Major League Soccer today announced that San Jose Earthquakes head coach Dominic Kinnear was selected as the MLS Coach of the Year and Michael Parkhurst of the New England Revolution has been named the Gatorade Rookie of the Year.
Despite losing a large core of the 2004 squad to other clubs in the off-season and then more players to injuries during the 2005 campaign, Kinnear was able to guide the Quakes to a League-best 64 points (18-4-10 record) becoming only the second team in MLS history to register more than 60 points in a season. Fielding a balanced team with no player scoring more than nine goals during the season, the Quakes finished the year with a 14-game unbeaten streak, going 11-0-3 and 15-1-6 in their last 22 games. San Jose surrendered a League-low 31 goals and set another League record for fewest losses in a season (4). In his second year as a head coach, Kinnear's club became the first to go undefeated at home for an entire season.
New England Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst was one of only five players - - including the only rookie - - to start and play in every minute of every game during the 2005 regular season (32 starts, 2880 minutes). The Rhode Island native, who grew up a fan of the Revolution, gives the Revs back-to-back Gatorade Rookie of the Year winners after Clint Dempsey captured the award in 2004. The first selection by the Revolution in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft showed veteran poise at the heart of the back line and was only whistled for six fouls over the course of the season, anchoring a defense that gave up the second fewest goals in the League (37). The 21 year-old Parkhurst, who was also selected to the 2005 MLS All-Star team, is the fourth player on the current Revolution roster to have won the award (Steve Ralston - 1996; Jay Heaps - 1999; Dempsey - 2004).
The MLS Coach of the Year and the Gatorade Rookie of the Year winners were determined by equal voting from the media (33.33 percent), MLS players (33.33 percent) and MLS coaches and general managers (33.33 percent). With each voting category representing one-third of the total votes, the formula used for determining the award winners involved assigning 33.33 total points to each category for a maximum possible total of 99.99 points. All first year players in MLS without previous professional experience were eligible for the Gatorade Rookie of the Year award. The voting totals were as follows:
MLS Coach of the Year
Media Players Coach/GM Total
Dominic Kinnear 14.59 14.96 14.51 44.05
Steve Nicol 8.57 9.22 10.49 28.29
Peter Nowak 4.69 4.45 3.40 12.53
Gatorade Rookie of the Year
Media Players Coach/GM Total
Michael Parkhurst 8.29 7.46 8.64 24.39
Chris Rolfe 6.12 9.80 6.79 22.71
Scott Sealy 5.37 6.85 8.02 20.24
MLS Coach of the Year Winners:
2005: Dominic Kinnear - San Jose Earthquakes
2004: Greg Andrulis - Columbus Crew
2003: Dave Sarachan - Chicago Fire
2002: Steve Nicol - New England Revolution
2001: Frank Yallop - San Jose Earthquakes
2000: Bob Gansler - Kansas City Wizards
1999: Sigi Schmid - Los Angeles Galaxy
1998: Bob Bradley - Chicago Fire
1997: Bruce Arena - D.C. United
1996: Thomas Rongen - Tampa Bay Mutiny
Gatorade Rookie of the Year Winners:
2005: Michael Parkhurst - New England Revolution
2004: Clint Dempsey - New England Revolution
2003: Damani Ralph - Chicago Fire
2002: Kyle Martino - Columbus Crew
2001: Rodrigo Faria - MetroStars
2000: Carlos Bocanegra - Chicago Fire
1999: Jay Heaps - Miami Fusion
1998: Ben Olsen - D.C. United
1997: Mike Duhaney - Tampa Bay Mutiny
1996: Steve Ralston - Tampa Bay Mutiny
