Coaches Better the Second Time Around?

The recent firings of Bruce Arena and Frank Yallop made me think about an old Bigsoccer thread that I once referenced on this blog, which referred to how coaches performed with the second team they coached compared with the first. I thought I'd revisit that here today. In MLS history, there have been 13 men to take the reigns of two or more teams. Counting PPG in all competitions (with shootouts counted as draws), only twice has a coach actually done better with the second team. And even that is not as impressive as it sounds; one of the two men is Fernando Clavijo, who's had a losing record with both teams. With the Rapids, he's only been 0.02 PPG better than with the Revs and could possibly still end up worse now that he's somehow kept his job. The other man is Dominic Kinnear, which really shouldn't count. Even he isn't too much better thanks to San Jose's 2005 season. Two other current coaches are in their second run. Sigi Schmid is almost a certainly to end up worse with the Crew than with the Galaxy, while Mo Johnston could possibly end up better. However, that would take a few good years. I don't think this info is too meaningful, but it's fun to look at. The year represents the coach's first season with that team. First team vs second team (PPG, all competitions) DC 1996 Arena, Bruce 1.883 NY 2006 Arena, Bruce 1.250 CHI 1998 Bradley, Bob 1.736 NY 2003 Bradley, Bob 1.350 NE 2000 Clavijo, Fernando 1.253 COL 2005 Clavijo, Fernando 1.274 TB 1998 Hankinson, Tim 1.400 COL 2001 Hankinson, Tim 1.248 MIA 2000 Hudson, Ray 1.730 DC 2002 Hudson, Ray 1.258 NY 2005 Johnston, Mo 1.353 TOR 2007 Johnston, Mo 0.833 SJ 2004 Kinnear, Dominic 1.589 HOU 2006 Kinnear, Dominic 1.634 NY 1998 Mondelo, Alfonso 1.294 TB 2001 Mondelo, Alfonso 0.588 LA 1996 Osiander, Lothar 1.480 SJ 1999 Osiander, Lothar 1.105 TB 1996 Rongen, Thomas 1.763 NE 1997 Rongen, Thomas 1.066 LA 1999 Schmid, Sigi 1.710 CLB 2006 Schmid, Sigi 1.123 SJ 2001 Yallop, Frank 1.713 LA 2006 Yallop, Frank 1.444 LA 1997 Zambrano, Octavio 1.910 NY 2000 Zambrano, Octavio 1.523