Legendary UNC Coach Calls It A Career

Here's a name for you, Anson Dorrance. Scratching your head? I'll get to that in a second. I'm a huge sports fan. I'm sure lots of you are too. So when I ask you to name the most epically successful college coaches in history, who's on your list? Bear Bryant? Sure. Nick Saban? Of Course. You'd be hard pressed to match those two Alabama football coaches. How about basketball? John Wooden or Gino Auriemma or even Dean Smith? Sure. You can make an argument for all of these. Now, what if I tell you that Anson Dorrance has had a college coaching career whose success rate laughs at all of these? Chances are, your fist question is, "Who is Anson Dorrance?!"

Anson Dorrance is a 1974 graduate of the University of North Carolina. For the last 45 years he's been the Head Women's Soccer Coach. And he's the GOAT of GOATS. In those four and a half decades, he's won an astonishing 21 National Championships. And wait until I put that in perspective in a moment. Astonishingly iconic doesn't even scratch the surface of how to describe his career. And now, Anson Dorrance has made the call that it's time for him to step down. He told UNC Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham of his decision on Friday and informed his team over the weekend.

In a statement quoted by CBS 17, Dorrance explains, “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. 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. After last season I initially was excited about the chance to bolster our roster, which we most certainly have done, but as preseason training camp went on, I realized I didn’t have the same energy it takes to give 100% to this year’s team. The players and staff, the university, Carolina athletics and our great fans deserve more, and the respect I have for the amazing legacy the current and former players have built led me to make this decision at this time.”

We could be here all day. So, I'm just gonna give you the highlights. Let's start with his record. 934-88-53. In 1,075 games coached, he won 87% of them. Are you kidding me?! I already mentioned the national championships. Oh, and there's ONLY been 31 NCAA College Cup Tournaments. UNC is THE ONLY school who has been a part of every one of them. And won 80% of them. WHAT?! That...that's just stupid good. And you don't get that kind of record without great players. 59 former Tar Heels ended up playing for the U.S. women’s national team. Two of these players, Crystal Dunn and Emily Fox, were a part of the gold medal team in the recent Paris Olympic Games. Oh, and speaking of the USWNT? Dorrance was also the head coach of that team as well from 1986 until 1994, even winning the first-ever Women’s World Cup in China in 1991.

Well, we have made it folks. We have made it! College football is finally here and it is undisputably my favorite part of fall. There is nothing better, than the passion, the rivalries, and the gameday outfits. Turning on College GameDay on a Saturday morning (when it's an away game of course because you better believe I'm at every home game). The band, cheerleaders, and dance team are just some of what makes college football the best sport in my opinion.

ESPN compiled a list of all 133 FBS teams and ranked them in different tiers ahead of the season. But these aren't your typical 1-133 rankings. Because honestly, those preseasons mean nothing. It's the end of the season when I want my team to be ranked. So instead these range from tier 1 (yes, them again) to tier 20 (told you it could be worse). Other interesting tiers include "kinda, sorta, maybe" and "so hot right now".

There are 7 major North Carolina college football teams. Duke, NC State, Wake Forest, and UNC are all in the ACC.  Some with high expectations and others with basically zero expectations. Appalachian State is in the Sun Belt and East Carolina and Charlotte are both in the American Conference. There are some returning coaches and superstar players with high expectations amongst these teams. There are also teams with new coaches or who are starting over at key positions with a lot of unknowns.

So take a look at each of these major North Carolina college football teams and what ESPN thinks about their upcoming season. Each team is listed in alphabetical order (to take out my admitted bias). You can read the full tiers list of every Division 1 team via ESPN here.

Tier 11: They're frisky enough to pull a surprise. Joined by several other teams in their conference App makes the "they could be overlooked and win a game" class. And that is something the Mountaineers have been known to do. ESPN put 11 teams in this tier- Air Force, Army, Coastal Carolina, FAU, Fresno State, Georgia Southern, James Madison, Marshall, North Texas, Ohio, San Diego State, and Western Kentucky.

Tier 20: Told you it could be worse. ESPN doesn't have high hopes for this team that honestly I forgot was even D1. New coach Biff Poggi has created an interesting stir around Charlotte, but will he win on the field? Joining UNCC in this worst of the worst tier are Akron, FIU, Hawaii, Kent State, New Mexico State, Texas State, and UMASS.

Tier 6: Something good to watch before basketball season. Duke has been above average at some points in football, but they will always be a basketball school.

Tier 16: They probably won't be awful. I mean, I guess that's something to be proud of? Joining ECU in this category are Buffalo, Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, Miami (Ohio), Northern Illinois, Old Dominion, Tulsa, Utah STate, and Wyoming.

Tier 3B: Teams that should prevent a lot of points from being scored. This tier included 6 teams with anticipated impressive defenses- NC State, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Pitt.

Tier 3A: Teams that should score a bunch of points. In contrast, these 4 teams including UNC behind Drake Maye, are expected to have high-powered offenses. Other teams in this tier are Arkansas, Ole Miss, and TCU.

Tier 6: Something good to watch before basketball season. It will be interesting to see how Wake Forest fares without quarterback Sam Hartman. Unlike Duke who is also in this tier, I also don't think of Wake as a basketball school. But ESPN but them in this tier along with Duke, Kansas, Maryland, Syracuse, and UCLA.