List of MLS Cup winning head coaches


The list of MLS Cup winning head coaches includes five head coaches who have won multiple MLS Cup titles — Bruce Arena, who has won MLS Cup five times; and Sigi Schmid, Frank Yallop, Dominic Kinnear and Brian Schmetzer, who have each won it twice.
To date, two head coaches have led two different clubs to win the MLS Cup: Sigi Schmid and Bruce Arena.
Only one head coach has won the playoffs as both a player and head coach: Piotr Nowak, who played for Chicago Fire during their 1998 MLS Cup title, and subsequently led D.C. United as a coach to their fourth MLS Cup title in 2004. The next closest head coaches to such an achievement are Dominic Kinnear and Greg Vanney. Kinnear was on the Colorado Rapids squad that lost the 1997 MLS Cup final; however, he led Houston Dynamo to two straight MLS Cup titles in 2006 and 2007. Vanney was on the LA Galaxy roster that finished as runners-up in 1996 and 2001, and coached Toronto FC to their victory in 2017.

Winning head coaches

FinalWinning head coachNationalityClub
1996United StatesD.C. United
1997United StatesD.C. United
1998United StatesChicago Fire
1999NetherlandsD.C. United
2000United StatesKansas City Wizards
2001CanadaSan Jose Earthquakes
2002GermanyLos Angeles Galaxy
2003CanadaSan Jose Earthquakes
2004D.C. United
2005United StatesLos Angeles Galaxy
2006United StatesHouston Dynamo
2007United StatesHouston Dynamo
2008GermanyColumbus Crew
2009United StatesReal Salt Lake
2010Colorado Rapids
2011United StatesLA Galaxy
2012United StatesLA Galaxy
2013United StatesSporting Kansas City
2014United StatesLA Galaxy
2015United StatesPortland Timbers
2016United StatesSeattle Sounders FC
2017United StatesToronto FC
2018ArgentinaAtlanta United FC
2019United StatesSeattle Sounders FC

Coaches with multiple MLS Cup victories

WinsHead coachTeam won with Coaching career
5Bruce ArenaD.C. United
Los Angeles Galaxy 		1996–1998, 2006–2016, 2019–present
2Sigi SchmidLos Angeles Galaxy
Columbus Crew 		1999–2004, 2006–2018
2Frank YallopSan Jose Earthquakes 2001–2003, 2006–2015
2Dominic KinnearHouston Dynamo 2004–2018
2Brian SchmetzerSeattle Sounders FC 2016–present

By nationality