MLS Coaches That Didn’t Survive the Season | OneFootball

One-third of MLS clubs made a coaching change prior to the February start of the MLS 2026 season. For three clubs, the changes came mid-season. All the rest occurred after the conclusion or regular season (or in some cases, post-season).

Here’s a summary of those unsuccessful three that never got to see the end of the season.

CF Montréal

CF Montréal was the first team to break up with a coach. Construction issues with Stade Saputo meant they played their first seven games on the road. But coach Laurent Courtois only lasted five, all of which were winless and saw Montréal fail to score a goal.

Assistant coach Marco Donadel was promoted to interim coach, and saw out the season. Despite finishing 13th in the Eastern Conference, Donadel was given the full-time position and will be on the touchline when they kick off in February, doubtless hoping to survive longer than his predecessor.

St. Louis CITY SC

The CITY SC also pulled the trigger early on Swede Olof Mellberg, giving him walking papers on May 28th after a poor start (2W, 5D, 8L). With only 11 goals scored, they were second-worst in the league, and sitting second-from-last in the Western Conference.

David Critchley stepped in as caretaker manager for the rest of the season. St. Louis suffered quite a bit of turbulence among their front-office team in 2025, but is approaching 2026 with Yoann Damet in charge. The 35 year-old Frenchman makes his head coaching debut after years of working in support roles for FC Cincinnati (where he was interim coach twice), LA Galaxy and Columbus Crew.

New England Revolution

The Revs were the third team to part ways with a coach mid-season, though they waited until September 15th to terminate Caleb Porter.

A veteran of the league whose impressive resume includes winning the MLS Cup with Portland Timbers (2015) and Columbus Crew (2020), Porter couldn’t get New England to click after replacing Bruce Arena in 2024. After 75 games he amassed a dismal record of 22W 15D 38L with a whopping -40 goal differential. His assistant Pablo Moreira was appointed interim coach, but was moved down to lead the MLS Next Pro team after the regular season. Marko Mitrović, a former US youth national team coach, was given the position in early November and tasked with rebuilding the squad.

Read all the other coaching changes since the season ended.