Caleb Porter Named Portland Timbers Manager

Caleb Porter Named Timbers New Head Coach

It wasn't the best kept secret, but at least it's now official. University of Akron head coach Caleb Porter has been named the Portland Timbers' new head coach, effective at the end of the 2012 NCAA season.

Porter has spent the last seven seasons at Akron becoming one of the most successful coaches in NCAA history and leading the Zips to a national championship in 2010. Several of his former players are currently in MLS, including Darlington Nagbe who plays for the Timbers. Porter also served as the head coach of the U.S. U-23 National Team that failed to qualify for the 2012 Olympics.

The 37-year-old Porter will be officially introduced in December after the conclusion of the Akron season.

"Put simply, I believe Caleb Porter is the best young soccer coaching mind in the country," said Timbers Owner and President Merritt Paulson. "He is the right fit for the Timbers on every level. We went through an exhaustive and thorough search over the last couple months where we spoke with some truly excellent candidates, but Caleb quickly emerged as the consensus target. We look forward to 2013 and beyond with Caleb at our helm."

"Caleb is ambitious and one of the most respected coaches in the nation," said Wilkinson. "He has consistently developed and produced talented players who have gone on to excel in MLS. We feel that his mentality, personality, skill set and coaching philosophy are a tremendous fit with the culture of the Timbers organization and we're excited to bring Caleb on as the Timbers head coach."

Porter took over the Zips program in 2006 and has grown it in to one of the best in the country. He has the highest win percentage among active NCAA Division I coaches, with a career mark of 106-17-14 (.825). He earned his 100th career victory last year, reaching that plateau faster than current MLS head coaches Bruce Arena and Sigi Schmid.

"I am truly excited and honored to be provided this unique opportunity to coach the Portland Timbers, an organization that in a short-time has established itself as a model franchise in Major League Soccer," said Porter. "I know that Merritt and Gavin are committed to long-term success for the Timbers and come December, I will be completely focused and driven to continue building a professional club in which the Timbers supporters, city and organization will be proud of. In the meantime, out of respect to the Akron program, I will not be commenting further on this matter until after the conclusion of the 2012 college season."

Timbers fans now have five months to now speculate about what changes Porter will bring the Timbers when he takes over at the end of the year.

Caleb Porter Will Reportedly Be Named Timbers Coach On Wednesday

Caleb Porter will reportedly be announced as the Portland Timbers' third head coach in their brief MLS history during a Wednesday press conference. The Timbers fired coach John Spencer earlier this year and the job has been filled by General Manager Gavin Wilkinson, who has led them to a 1-5-2 record.

@kpam860 Portland Timbers to name Caleb Porter, 37, University of Akron, new head coach tomorrow @ 10:45am

— AM 860 (@KPAM860) August 29, 2012

Porter is currently the head coach at Akron, but it was unclear if he would finish out this season or join the Timbers after the Zips' season ends in late November or December. Even if Porter remained with Akron until the end of the season, he would still be able to join the Timbers close to the start of their offseason and would likely be well prepared for the SuperDraft just based on the work he's already done in college.

Since joining Akron in 2006, he's turned the Zips into one of the most decorated teams in the nation. He has produced several MLS talents and won the 2010 College Cup. The one glaring hole in his resume is that he's never coached at the professional level and his first job coaching pros, on the United States U-23 team, ended with them failing to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Caleb Porter Reportedly Close To Taking Portland Timbers Job

Akron coach Caleb Porter has reportedly been offered the head coaching job in Portland.