Caleb Porter (2018) - Hall of Fame - University of Akron Athletics

Caleb Porter

Induction:
2018

2006-12
Head Coach

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The men’s soccer head coach (2006-12) for seven seasons, Caleb Porter built the Zips’ program into a perennial national championship contender– finishing as the 2009 national runner-up and capturing the school’s first national title in any sport in 2010 – while developing a brand of play that was attractive and attack-oriented, yet effective on both sides of the ball. seven MAC regular season championships, five MAC Tournament titles and five consecutive trips to the NCAA’s Round of 16. He became the fastest in program history to reach 100 career wins, accomplishing the feat in just 126 matches, and is among the fastest all-time to do so.

Named the MAC Coach of the Year six times (2007-12) and the NCAA Coach of the Year in 2009, he also a three-time Division I All-Ohio Coach of the Year. In 2011, Porter coached the U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team.

From 2013-17, Porter coached the MLS Portland Timbers, earning MLS Coach of the Year honors in 2013 and winning the MLS Cup in 2015, while guiding the team to two Western Conference regular-season championships (2013, 2017).

A native of Kalamazoo, Mich., he resides in Hilton Head, S.C.

“My favorite memory was leading the 2010 men’s soccer program to the NCAA Div. I national championship trophy. It was the culmination of five years of hard work on and off the pitch, and I couldn’t have been more proud of that group. What a lot of people might not know is that team was also one of the top academic men’s soccer teams in the country as well. To not only be champions in our sport but also high achievers in the classroom was just as rewarding for me, because that’s what the student-athlete experience is all about.”