photo by Tony Quinn/ISIphotos.com
U.S. Soccer has named Caleb Porter and Tab Ramos as head coaches of its U-23 and U-20 men's national teams.
Porter will coach the U-23 team and lead it through qualifying for the the 2012 Olympic games in London. Porter is to remain as head coach of Akron University, and will coach both the Zips and U.S. U-23 team.
Ramos will be in charge of the U-20 team, which he coached on an interim basis earlier this year when the team had a training camp and two friendlies in France.
The first training camp for both teams will be held from Nov. 7-16 in Germany. Ramos will be in charge of the camp and will get assistance from U.S. Soccer Youth Technical Director Claudio Reyna. The full coaching staff and team schedule for Germany will be announced at a later date.
The 36-year-old Porter has coached some of the country's top young talents since joing Akron in 2006. He has a 90-13-10 record through five seasons, and the highest winning percentage amongst active coaches in NCAA Division 1.
Porter, who was named NSCAA National Coach of the Year, guided Akron to an NCAA National Championship in 2010. He has coached U.S. national team forward Teal Bunbury as well as D.C. United's Perry Kitchen and Seattle Sounders' Steve Zakuani.
Ramos, a fomer U.S. men's national team player who earned 81 caps, was a part of three World Cups and scored eight goals in his career at the international level. He has played in MLS, Mexico and Spain.
What do you think of this development? Think Porter and Ramos are good hires? How do you see the U.S. youth teams doing under them?
Share your thoughts below.
Not sure how the Mid American Conference tournament works but UA’s last game is the 6th. He could fly over for the start of camp(7th) and come back to coach the tournament on Friday(11th). Giving him about 4 days with the team as they get started and then work with Tab and Jurgen for the rest of the time.
Agreed. Though I’m sure most would agree that FC Dallas is not on the same level as the Brazils and Spains of the world, Schellas Hyndman has made a hugh impact with that team since moving over from SMU. They were gawd awful for years.
Besides, I’m sure the powers that be (Klinsman, Reyna, etc) have actually had a conversation or two with the guy to see if he knows his head from a hole in the ground. If they feel comfortable giving the guy a chance, who am I to say otherwise?
Alright, to elaborate:
This guy knows how to find and tune American players to play fluid, attacking soccer without giving anything away. He has an eye for talent and making the unit better than the sum of its parts. Oh, and he likes to win. A lot. He’s a budding coaching genius for the US, and this is a great time and a great group for him to work on.
So excited.
Best #$%^ing decision…. ever.
Disappointed Klinsman isn’t just taking the team to the Olympics… afterall, would be added motivation for players to attend and our national team is full of guys eligible for the Olympics…
Adu, Altidore, Shea, Chandler, Bunbury, Diskerud, Gonzalez, Agudelo, Gatt, Hamid, Opara, Gale all are in the team or deserve a close look by Klinsy and the Olympics could provide that.
Ramos is one of my favorite two us players all time. Of course my time as a fan extends only back to early 90s
I am not concerned about his ability of handling the subs and Akron plays a different brand of soccer from most college teams, but most college teams that Zips face play a very direct, kick and run style. He will have a very different set of challenges when his team has to face the best young players from countries like Spain, Argentina, Brazil. I will root for Porter to be a success with the U23 team.
Porter is a good coach, but college soccer is quite different from the international soccer and brings a different set of challenges. Just in terms of varity of playing styles and the quality of talent the gap is enormous. The team that won the gold in 2008 Olympics had players like Messi, Riquelme, Aguerro, Di Maria, Macherano, etc. No disrespect to Porter or college soccer, but I think the coaching challenges in the Olympics will be much stiffer than anything Akron team has to face during the college season. I have confidence in his ability to develop young talent – that’s the reason he got the job, but he will also need to rely on experienced assistant coaches.
WTH is the training camp in germany anyway? Should be in Akron. He’s our boy let us get to see a training camp. Annoying
This has nothing to do with Tab Ramos as a coach, but I saw him play in a exhibition game last year and he can still ball. I really think if he still wanted to play in the MLS, he could start for a couple of teams. Him and Stewart Holden play very similar and IMO are the two best American players with the ball at their feet and with the awareness to hit a FORWARD pass (not mentioning names, Renya, cough cough).
Anyway two good coaching selections.
