The hottest rumor on the coaching carousel rumor mill appears to be the courtship of Caleb Porter by DC United of Major League Soccer, as Steven Goff of the Washington Post reports.
Here's what I have been able to piece together since first reporting the Porter-DCU link several weeks ago:
My contacts in coaching and soccer-industry circles say the University of Akron boss is atop the MLS club's wish list to fill the head coaching vacancy left open by Tom Soehn. One source said he believed Porter was 90 percent certain of going to United. Another source said DCU "badly" wanted to hire him.
There's much more.....
About a month ago, club president Kevin Payne and General Manager Dave Kasper attended an Akron regular season match.
University of Maryland's Sasho Cirovski had also been mentioned as a potential target.
Keep in mind that United officials have declined repeated requests for comment about the coaching search. And Porter, 34, has been preoccupied with the unbeaten Zips' pursuit of an NCAA title, culminating here in Cary, N.C., with Friday's semifinals and, if Akron defeats North Carolina, Sunday's final against Virginia or Wake Forest.
So everything you are reading is the product of information-gathering from outside sources. Could the situation change? Am I missing something? It's certainly possible. But at the moment, to the best of my knowledge, this is where things stand.
If United makes a formal offer, will Porter accept? You would think so. I could certainly see Porter supported by Ashton (three years of MLS experience), recently retired Ben Olsen and longtime goalkeepers coach Mark Simpson.
But there's a lot to be said for remaining in the safe world of college soccer, where summer camps provide extra income and successful on the field translates to long-term job security and a possible move to a larger program. In MLS, even the most successful coaches are fired at some point. And after two disappointing seasons, United needs to start winning again -- a backdrop that would put a lot of pressure on a young coach with no pro experience.
What a coup this would be for college soccer - once accused of not doing a good enough job of developing players for MLS...and now...not only developing one of the best incoming classes in recent memory with this past 2009 season's class, but to also be developing coaches for MLS.
No comments:
Post a Comment