U.S. Soccer has named Caleb Porter as the U.S. under-23 men’s head coach and Tab Ramos as its under-20 men’s head coach.
Porter, 36, will share his duties with his full-time role as men’s head coach at Akron, where he’s won one national title, has the highest winning percentage among active NCAA Division I coaches and a 90-13-10 record over the five seasons. He’s also recruited and developed 12 players who have been drafted into MLS in the last five years, including the 2009 No. 1 overall pick Steve Zakuani, No. 4 pick Teal Bunbury in 2010 and No. 2 pick Darlington Nagbe in 2011. The Zips set an MLS record with five of the first eight selections in the 2011 SuperDraft and seven draftees overall, a group that also includes D.C. United rookie midfielder Perry Kitchen.
Of course, Porter’s challenge will be a different one at the international level, where his task will be more about bringing together players and coaxing them into a cohesive unit rather than a business where recruiting plays such a prominent role. The task is also a short-term one, since the U-23 group is the one that plays in the Olympics. Porter’s role will be to get that group qualified next spring, and assuming he does that, lead them next summer in England. But once he does that, it’ll be back to the college grind.
Ramos, 45, who may arguably have been the most technically gifted U.S. player ever, has equal standing as a coach. He comes into the role having already served as the U-20 assistant coach and interim head coach following the dismissal of Thomas Rongen.
U.S. Soccer said Ramos and U.S. Soccer youth technical director Claudio Reyna will run a combined U-23, U-20 training camp in Germany from Nov. 7-16. The full U.S. men’s team plays France in Paris on Nov. 11 and Slovenia in Ljubljana on Nov. 15.
