As UNC women’s soccer head coach Anson Dorrance looked out upon the sea of assembled family and friends at his retirement press conference on Monday afternoon, he began his remarks with this:
“I am a proud son,” he said, “of the University of North Carolina.”
Indeed, Dorrance has defined what it means to be a Tar Heel for more than half a century. A 1974 graduate of UNC, Dorrance went on to coach the women’s soccer program for 45 seasons. In 22 of those seasons – nearly half! – his Tar Heels won the national championship. Six more seasons saw them reach the championship game but lose, while four more saw Carolina reach the national semifinals before falling. In 42 seasons the NCAA Women’s College Cup has been contested, the Tar Heels appeared in it 31 times.
In those 45 seasons, Dorrance’s teams were renowned for their competitive fire and willingness to thrash opponents beyond what was deemed “sporting.” Make no mistake about it: that comes from the top.
“I believed in beating everyone to death by the maximum score possible,” Dorrance said.
That experience started in the “Rainbow League,” a recreational soccer league in Chapel Hill’s Glen Lennox neighborhood, where Dorrance got his coaching start. This league didn’t keep score and was ostensibly maintained for the love of the beautiful game.
Dorrance saw an opportunity to dominate. He recruited talented basketball players to anchor his attack, midfield and defense, building an athletic machine with the express purpose of breaking his opponents’ will.
“I had a wonderful exposure to the hypocrisy of teams that feel like winning isn’t the important thing,” he said.
The ending was predictable: “I was excoriated in this league,” Dorrance said.
His very next coaching opportunity came with UNC, giving him an all-time step up on his résumé (Dorrance quipped that in coaching clinics, he challenged his peers to try a similar move). The rest was history.
“The sport has been shaped by Dorrance’s direction and coaching,” said UNC chancellor Lee Roberts in his remarks, “inspiring generations to come and countless athletes along the way. Carolina as a university and women’s soccer as a sport are better for Coach Dorrance’s time here.”
Take the well-known campus figures present at Dorrance’s farewell: women’s lacrosse head coach and three-time national champion Jenny Levy, baseball head coach Scott Forbes, volleyball head coach Mike Schall and Voice of the Tar Heels Jones Angell. Roberts took a chunk out of his undoubtedly busy schedule to talk for five minutes and then listen to Dorrance for 45.
“We could not be more proud or lucky to have you leading the University of North Carolina women’s soccer program,” athletic director Bubba Cunningham told Dorrance.
UNC chancellor Lee Roberts (left) and athletic director Bubba Cunningham (middle) applaud retiring UNC women’s soccer head coach Anson Dorrance.
Dorrance gave special thanks to Cunningham, along with previous athletic directors John Swofford and Dick Baddour. Dorrance took special care to remember a story in which the newly hired Cunningham came to his office to “negotiate” a contract.
“What do you want to get paid?” Cunningham asked the head coach.
Dorrance thought, and then threw out a number (he politely declined to specify what the number actually was).
Immediately, Cunningham responded: “That’s not enough.”
“It was the best!” Dorrance remembered. “M’Liss [Dorrance’s wife] was able to finally retire!”
Now, Cunningham is tasked with doing something which has literally never been done in the history of the University of North Carolina: finding its next women’s soccer head coach. Dorrance is the only person who has ever had the job.
In the interim, assistant Damon Nahas will fill in for Dorrance this season, before a national search is conducted. Nahas appeared emotional during Dorrance’s remarks, particularly when the retiring coach singled him out and he was showered with applause from the current players in attendance.
“For me, to honor him is to keep the core values the way he has it,” Nahas said of Dorrance. “We always talk about a fusing of our ideas and our energies. And my responsibility is to carry that on.”
But no matter how much Nahas is an extension of his mentor, or who ends up taking the permanent job in Chapel Hill, there will never be another Anson Dorrance. His name adorns UNC’s state-of-the-art soccer and lacrosse facility for a reason. His dominance was so absurd as to seem unreal, like something out of a video game: nine straight NCAA titles between 1986 and 1994, multiple 100-match unbeaten streaks and a list of alumnae which includes 19 National Players of the Year.
To try and match that in today’s world? Simply folly.
And yet Dorrance, a self-proclaimed introvert, didn’t seem overwhelmed by the breadth of his accomplishments.
“I never knew what was gonna happen with this women’s team,” he said. “I just caught a bolt of lightning at the right time.”
Suddenly, Dorrance is faced with a new reality: a life away from the game. The man who claimed to have never taken a vacation of more than seven days before this summer – and who once stated that he’d die on the pitch rather than retire – has some time on his hands. What’s next for the 22-time champion?
“What do you do when your life exceeds your dreams?” he wondered aloud, quoting the 1987 film Broadcast News. “I guess, now, I’m gonna find out.”
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Anthony Sorbellini
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