One of the most successful players in the history of the UNC women’s soccer program is coming home.

News broke Thursday afternoon that Heather O’Reilly–who won three Olympic gold medals and the 2015 FIFA World Cup with the U.S. National Team–is returning to UNC as a volunteer assistant coach.

O’Reilly’s arrival comes just a few short weeks after longtime assistant Bill Palladino made the decision to leave the program following 39 years as the right-hand man to head coach Anson Dorrance.

While a member of the Tar Heels, O’Reilly was the National Player of the Year in 2006 and won the first of her Olympic golds in 2004 while still an active collegiate player.

“I am incredibly excited and proud to join the UNC women’s soccer coaching staff,” O’Reilly said. “Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina, and the UNC soccer program all mean a great deal to me. What Anson Dorrance and Bill Palladino built here for 40 years set the standard for greatness which we have seen impact at national and global levels for women’s soccer.

“It is an honor to be able to learn from Anson, a coaching legend, and pass what I have learned from my long playing career at an elite level to a new generation of Tar Heels,” O’Reilly added.  “UNC remains the gold standard for women’s soccer in terms of competitiveness and player development and I am thrilled to be able to keep that tradition alive as I join the Carolina soccer family in this new capacity.”

 

 

 

Photo via Getty Images

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