UNC soccer coaching legend announces retirement

Thank you, Anson Dorrance, for all you did for the UNC and the game of soccer.

The North Carolina Tar Heels family sees a legend of the game walk away today as Anson Dorrance, the head coach of the women’s soccer program, announced his retirement from coaching.

Over the past 47 seasons at UNC, Dorrance has set the standard in all of collegiate soccer. Players wanted to play for him, coaches wanted to be him, and soccer longed for him.

In almost five decades, the gold standard coach has won 22 national championships including a period of winning nine-straight NCAA National Championships from 1986 to 1994.

Overall in his career, he has 1,106 wins with only 152 losses. He averaged 3.23 losses per season for almost 50 years. He also had 75 ties.

He was a seven-time national coach of the year, a twelve-time ACC coach of the year, and a member of the UNC Sports Hall of Fame, UNC Soccer Hall of Fame, National Soccer Hall of Fame, and US Coaching Hall of Fame.

Anson Dorrance also helped the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) win a Women’s World Cup in 1991. He will go down in history as the most decorated head coach in women’s coaching history, not only at the collegiate level but also among all.

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