Anson Dorrance’s greatness by the numbers

By R.L. Bynum

Anson Dorrance, who announced his retirement Sunday, brought so many intangibles to UNC and the women’s soccer program that are difficult to quantify. He built the program from scratch and turned it into the most impressive dynasty in college sports history. From what you can quantify, here’s a look at the greatness by the numbers of Dorrance, who retired on Sunday:
934
Career victories as women’s coach (the most in NCAA women’s soccer history)
600
Consecutive matches from 1986 to 2010 when UNC won, tied or lost by only one goal.
513
Consecutive weeks that UNC women’s soccer has been ranked
147
NCAA tournament wins
103
Unbeaten streak for Dorrance’s teams (97–0–6) from 1986 to 1990 (he had a 101-match unbeaten streak from 1990 to 1994 when his teams went 99–0–2)
102
First team All-Americans
59
Dorrance players who have played for the U.S. women’s national team, including Crystal Dunn and Emily Fox on the Paris gold-medal team
45
Seasons as head coach
31
College Cups (the most in NCAA history)
29
First-round draft picks
28
Dorrance’s age when he started the women’s program
22
National championships — 21 NCAA titles (the most in NCAA history in any sport: 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2012) and the 1981 AIAW title.
22
ACC titles
19
National players of the year
11
Players on the 2023 team who signed first-division professional contracts
10
ACC Coach of Year honors (1982, 1986, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2018 and 2019)
9
Undefeated seasons (23–0–0 in 1981, 24–0–1 in 1986, 23–0–1 in 1987, 24–0–1 in 1989, 24–0–0 in 1991, 25–0–0 in 1992, 23–0–0 in 1993, 27–0–1 in 1997 and 27–0–0 in 2003)
7
National Coach of Year honors (1982, 1986, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2006)
6th
Beckett Entertainment named the 1982–2000 Tar Heels the sixth-most successful sports dynasty of the 20th century, trailing only the 1957–69 Boston Celtics, 1947–62 New York Yankees, 1963–75 UCLA men’s basketball, 1991–98 Chicago Bulls and the 1953–60 Montreal Canadians.
5
Perfect seasons (unbeaten and untied: 1981, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 2003)
4
Halls of Fame in which he is a member: National Soccer Hall of Fame (2008), United Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame (2018), North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame (2005) and North Carolina Soccer Hall of Fame (2002)
3
All-ACC honors as a UNC player from 1971 to 1973