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List of MLS Cup winning head coaches

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The list of MLS Cup winning head coaches includes seven head coaches who have won multiple MLS Cup titles — Bruce Arena, who has won MLS Cup five times, and Sigi Schmid, Frank Yallop, Dominic Kinnear, Brian Schmetzer, Caleb Porter and Greg Vanney, who have each won MLS Cup twice.

To date, four head coaches have led two different clubs to win the MLS Cup: Sigi Schmid (with Los Angeles Galaxy in 2002 and Columbus Crew in 2008), Bruce Arena (with D.C. United in 1996 and 1997 and LA Galaxy in 2011, 2012 and 2014), Caleb Porter (with Portland Timbers in 2015 and Columbus Crew in 2020) and Greg Vanney (with Toronto FC in 2017 and LA Galaxy in 2024).

Only two head coaches have won the playoffs as both a player and head coach. Piotr Nowak played for Chicago Fire during their 1998 MLS Cup title (in which he was named the Man of the Match), and subsequently led D.C. United as a coach to their fourth MLS Cup title in 2004. Peter Vermes won the 2000 MLS Cup with Sporting Kansas City (then known as the Kansas City Wizards) as a player, then won MLS Cup with the same team as a coach in 2013. The next closest head coaches to such an achievement are Dominic Kinnear and Greg Vanney. Kinnear was on the Colorado Rapids squad that lost the 1997 MLS Cup final; however, he led the Houston Dynamo to two straight MLS Cup titles in 2006 and 2007. Vanney was on the LA Galaxy roster that finished as runners-up in 1996 and 2001, and coached Toronto FC and the LA Galaxy to victory in 2017 and 2024, respectively.

Wilfried Nancy led the Columbus Crew to an MLS Cup victory in 2023 and became the first Black manager of a cup-winning team.[1]

Winning head coaches

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Bruce Arena, winning head coach in 1996, 1997, 2011, 2012 and 2014
Sigi Schmid, winning head coach in 2002 and 2008
Final Winning head coach Nationality Club
1996 Bruce Arena  United States D.C. United
1997 Bruce Arena (2)  United States D.C. United
1998 Bob Bradley  United States Chicago Fire
1999 Thomas Rongen  Netherlands D.C. United
2000 Bob Gansler  United States Kansas City Wizards
2001 Frank Yallop  Canada San Jose Earthquakes
2002 Sigi Schmid  Germany Los Angeles Galaxy
2003 Frank Yallop (2)  Canada San Jose Earthquakes
2004 Piotr Nowak  Poland D.C. United
2005 Steve Sampson  United States Los Angeles Galaxy
2006 Dominic Kinnear  United States Houston Dynamo
2007 Dominic Kinnear (2)  United States Houston Dynamo
2008 Sigi Schmid (2)  Germany Columbus Crew
2009 Jason Kreis  United States Real Salt Lake
2010 Gary Smith  England Colorado Rapids
2011 Bruce Arena (3)  United States LA Galaxy
2012 Bruce Arena (4)  United States LA Galaxy
2013 Peter Vermes  United States Sporting Kansas City
2014 Bruce Arena (5)  United States LA Galaxy
2015 Caleb Porter  United States Portland Timbers
2016 Brian Schmetzer  United States Seattle Sounders FC
2017 Greg Vanney  United States Toronto FC
2018 Gerardo Martino  Argentina Atlanta United FC
2019 Brian Schmetzer (2)  United States Seattle Sounders FC
2020 Caleb Porter (2)  United States Columbus Crew SC
2021 Ronny Deila  Norway New York City FC
2022 Steve Cherundolo  United States Los Angeles FC
2023 Wilfried Nancy  France Columbus Crew
2024 Greg Vanney (2)  United States LA Galaxy

Coaches with multiple MLS Cup victories

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Wins Head coach Team(s) won with (years) MLS coaching career
5 Bruce Arena D.C. United (1996, 1997)
LA Galaxy (2011, 2012, 2014)
1996–1998
2006–2016
2019–2023
2 Sigi Schmid Los Angeles Galaxy (2002)
Columbus Crew (2008)
1999–2004
2006–2018
Frank Yallop San Jose Earthquakes (2001, 2003) 2001–2003
2006–2015
Dominic Kinnear Houston Dynamo (2006, 2007) 2004–2018
Brian Schmetzer Seattle Sounders FC (2016, 2019) 2016–present
Caleb Porter Portland Timbers (2015)
Columbus Crew SC (2020)
2013–2017
2019–2022
Greg Vanney Toronto FC (2017)
LA Galaxy (2024)
2014–present

By nationality

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Nation Head coaches Total
 United States 11 19
 Canada 1 2
 Germany 1 2
 Argentina 1 1
 France 1 1
 England 1 1
 Norway 1 1
 Netherlands 1 1
 Poland 1 1

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Nancy 'proud but not happy' to be first Black coach to win MLS Cup". France24. Agence France-Presse. December 9, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.