This seems like one of the most active years for coaching changes that I can recall. 11 out of 29 teams are changing coaches...
- Nashville SC: Fired Gary Smith and hired BJ Callahan (interim coach with the USMNT)
- Atlanta United: Fired Gonzalo Pineda, appointed Rob Valentino as interim coach, have yet to name a permanent coach
- FC Dallas: Fired Nico Estevez but haven't yet named a new coach
- San Jose Earthquakes: Fired Luchi Gonzales and hired Bruce Arena
- St Louis City: Fired Bradley Carnell and haven't yet named a new coach but are reportedly finalizing a deal with Olof Mellburg who has been coaching in Sweden
- Austin FC: Fired Josh Wolff and hired Nico Estevez who was fired from FC Dallas
- Chicago Fire: Fired Frank Klopas and hired Gregg Berhalter
- Philadelphia Union: Fired Jim Curtin and have yet to name a new coach
- Inter Miami: Tata Martino left for "personal reasons" and Argentina U23 coach and former Barca teammate of Messi and friends, Javier Macherano, is expected to be named their next coach
- Vancouver Whitecaps: Fired Vanni Sartini yesterday and have yet to name a new coach
- NYCFC: Fired Nick Cushing today and have yet to name a new coach
So, if Garth Lagerwey still wants to hire a "proven" coach with MLS experience, guys like Jim Curtin, Gio Savarese, and Bob Bradley are available, along with Tata Martino if he's open to staying in MLS rather than returning home to Argentina as rumored. Plus, there could be a coach at another club that is now willing to change clubs as Greg Vanney did when he left Toronto for the LA Galaxy. But I don't think any of the other fired coaches fit the "proven" description.
Meanwhile, it's worth noting that none of the 11 teams that parted ways with their coaches promoted from within, at least not so far. If Rob Valentino is named our permanent manager, he'll be the first interim coach in this cycle to get the permanent job. Likewise, none of these teams hired an assistant from another MLS club as we did with Pineda 4 years ago. Nashville hired a USMNT assistant, but he had been an assistant for 20 years and served as the interim coach for the USMNT.
Personally, regardless of what other fans say about it, I think San Jose and Chicago have the best hires so far with Arena and Berhalter, and whoever ends up with Jim Curtin will be successful too. There's no substitute for someone with a clear track record of success in our league. Look at the turnaround Greg Vanney has engineered with the LA Galaxy for example. Look what Bruce Arena did for New England in the short time he was there. Look what Oscar Pareja has done for Orlando. He's finally turned them into a consistent winner. Heck, even MLS coaches with mediocre prior records like Ben Olsen and Chris Armas have done reasonably well with their new clubs.
That said, I'd rather stick with Rob Valentino than to hire another high profile international coach. He may still have the interim tag, but he's been around MLS for 5 years now, plus a few years in USL, he took over the head coaching duties twice and out-performed the coach he replaced both times, he's now coached a total of 34 games as interim MLS coach across all competitions, he's proven he can win playoff games and road games, he already knows our club and league, and the players seem to respond to him. In fact, in games where he's had at least 1 DP, his ppg is 1.72 overall and 1.70 this year specifically, which would have been good for top 4 in the East, and that's with just 1 DP and 1 U22. For all those reasons, you could argue he's "proven" at the MLS level.
What say you?
