Greg Vanney guided Toronto FC to the Supporters Shield crown and now the club is aiming for MLS Cup. (Dan Hamilton/USA TODAY Sports)

After directing Toronto FC to a record-breaking regular season, head coach Greg Vanney was named Major Leauge Soccer coach of the year Monday.

Toronto set an MLS record with 69 points, tying the 2014 Seattle Sounders for most wins in a season with 20. The club also finished second in league history with a plus-37 goal difference, tied for second with 74 regular-season goals and placed third all-time by averaging 2.03 points per match.

The Canadian side is vying to become the first team in league history to win the domestic treble. Toronto has secured the Canadian Championship and Supporters’ Shield and will look to advance to MLS Cup Wednesday when it hosts Columbus Crew SC in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Championship series (7:30 pm ET; FS1 in the US; TSN 1/4/5, TVAS in Canada). The teams played to a scoreless draw in the first leg in Columbus next week.

While the Reds unquestionably have one of the most talented, if not the most talented, roster in all of MLS, Vanney has managed big personalities and integrated much depth into the first team.

Sebastian Giovinco, Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Victor Vazquez have led the way for Toronto. But Vanney has done an excellent job of developing young players such as Alex Bono, Marky Delgado, Eriq Zavaleta, Raheem Edwards and Jonathan Osorio, helping turn them into regulars and contributors.

In his third full season as Toronto head coach after he took over for Ryan Nelsen two-thirds of the way through the 2014 season, Vanney has a 51-35-26 regular season record.

The MLS coach of the year award is voted on by MLS club management, media and current players. Below is a breakdown of the voting results:

Coach of the Year Player Vote Club Vote Media Vote Average
Greg Vanney (TOR) 26.98% 44.05% 40.18% 37.07%
Gerardo “Tata” Martino (ATL) 35.71% 3.57% 27.61% 22.30%
Veljko Paunović (CHI) 9.92% 10.71% 12.88% 11.17%
Patrick Vieira (NYC) 9.13% 17.86% 3.99% 10.33%
Carl Robinson (VAN) 3.17% 9.52% 5.52% 6.07%
Gregg Berhalter (CLB) 1.59% 4.76% 0.92% 2.42%

MLS Coach of the Year Winners:

  • 2017: Greg Vanney – Toronto FC
  • 2016: Oscar Pareja – FC Dallas
  • 2015: Jesse Marsch – New York Red Bulls
  • 2014: Ben Olsen – D.C. United
  • 2013: Caleb Porter – Portland Timbers
  • 2012: Frank Yallop – San Jose Earthquakes
  • 2011: Bruce Arena – LA Galaxy
  • 2010: Schellas Hyndman – FC Dallas
  • 2009: Bruce Arena – Los Angeles Galaxy
  • 2008: Sigi Schmid – Columbus Crew
  • 2007: Preki – Chivas USA
  • 2006: Bob Bradley – Chivas USA
  • 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

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.