Hmm.. Incredible coaching staff? I’m still not convinced with Martin Vasquez. I know there were a million different variables affecting Klinsmann’s time at Bayern, but the players have said the tactics JK and Vasquez, as well as the way they trained, were subpar. I’m willing to give JK plenty of time to get it right but I’m not sure Vasquez is the right guy… It’s early days and JK, as I said, needs time, but I’ve yet to be anywhere near convinced by the MNT in any of their games thus far, and it might have something to do with Vasquez.
He’s been an assistant for the U-18 team for the past few years. Obviously, he gets an advantage, but it seems to be in line with the NCAA regulations.
Klinsi’s next, Joachim Löw .
If you’re worried about Porter having trouble handling subs, don’t worry about that. He usually only subs once or twice a game unlike most other NCAA coaches. As a Zips fan, Porter’s teams play the beautiful game beautifully. I’m really happy he’s getting this chance AND staying at Akron.
Rennie and Porter my two fav coaches.
nah, that would be Sasho.
+1
How does this affect Porter’s ability to have contact w/ high school age players under NCAA recruiting rules?
Sorry, what do you know about Tab as a coach?
College sports is mostly about the ability to recruit, how do we know Porter is a good coach, in that he can get more out of players than their talent level? Maybe he can, but where is the evidence?
The article says that Ramos will run the camp. It doesn’t say anything about Porter being there.
Is it me or does Porter look like he could pass as Clint Dempsey’s older brother?
I projected Porter as the next Low a while back, and he’s on that course.
so did our current head coach when he took germany to 3rd in the cup.
Anyone paying attention to the timing? How is Porter in Germany during Arkon’s run through NCAA Tournament? is that about the same time as the final cup?
Akron will have the best team in the NCAA for years. Every top player will be going there now.
Klinsmann is quickly establishing an incredible coaching staff. And make note that the training camp for the U-20s and U-23s is the same time as the Senior team camp… and in the same place 🙂
Sounds like things are starting to come together.
If he was the U-20 or U-17 coach, you could definitely suggest the possibility for conflict of interest. However, since most 20-22 year old players with talent have already been gobbled up by other coaches, I don’t see the problem re: recruiting for Akron.
I sure hope not. He has very little actual experience.
Did you just say that the 36 year-old coach of Akron knows more about coaching than the guy who coached German national team and Bayern?
Good coaches are good coaches. He’s the best college coach in the nation and isn’t even 40 years old. He’ll be more than fine.
to observe the senior team in action will be a fantastic experience for these guys….
I also like Porter’s choice, but I am concerned about his lack of international experience. There is a big difference between a college soccer level of competition and playing against Olympic teams from Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Spain, etc. I hope he gets good experienced assistant coaches.
Anyone think Reyna will be the full USMNT coach at some point?
Someone just got a recruiting boost.
Is it a coincidence that the camp will be held in europe in november during the same time period of the november friendlies?….i like what’s beginning to hapen here…
I agree but who is second? Martin Rennie
if he’s jesus does that make JK god? i shudder to think about Gulati being the blessed virgin
why would you assume that a Bob Bradley apologist would have a problem with either of these appointments?
Has Tab Ramos ever coached before? Only know about his playing career…
🙂
Tab is a decent young coach. Being a great player does NOT equal being a great coach. Porter, on the other hand, has real coaching experience and knows how to manage a group. He’s forgotten more about coaching than JK knows.
waiting for the Bob Bradley apologists to commence complaining…
Ditto on this sentiment.
Ramos is a beast? He has been coaching all of 3 years and that has been in the US Academy.
Caleb is a good man
the term “lol” is rarely used when it’s literal but I actually laughed out loud after reading/observing the imagine again.
Well done, Lisa, well done.
What’s with the halo? Is he our new soccer Jesus?
both selections are very good.
I wonder with Porter’s link to the under 23’s; what that will mean with his higher potential for recruiting for Akron??? Tab is a beast; he will bring the best out of the young lads.
ABSOLUTELY! Porter is, hands down, the best young coach in the nation. He made a smart move to turn down D.C. United. He’ll be the full USMNT within the next 10 years. And we will be better off for it.
Table set for Caleb Porter to be fast-tracked to the senior/first team national duty once Klinsmann steps down (or potentially steps up into a higher role within the federation) in the future?
Either way, I like both selections. Good things, good things…