When Caleb Porter became the head coach of the Portland Timbers, it was an open question about how well Kris Boyd, the Scottish designated player, would fit into Porter’s system. The answer: not very well. Porter publicly stated (at his introductory news conference, no less) that he didn’t see a spot on his team for Boyd; a week later, he and the club parted ways.
Boyd wasn’t the only player let go to make way for Porterball version 1.0, but he certainly had the highest profile. Altogether, 16 Timbers players would be jettisoned before Porter coached his first MLS match in 2013.