We'll chalk this up to you not being a UNC fan, but nothing could be farther from the truth. UNC fans know that in the years before Damon Nahas arrived the UNC program was struggling immensely from tactical perspective. Strategically doing just fine because Anson is still the greatest strategic coach in the country, but struggling intensley with the progression of the modern tactical game. Damon Nahas changed that. He took a team that was struggling to make the College Cup over the course of 4 or 5 years and transformed them into a more possessive and tactical minded team. The stereotype of Anson Ball persisted to those outside the UNC sphere, but those within it saw the improvement. The Nahas fingerprints are all over this team in a way that allowed them to make multiple College Cup and National Championship games in a way that pre-Nahas UNC simply would not have been able to. People kept asking when UNC was going to change, when they were going to move away from Anson Dorrance, when are they going to transition to more modern football? They kept asking that question for years without realizing that they already had, and it's obvious why.
Anson has made a painful but good decision. His contract was not up for some years yet, and he has said many times that he wanted to continue coaching as long as he 'can't wait' to get up in the morning and get at it. I think that that there are several factors that have pushed him to decide not to continue. Aging is a real thing... For example, for many older folks, remembering names of things (people and objects) slowly sets in as time goes by (and I am certainly a great example in that for the last decade or so I have embarrassed myself many times) and it struck me that a complaint of a departing player was that in an encounter with Anson he couldn't remember her name. In the past, Anson has had exquisite access to vocabulary when speaking to audiences, responding to reporters, and certainly could name his players -present and long past. But maybe not now? It also occurs to me that for the last several years handing off to Damon to do much of the practice planning and game decisions could be a sign that Anson realized that the time for his retirement was nearing. And I would not be surprised to think that the implosion of the last 10 minutes of the 4th round of the NCAA tournament last year is also at play as he took full responsibility for that loss, and that may be weighing on him more than we outside viewers know. Another known fact is that Anson is not happy with the addition of Cal and Stanford into the ACC (and he is in good company with that issue.) And who knows what other factors may be pushing him to bow out. On the other side, as several posts above (not affiliated with UNC) have noted, Anson has left an incredible legacy of building women's soccer. Promoting women's soccer (college, professional, and international), pressing NCAA for including women's soccer, supporting professional leagues, and encouraging and making contacts internationally to get his players to play pro after graduation if the wished. Of note, Anson took on two coaching jobs for 18 years; 10 years of simultaneously being the head coach for the UNC men's and women's teams and then dropping the men's coach responsibilities so as to be the head coach for the US Women's team for 8 years (winning the first FIFA Women's World Cup in 1991.) In addition he has published books on coaching champions, and has been a speaker at many venues offering coaching information typically using his own early failures and misunderstandings of the difference of coaching women versus men.)
Just listened to the press conference & interview with Nahas. Just kind of got a feeling from listening that the job is his if he doesn’t screw up this season too badly. Also wonder if the retirement was contemplated at season end, and finally decided upon this week. Either way I think people shouldn’t forget how instrumental Nahas has been in recruiting. If the perfect storm didn’t occur, we’d be having Fuller, Hutton, Adames, and other suiting up right now.
Regardless of opinions on how the coaches influence the style of play it’s UNC- they will always possess one of the top 5 rosters in the nation so regardless of style they will always be a powerhouse.
Not necessarily, but my estimate is it takes about 7 years for the "good will" of a master coach to wear off -- maybe even more in Dorrance's case. But eventually, the luster is gone and the school is competing just like any other. Which means that we won't really know how good Nahas is for a long time. Also, credit to Dorrance for planning his succession.
Does anybody know who the new coach is they brought on this year? Anson mentioned them briefly in press confrence but they've not updated the coaches roster or mentioned the new hire in any of the recent articles that I can see.
Her name is Tracey Bates Leon. Played for Dorrance at UNC and USWNT. We know Cunningham wanted a woman on staff so we are assuming she checks the box of alum and female and that allows Nahas to get the head position. He is beloved by players and parents and I know behind the scenes current parents are rallying and players are making a hard push.
