzgerald |
55 |
45 |
.550 |
|
Steve Nicol |
42 |
34 |
24 |
.540 |
Greg Andrulis |
40 |
33 |
27 |
.535 |
Gary Smith |
37 |
30 |
33 |
.535 |
Frank Klopas |
40 |
34 |
26 |
.530 |
Dave Sarachan |
40 |
35 |
25 |
.525 |
<strong>Peter Vermes</strong> |
<strong>40</strong> |
<strong>35</strong> |
<strong>25</strong> |
<strong>.525</strong> |
Glenn Myernick |
52 |
48 |
.520 |
|
Colin Clarke |
41 |
39 |
20 |
.510 |
<strong>Oscar Pareja</strong> |
<strong>41</strong> |
<strong>40</strong> |
<strong>19</strong> |
<strong>.505</strong> |
Tom Soehn |
37 |
36 |
27 |
.505 |
Dave Dir |
50 |
50 |
.500 |
|
Ron Newman |
50 |
50 |
.500 |
|
Thomas Rongen |
50 |
50 |
.500 |
|
Bob Gansler |
40 |
42 |
18 |
.490 |
<strong>Jay Heaps</strong> |
<strong>38</strong> |
<strong>41</strong> |
<strong>21</strong> |
<strong>.485</strong> |
<strong>Jason Kreis</strong> |
<strong>35</strong> |
<strong>38</strong> |
<strong>27</strong> |
<strong>.485</strong> |
Tim Hankinson |
43 |
47 |
10 |
.480 |
Ray Hudson |
38 |
45 |
17 |
.465 |
Fernando Clavijo |
36 |
45 |
19 |
.455 |
<strong>Ben Olsen</strong> |
<strong>31</strong> |
<strong>45</strong> |
<strong>24</strong> |
<strong>.430</strong> |
Only 31 MLS coaches have reached the century mark in games coached. Porter’s fewest losses achievement puts him above current active coaches Schmid, Peter Vermes (Sporting Kanas City: 40-35-25), Arena, Jason Kreis (NYC FC: 35-38-27), Jay Heaps (New England Revolution: 38-41-21), Oscar Pareja (FC Dallas: 41-40-19) and Ben Olsen (D.C. United: 31-45-24).
Mike Donovan and Mark Nelson contributed research to this story.
