Giles Barnes was more than 4,000 miles from Houston and on another continent last month when he heard the coaching news that flipped the 2016 Dynamo season upside down.
The Dynamo captain and Jamaican international had just begun training for Copa America in Chile when Owen Coyle called to deliver the news about his departure from the club.
Acting head coach Wade Barrett and Dynamo front office personnel also reached out to him shortly after the news broke. Barnes said the news shocked him.
"It happened suddenly," Barnes said Thursday after his first training session with the Dynamo since returning from international duty.