I watched the presser. Loads of respect for Dorrance--as everybody has. It's interesting that he has this old-school Gentleman Coach personality and background--educated, articulate, gracious, wears a tie, etc.--but at the same time, as he pointed out today, he's ultra-competitive, wants to win, aims to recruit the best players and thoroughly enjoys beating opponents "to death," a phrase he used multiple times today. It was interesting to hear him say that he'd competed with Stanford 46 times to land top prospects--he knew the exact number--and only won 6 of those recruiting battles. If that's true, than he won at least 80 percent of his recruiting battles with everybody else for blue-chips. The most telling comment might have been in the Q/A period when someone asked him about his decision to retire. He mentioned that the UNC Athletic Director, Cunningham, said to him, "Anson, you've got to protect your legacy." There is only one way to interpret that comment, when it comes from the AD---and it's not, "I hope you stay on for another 5 years and win another couple of national titles." It is the unspoken suggestion. Dorrance had the class to know when it was time, unlike, say, Joe Paterno, who took advantage of Penn State's decision not to push him out and coached /at least/ a decade, if not longer, than he should have. He simply refused to retire--and it ended badly for him, on and off the field. It's too bad that Dorrance couldn't go out on top. I'm not a UNC follower, but, damn, Dorrance and the Heels have had a lot of tough losses in recent years. Haven't they been to the Final Four 5 times in the last decade or somesuch? He lost at least twice to FSU in the College Cup in Krikorian's final years--at least once in the championship match--then had that brutal title-game loss to UCLA two years and then blew a 3-0 lead against BYU last year. Those all had to sting, big-time. Had UNC won a national title in the last, say, four years, he might have chosen then to step down. When a legendary coach makes it known whom he wants to succeed him, it makes it very hard for the AD to do anything but comply with the suggestion, no? Coach K got his wish when Duke hired the assistant he recommended for the BB head job, and Dean Smith wanted his longtime assistant, Guthridge, to take over from him---though I think there was an understanding that Guthridge, whom I think was in his 60s when he got the top BB job at UNC, would only coach for a few years, and that's what he did. Nahas is not going to find it easy, to say the least, what with FSU now the big dog in the conference and the ACC tougher than ever with the addition of Stanford. But then I said the same thing about Pensky taking over for Krikorian--impossible job!--and he's actually taken the 'noles to an even higher level. We never know.
Very good points. From what I can gather, and have heard, coach Nahas is not suited to lead one of the top programs in the country. We can look back to the rationale why he was brought into the program in the first place
As we saw from the Tenn hire, what the players and parents think is not a good indicator of future success. Before DH there were 22 National Championships. Since him... 0. I am not sure what this "modern soccer" approach is supposed to be producing but isn't making it better at the very least. As was pointed out, I am not a UNC fan and definitely not a UNC insider. Anson is talking about. "beating teams to death" and now that DH is part of it, they get more defensive when they are up (BYU match.) I get the sense that if DH was hired, the rest of the ACC would be just fine with that. As opposed to BP who has somehow continued the incredible pathway that MK started. If I was UNC, I would want to hire someone that would make BP and the rest of the ACC say "Crap." And they could if they really wanted to. In the last 6 months there was a mass exodus, articles about environment, and so on ... I do not know nor have anything against Coach DH. What would be the reasons that he is the next coach?
I am going to be very honest with you from the start and let you know that I know not much at all about soccer. I only started following it when my niece started playing for the YNT and now unc. So maybe I am biased, but I do know that Emma Hayes wanted Nahas for this cycle and he turned it down as he didn’t want to leave the team. My sister overheard another parent saying Nahas was offered the San Diego professional team job and had no interest in that. Jill Ellis is the head of that organization and she is the one who went after Nahas. I don’t know much about soccer but they do. My niece told us the other night that half the uswnt was calling him before the game for thoughts. Apparently he coached most of those women back in the youth cycle and still reach out to him for his thoughts. I am not saying he is the best coach in the country bc I don’t know, but I do know he is highly highly respected amount the female players in this country. He keeps a low profile which is maybe why he goes under the radar. I am fully in support of a nationwide search (even international) bc I want the best of the best and if it’s isn’t Nahas that’s ok with me as long as they bring in who they think is better.
