MLS COACHES: Does recycling work?

Only once has a coach with a previous MLS head-coaching stint with a different team reached MLS Cup: Thomas Rongen guided D.C. United to the 1999 title after coaching New England and Tampa Bay.

With Chivas USA hiring Bob Bradley, who was fired by the MetroStars in October, three of MLS's 12 teams currently have coaches with previous MLS head-coaching stints.

After the 2005 season, Columbus hired Sigi Schmid, who won an MLS title with Los Angeles and was let go by the Galaxy during the 2004 season. Colorado coach Fernando Clavijo was sacked by New England in 2002.

Rongen had coached Tampa Bay to a winning record in 1996, then joined New England for two seasons and left the Revs with a losing record before taking over from Bruce Arena at D.C. United. He was let go in 2001 and returned to MLS in 2005 and was let go by Chivas USA in midseason with a losing record.

Bradley lifted the MLS title in his first year at Chicago, reached the playoffs each season and compiled a 82-54-15 record before taking over at the MetroStars in 2003. He compiled a 32-31-26 record with the Metros before being fired with three games left in 2005 season. The MetroStars made first-round playoff exits during his first two seasons.

Besides Bradley, one other coach had a winning record in his first stint and finished his tenure at a second team with a winning regular-season record: Octavio Zambrano.

Here's how MLS's multi-team coaches fared based on overall regular-season records:

Thomas Rongen
Tampa Bay (1996) winning record.
New England (1997-98) losing record.
D.C. United (1999-2001) losing record. (won 1999 title)
Chivas USA (2005) losing record.

Bob Bradley
MetroStars (2003-05) winning record.
Chicago (1998-2002) winning record. (won 1998 title)
Chivas USA (2006) ?

Sigi Schmid
Los Angeles (1999-2004) winning record. (won 2002 title)
Columbus (2006) ?

Octavio Zambrano
Los Angeles (1997-99) winning record.
MetroStars (2000-2002) winning record.

Fernando Clavijo
New England (2000-02) losing record.
Colorado (2005-) .500 record.

Ray Hudson
Miami (2000-01) winning record.
D.C. United (2002-03) losing record

Tim Hankinson
Tampa Bay (1998-2000) winning record.
Colorado (2001-2004) losing record.

Alfonso Mondelo
MetroStars (1998) losing record.
Tampa Bay (2001) losing record.

Lothar Osiander
Los Angeles (1996-97) winning record.
San Jose (1999-2000) losing record.

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