The coach was unable to build off a memorable 2015 season in Portland, as the team was unable to replace key players and finished without a single road victory.

Caleb Porter’s Portland Timbers have turned from MLS champions to a laughingstock.

It’s been less than a year since the Timbers were celebrating their title on the pitch at Mapfre Stadium after defeating the Columbus Crew in the MLS Cup. Porter had proven himself as a top American coach just three years removed from failing to guide the U.S. Under-23 team to the London Olympics in embarrassing fashion. Timber Joey and Co. couldn’t have been happier and all was good in Portland, the hotbed for soccer in the United States.

WATCH: Timbers collapse with playoff berth on the line

As the 2016 season approached, the Timbers were confident. They thought they had the right squad to compete for another championship or at the very least make the playoffs in a league where more than half the teams qualify for the postseason. The club was so sure it had a good thing going that it signed Porter to an extension and handed general manager Gavin Wilkinson a new long-term contract.

Porter and Wilkinson were rewarded for leading the Timbers to their first MLS Cup title and two Western Conference final appearances in the coach’s first three seasons. But neither paid back their gratitude as they brought a weakened squad into the 2016 season and eventually fell flat on their faces when the final whistle sounded on the season Sunday.

Jorge Villafana, a left back who played a major role for Portland over two seasons, left for Liga MX side Santos Laguna prior to the season. By the time the Timbers signed a solid replacement in Vytautas Andriuskevicius, the team was already spiraling downhill. The loss of Rodney Wallace also hurt, with Lucas Melano failing to live up to his potential. And then there was the season-ending Achilles injury to Nat Borchers, whose leadership and defending was never replaced.

The duo of Porter and Wilkinson shook up their roster and their plan backfired. The Timbers were unable to win a single road game all season. They finished with 12 wins, 8 draws and 14 losses, which was good enough for seventh place in the Western Conference. Somehow, despite this atrocious record for an MLS Cup-defending team, Portland still had playoff hopes entering the final day of the season.

And they proved in the most crucial of moments that their poor season was no accident.

On Decision Day, the Timbers were facing a must-win game against the Vancouver Whitecaps. Anything less than three points meant they would become one of only a handful of teams to win the MLS Cup and fail to make the playoffs the following season. On the biggest night in Portland soccer since lifting the Cup in December, the Timbers fell behind against the Whitecaps on a pair of Giles Barnes first-half goals before finding themselves in a four-goal hole and eventually suffering a disastrous 4-1 loss in Vancouver.

After also crashing out of the CONCACAF Champions League last Wednesday when the Timbers played to a 1-1 draw against Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa, Porter, Wilkinson and their players face a long offseason to do some thinking. But just as they thought they were out of the spotlight, news emerged Tuesday morning that team captain Liam Ridgewell and goalkeeper Jake Gleeson were arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants.

Timbers' Ridgewell, Gleeson arrested on DUII charges

Both players were released on $7,500 bail, but the league will surely take a closer look into the incident. MLS requires that players arrested on such charges undergo an assessment by the league's Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program, with their eligibility suspended until the investigation is complete.

The offseason isn't off to the greatest start for a Timbers side that had such high hopes for the future.

But while they'll have to deal with the recent off-the-field issues, which were certainly out of Porter's control, the on-the-field issues need to be addressed, and be addressed quickly. The last thing Porter needs for his career is to fall into an even deeper hole following a magical 2015 season. He's proven that he can bounce back as a coach after coming up short in that 2012 Olympic bid, but time will tell if he's really the next great American coach.