Behind the Scenes @ Portland Timbers
American born soccer coach, Caleb Porter is the Portland Timbers head coach. In an amazing rise from being a college coach – after a brief stint as the head coach of the US Men’s National U23 Team – Porter continued to prove his worth last season as a professional coach when the Portland Timbers beat Columbus Crew SC to win their first MLS Cup title. Now, Porter has signed a long term contract extension with his winning team.
This week, head coach Caleb Porter signed a long term contract extension with the Portland Timbers. Since joining the Timbers in 2013, Porter has compiled one of the league’s top winning percentages among active MLS coaches with a record of 41-25-36 (.578), leading the Timbers to their first MLS Cup title, two Western Conference Championship appearances and double-digit wins in each of his first three seasons.
“This long-term extension is well deserved, and we are pleased and proud to announce that Caleb Porter will remain with the Timbers as our head coach for many years to come,” said Gavin Wilkinson, general manager of the Timbers. “Caleb is one of the top coaches in MLS, and the progress and accomplishments this club has realized over the last three seasons under his direction speak for themselves. We are thrilled Caleb will continue to lead our team, and I look forward to continuing our relationship and working together to achieve all of our goals and continued success.”
“It’s hard to imagine a better cultural, tactical and philosophical fit to lead the Portland Timbers on the pitch than Caleb Porter,” said Merritt Paulson, owner of the Timbers. “I am delighted to announce his long-term contract extension.”
Porter coached in his 100th game as an MLS coach against Real Salt Lake on Oct. 14, 2015, posting a record of 39-25-36 in those games, which tied San Jose Earthquakes head coach Dominic Kinnear for the fewest losses (25) in MLS history in a coach’s first 100 career games. In addition, his .570 winning percentage during that span ranks fourth among active coaches through their first 100 games, behind the LA Galaxy’s Bruce Arena (62-37-1, .625), Seattle’s Sigi Schmid (52-33-15, .595) and Kinnear (40-25-35, .575).
Question: So a pretty big day for you, signing a long-term contract extension with the Portland Timbers.
Caleb Porter: Yea, I don’t take it for granted, not for a day, not for a minute, how fortunate I am to have this job and to be in this position. I’m very appreciative of what Merritt and Gavin have done in showing faith and a long term commitment in having me here.
Question: It’s known that you like to win …
Caleb Porter:
Yes, I hate losing. I like to win and I want players to think that way as well.
I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished as a staff, it’s not just me — it’s my entire staff. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished over the three years in taking a club that was bottom of the league and turned around into a healthy club, a winning club. A club that wins trophies. But, I’m hungry for more and there is a lot more to achieve here.
Question: How much are you enjoying coaching in Portland and coaching this team?
Caleb Porter: To live in this community, I’m humbled.
Like I said, I’m very appreciative that I have the opportunity to continue being here and continue building this club; continue to achieve success and to continue winning trophies.
Question: Was there ever a doubt that you wanted to stay with Portland long-term?
Caleb Porter: No, I’m a loyal guy, I always want to stay.
I use the example of when I was the coach at Akron. After I took that job, I was offered numerous other jobs with bigger programs — and frankly, for more money but I stayed at Akron for seven years because when I pour everything into a job, I get attached and I’m very loyal.
I love the players here, my family loves it here and I’m extremely hungry to do more.
Question: In the long-term, what are the goals you hope to achieve as you continue coaching the Timbers?
Caleb Porter: Obviously when taking over the program, we needed to build a winning culture. As a coach, you strive for this.
You strive for health, you strive for continuity, you strive for stability and we built that over three years. We’ve proven to be a club that can win trophies. That’s successful.
But I’m never satisfied, ever. So the goal is to keep winning, the goal is to keep building, the goal is to stay a healthy club.
To be one of the top clubs over a long period of time. Words are thrown out, dynasty and things like that. I mean we’re focused on the next year, we want to win another trophy and we want to keep winning and keep staying healthy. I think we’re on the right track.
I’m very motivated every single day to maintain this club and grow it even further and make it even better and win more.
Question: Does having this contract change anything?
Caleb Porter: No, not the way I work and not in the way I think, but it is nice to know you have an owner and a general manager that has faith in you and your direction. It’s nice to have that commitment, it’s nice to have that stability but it doesn’t change at all how I think or how I work – how driven I am, how hungry I am and how much I’ll want to win every game I play.
Question: In the past you’ve gone to Arizona to build the chemistry, getting some of the tactics down. This year you have a lot more continuity, you have a much shorter offseason. What are the goals for Arizona? Is it different than past years?
Caleb Porter: I think this year is different because even though we have new guys in, we have less transitioning players in. I feel this already in the first five days.
The core group — the guys who are going to most likely start at the beginning of the year — we have a lot of those guys.
Because we had a short offseason, they’re more fit. Our fitness test yesterday showed that – every guy that returned was more fit this year than last year.
You’ve got guys that are now an extension of you in the locker room. They know your messages, they know the way you hold guys accountable, they know your expectations. They can help the new players come in, teach them what it’s about and hold them accountable. They know the way we work and the way we do things – they know what we expect. I like coming to work when you have a healthy, stable club that continues to want more and I’m looking forward to bringing more here.
Want More Facts on Porter’s success?
Over Porter’s first three seasons, the Timbers have compiled regular-season point totals of 57 (2013), 49 (2014) and 53 (2015). Over that span of time, Portland’s combined point total (159) ranks as the fourth most in MLS, behind only the New York Red Bulls (169), Seattle Sounders FC (167) and LA Galaxy (165). Additionally, Portland has registered a league-best 35 shutouts across Porter’s first three seasons, while the club’s 14 road wins the last two seasons rank as the most in MLS over that span.
In 2015, the Timbers made their second MLS postseason appearance under Porter, who guided Portland to the playoffs for the first time in the club’s MLS history in his first season at the helm in 2013 as the club advanced to the Western Conference Championship. During his tenure, the Timbers have qualified for CONCACAF Champions League twice (2014-15, 2016-17), finished in the top three in the Western Conference in two of his first three seasons and made their deepest run in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, reaching the semifinals in 2013.
Ending the 2015 campaign with a nine-game unbeaten run across all competitions, the Timbers lifted their first MLS Cup trophy with a 2-1 win over Columbus Crew SC on Dec. 6, 2015. Portland finished the regular season with an MLS-club-record 15 wins, while also tying for the league lead in shutouts (13). On the road, the Timbers finished the 2015 season tied for the most road wins (7) in the league.
The MLS Coach of the Year after his first season in the league in 2013, Porter engineered a 23-point improvement in points and an MLS-record 43-goal improvement in goal differential over the previous season.
Portland’s five losses during the 2013 regular season tied for the fewest in MLS history in a 34-game season. In addition, the Timbers led the league with 15 shutouts and recorded a 15-game, home unbeaten streak during the 2013 regular season, posting a league-best 11-1-5 home record at Providence Park and an MLS single-season record 11 home shutouts.
In 2014, the Timbers netted a team-record 61 goals while compiling one of the highest point totals across the final two-thirds of the regular season – recording the highest goal differential (plus-9) of any non-playoff team in MLS history.
Under Porter’s guidance, the Timbers have made Providence Park one of the toughest places to play in the league, registering the second-fewest home losses in MLS over the last three seasons with a 24-7-20 regular-season mark at Providence Park since 2013.
The interview answers information was provided to SoccerToday from Portland Timbers.
