He is a champion, and we are pleased that we will continue to be able to cheer his teams to more championships in the years to come.The history of women’s soccer at North Carolina has all come under the guidance of one person, Anson Dorrance. “He is a teacher and mentor who has long been committed to excellence, innovation and to creating the next generation of leaders in and outside of sports. “Anson Dorrance is a legendary leader not only of our women’s soccer program, but also within our Department and University,” UNC athletics director Bubba Cunningham said in a release Monday. It’s feasible, of course, and maybe Dorrance wants an even 50 years running the program, but this feels like something of a natural wind down for the Hall of Famer. Still, this extension will carry Dorrance through his age-77 season, and it’s hard to imagine anyone - even someone as wholly dedicated and absorbed as Dorrance is - coaching past then. Having lost in overtime of last season’s national title shows that the Tar Heels are definitely still relevant and contending, but parity across the sport has led to less dominance of late than earlier in Dorrance’s tenure. Dorrance isn’t just the best women’s coach in program or NCAA history he’s the only coach UNC women’s soccer has ever had, dating back to his helping found the program in the 1980s.īut at 72 years old and with some semblance of slippage in recent seasons - the program hasn’t won the national championship since 2012, easily the longest “dry spell” of Dorrance’s tenure - it’s only natural to wonder if Dorrance was getting closer to calling it a career. Marks What Dorrance’s extension means for Tar Heelsĭorrance’s extension comes at a similar time as several other UNC coaches - all of whom signed like-structured deals from athletic director Bubba Cunningham - but his is especially interesting. It’s a simply and utterly unreal stretch of sustained success. In total? Dorrance has won more games (921) than any other coach in women’s college soccer history, and it’s not like those stats are frontloaded, either the Tar Heels won a share of their 25th regular-season ACC title last year, in addition to making the conference and national championship games. All the 72-year-old has done is turn North Carolina into the gold standard for women’s college soccer success, to the tune of 22 national championships - including one before the founding of the NCAA, for further context on his longevity - and 19 different stars winning National Player of the Year honors, including legends like Mia Hamm and Cindy Parlow. To stick around at a place for 44 seasons (and counting), you have to be doing something right, or really, multiple somethings. The Athletic’s instant analysis: Just how good a coach is Dorrance? UNC went 20-5-1 last season and fell to UCLA in overtime in the national title game. women’s national team to a World Cup title in 1991.
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