That is a really interesting post so thank you for that. All I am going on is an outside the window view of a program that changed and not necessarily for the better. Maybe the transition takes a while? He has been there for 9 years. Being the likable assistant and being the head coach are not the same thing. Referencing Tenn again. There was much made about a video and how happy the players were that the asst got the job. Fast fwd to the end of the season when their best players transferred to FSU. There seemed to be a mentality change that went with "modernizing" the game that ended in good not great. I am not inside of the program and do not even have any semi insider info from families of kids playing there like you do. Just outside observations. The women's game is better when UNC is at the top.
I would very much like to know what you heard, and from who, that makes you think Nahas isn't suited to lead a top program... because everything I've heard from Anson, from the players, from player parents, from other long term fans, and with my daggum eyeballs ... it all tells me he's very well suited to be a top tier coach. and one of the things I've not seen mentioned yet is Sean Nahas. He has in his brother a coach that many people think, albeit as a long shot, could be the next USWNT coach. Do not underestimate the value of that insight, and the value of the perception others have of that insight.
I have to say for pure drama and intrigue, the Krikorian idea is delicious. It would be a massively bold stroke by Cunningham--and afford Krikorian the chance to stick it to the FSU AD whom he apparently loathes. But it won't happen. I can't imagine Dorrance being happy if anyone other than Nahas is hired--and it were Krikorian, his old rival, he'd probably be well and truly pissed. And I'm sure Cunningham doesn't want to poison the water with the legendary coach who's beloved by in Chapel Hill. Beyond that, Krikorian is, at age 64 years old, a graybeard himself. Would he want to get back in the grind? Cunningham was wise if he said to Dorrance, Nahas is the interim coach. If he has a good season, we'll certainly consider him for the head job, and if not, we'll probably go in a different direction and hire an experienced head coach. He will probably get interest from some successful coaches, I would think.
This is so unbelievably disingenuous to the context of the post that it immediately disqualifies your opinion for me. Ignored.
These players stood out to me in the Dorrance era. Higgins, Heinrichs, Venturini, Hamm, Lilly, Tarpley, Reddick, Chalupny, Wilson, Roberts, Fair, Fettig, Overbeck, Averbuch, Nogueria, Heath, O'Reilly, Dunn, Hegstad, Geubuer, Schwoy, Remy, Confer, Klingenberg, Egan, Bates, Henry, Parlow, Ramsey, Tower, Kelly, Keller, Rayfield, Borgman, Stoecker, Kluegel, White, Florance, Bush, Brooks, Geubuer, Engen, McDermott, Dunlap, Machin, Pickering, Cobb, Hamilton, Mullinix, Karvelsson.
Tracey Leone is a great coach in her own right (and was a great player too) , she was crushing it at Northeastern and left for family reasons, but never stopped coaching. Glad to see her back at UNC.
What a dinner time conversation that must have been - "you dragged all of us to your dream job (at UMD) and couldn't get it done, now it's my turn...."
I guess I'm still confused on the coaching situation. Nahas is the interim but who is his direct assistant, Leone? Also, who is the goalkeeper coach, Ducar? I can't help but wonder how much scrambling is being done with the retirement.
Ducar was working with keepers this summer. But IDK if “Keeper Coach” was added to his official list of responsibilities.
Babs ... As far as I can see, it's pretty straight forward. Anson is retired (as a coach), Nahas is the interim head coach, Ducar will continue as the keeper coach, and Leon as an assistant coach. There is a slot for another assistant coach and I suspect that Nahas will be looking for one soon enough. I must say, the three of Nahas, Leone, and Ducar is a very experienced and successful trio and as far as I can see they should compose one of the very top coaching groups in college soccer. (Their bios are all impressive.) And as for Anson, I just can't see him staying at home watching TV. I'm looking forward to see where he lands with regard to women's soccer.
I'm going to save any thoughts for after a night of sleep, but I will say that that performance was quite a diversion from what we saw in exhibition. Nahas can't be happy with his group after that. A lot of execution issues.