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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Anson Dorrance, whose 21 NCAA championships are the most by a head coach in any Division I sport in college history, is retiring after 45 seasons directing the women’s soccer program at North Carolina.
The Tar Heels said Dorrance informed athletic director Bubba Cunningham of his plans Friday and told the team Sunday, four days before its season opener at Denver.
Dorrance also overlapped as both the men’s and women’s coach early in his career, but his greatest success was with the women.
Associate head coach Damon Nahas will serve as interim women’s coach this season. Cunningham plans to conduct a search for a new coach.
“As many of you know I modeled our program after Dean Smith’s basketball program, and retiring at this time is a credit to his thinking, as well,” Dorrance said in a statement. “He would re-evaluate his tenure, not after the season, but after he had time to re-charge his batteries prior to the next season. When he didn’t, he retired.”
Dorrance said he was excited heading into the season, but came to the conclusion he did not have the energy to give 100% to the job.
Dorrance, 73, is one of the most successful coaches in college athletics.
The Tar Heels’ first and only women’s soccer head coach, Dorrance led UNC to a 934-88-53 record over 45 seasons (1979-2023). He also was men’s coach from 1977 to ’88, winning 172 games and guiding UNC to an ACC title and NCAA Final Four berth in 1987.
“Anson is an all-time soccer, coaching and Tar Heel legend,” Cunningham said. “The numbers and accomplishments are staggering and will be hard for any coach or program to replicate or exceed. His impact on the development and growth of women’s sports across the country and around the world has been profound.”
North Carolina women’s soccer has won 22 national championships (AIAW in 1981 and 21 NCAA titles), and played in six other national championship games.
The 934 wins, 21 NCAA titles and 147 NCAA tournament wins are all the most in women’s soccer history. The Tar Heels enter the 2024 season having been ranked 513 consecutive weeks.
“It is no exaggeration to say Anson Dorrance is one of the greatest collegiate coaches of all time, in any sport,” UNC chancellor Lee Roberts said. “He has trained many of the best players in the history of U.S. women’s soccer and has led our program through decades of unparalleled success.”
Dorrance’s career was blemished when former Tar Heels players Melissa Jennings and Debbie Keller, a national player of the year, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit in August 1998. They claimed Dorrance created an uncomfortable environment by asking players about their sexual activity.
Dorrance denied harassing his players, but in an apology letter sent he acknowledged participating in banter of a “jesting or teasing nature” with groups of players. The case was eventually settled in 2008.
A seven-time national coach of the year, Dorrance is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. He is the career Division I leader for NCAA championships by a coach in any sport. Al Scates (UCLA men’s volleyball) and John McDonnell (Arkansas men’s indoor track and field) are tied for second with 19.
North Carolina women’s soccer has won more NCAA championships than any other women’s team. Stanford women’s tennis is second with 20. UNC’s 21 NCAA championships are tied for the fifth most by any program in Division I history.
Dorrance led the Tar Heels to five perfect seasons (unbeaten and untied) and six other seasons with no losses and three or fewer ties. He coached 19 players who won national player of the year awards, including three-time honoree Cindy Parlow (Cone), the current president of U.S. Soccer, and Mia Hamm, who was named the ACC’s Greatest Female Athlete in the league’s first 50 years.
Dorrance was the head coach of the U.S. national team from 1986 to ’94, leading it to the title in the inaugural Women’s World Cup in China in 1991.