Caleb Porter, Portland Timbers mutually agree to part ways

In an entirely unexpected move, the Portland Timbers are reportedly making a coaching change. According to Paul Tenorio at FourFourTwo, the Timbers and Porter have mutually agreed to part ways. The Timbers later confirmed the news on Friday morning.

This season, Porter led the Timbers to a first-place finish in the Western Conference. He was also 3-1-2 against rivals Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps, capturing the Cascadia Cup. Portland was knocked out of the Western Conference semifinals by the Houston Dynamo after the Timbers suffered numerous devastating injuries.

But on-field performance was apparently not the reason for Porter’s departure. Tenorio’s piece at FourFourTwo cites “a power struggle within the Timbers organization” as the reason for Porter’s departure. A Stumptown Footy source denied the reports of a power struggle, saying that the decision to leave was Porter’s, and that it took Timbers management by surprise.

Timbers president of soccer operations Gavin Wilkinson has been with the team since 2001 as a player, assistant coach and head coach in USL before moving to the front office, where he was been general manager and technical director before being given his current job title. But Porter and Wilkinson have never had major disagreements that were made public, and Wilkinson was believed to fully support Porter’s contract extension in 2016.

Porter left the University of Akron to take over an underachieving Timbers team in 2013 that had used a very direct style of play under previous coach John Spencer. Porter was widely praised for implementing a possession-based style of play, and he eventually helped guide the Timbers to the 2015 MLS Cup.

U.S. Soccer has had their eye on Porter as a potential future men’s national team manager for quite some time. He was in charge of the Under-23 side’s 2012 Olympics qualifying campaign, and was expected to receive consideration for the vacant USMNT job. But even if Porter doesn’t get that gig, he’ll be extremely in demand and is unlikely to have trouble landing a new job.