Seats are getting hotter across Major League Soccer.
The New England Revolution’s dismissal of head coach Jay Heaps on Tuesday marked the fifth such change in 2017, setting a new league record for most coaches let go in a season.
Heaps’ parting of ways with his longtime club follows in the wake of Pablo Mastroeni’s departure from Colorado, Dominic Kinnear’s firing by San Jose, Curt Onalfo’s exit from the LA Galaxy and Jeff Cassar’s dismissal by Real Salt Lake.
That’s a level of turnover not seen since the league’s infant years, eclipsing the previous record of four coaching changes in a season seen in both the 1998 and 1999 campaigns.
Here’s the rundown of those fired during those two seasons:
1998:
Carlos Cordoba (Miami Fusion)
Thomas Rongen (New England)
Alfonso Mondelo (MetroStars)
John Kowalski (Tampa Bay Mutiny)
1999:
Ron Newman (Kansas City)
Octavio Zambrano (LA Galaxy)
Walter Zenga (New England)
Brian Quinn (San Jose)
