University of North Carolina Athletics
#CarolinaChampions
October 24, 2017 | General
#CarolinaChampions: A Culture of Success
Read more here.by Pat James
When Jenny Levy became North Carolina's first women's lacrosse coach in October 1994, she was initially intimidated by her colleagues.
Levy's fellow coaches included Dean Smith, Sylvia Hatchell, Anson Dorrance, Dave Klarmann and Karen Shelton, and between their five programs (men's and women's basketball, women's soccer, men's lacrosse and field hockey), they boasted 22 national championships at the time.
"It was just such a rich tradition of success that I walked in thinking, 'These guys are going to be walking around with big egos,'" Levy said. "And it was to the contrary. Everybody was so hard-working, gritty, humble, passionate. I know those are cliche terms, but they are authentic to Carolina and define how we operate on a day-in and day-out basis."
And how they win. In her 23 years at Carolina, Levy has coached her team to two national titles (2013 and 2016), and watched her colleagues win quite a few, as well. In all, the Tar Heels currently boast nine coaches who have won national team championships at UNC: Joe Breschi, Dorrance, Hatchell, Brian Kalbas, Levy, Sam Paul, Shelton, Carlos Somoano and Roy Williams.
Find out how Carolina breeds a culture of #CarolinaChampions with this series of videos:
"Coming to Carolina is more than just playing lacrosse. As a person, as a student, and as an athlete you are pushed to be your very best self each day. Jenny creates a culture where the staff members and your teammates hold you accountable, driving success on and off the field. Jenny understands that to win championships the team needs more than just exceptional skill and athletic ability. Her intensity on the field is matched by her ability to connect with the team and create a family atmosphere. Being part of the lacrosse program means you will have continued support well after your four years come to an end."
- Kara Cannizzaro, 2013 NCAA champion & National Player of the Year
October 30 - Sam Paul (men's tennis)
November 1 - Brian Kalbas (women's tennis)
"My favorite moment of winning a championship with Brian is the way he looks at each and every one of his players. You can tell he is so grateful that all of his, and our, hard work had paid off. He just had pure happiness and pride on his face. One of my personal favorite moments with Brian after winning a championship with him and the team was our first national championship my freshman year when I had the luck to win the deciding match. There is a picture of us hugging. While hugs from Brian aren't "uncommon," it just symbolized the feeling of family among our Tar Heel family, with Brian being the reason why we all came together at the times we did, to achieve the things we did. In the end, the best feelings from winning a championship were the feelings of winning something for your coaches and teammates because of the culture Brian was able to create for us."
– Whitney Kay, 2013 Most Outstanding Player
November 3 - Roy Williams (men's basketball)
"X's and O's, obviously, he's one of the best. He gets his team to buy in. Everything that he always says is extremely important, those things turn out to be the things that the teams are best at. Coach always said this year that he's never seen a team that wasn't good at defense that has won. And we got better and better as the season went on. As the NCAA Tournament went on, we were at the best point of our game when it came to defense. Everything that coach always says, translates. I think that's huge. And he gets everybody to buy into that."
– Justin Jackson, 2017 consensus first-team All-America
November 6 - Anson Dorrance (women's soccer)
"Playing for Coach Dorrance was fantastic. He holds very high standards for you as a player, but most importantly demands that you do that for yourself as well. He is very direct and honest. He is also one of the best motivators out there; he could make you feel that you could take on the world if you wanted it bad enough. The lessons that you learn playing for Anson for four seasons carry with you well past your years playing at UNC and likely past playing soccer all together."
– Heather O'Reilly
November 9 - Sylvia Hatchell (women's basketball)
"My favorite moment winning a championship with coach Hatchell is when she said "OK we have :07 seconds left on the clock and we're down by two, but we're going for three to win it and not the tie!" Our eyes lit up when she said it. It was a gutsy call but it spoke volumes to me as a player. It said that she believed in us so much that she was willing to risk it all. We could tell that she believed it was going to work. Before we walked on the floor, she said, "And don't forget I promised that you could spray paint my hair blue if you win this game!" We laughed for a moment but when we walked out on the court with no more time-outs left, we knew we had to make it work. Needless to say it worked and we found great pleasure in passing around that can of paint!"
– Sylvia Crawley, 1994 NCAA Champion
November 10 - Karen Shelton (field hockey)
November 13 - Joe Breschi (men's lacrosse)
"In the quarterfinal game of the NCAA tournament, we imposed our will on Notre Dame and solidified our bid to the final four for the first time in Coach B's tenure. After the game, I am not sure I have ever seen coach B's spirit so emotionally charged and this evoked in us a sense of pride and accomplishment that carried us through championship weekend. Walking up the ramp to find him at the top, we shared an embrace that I will never forget. For his son Michael, for him, and those that believed in us, we were going back to championship weekend and we were going to take it by storm."
– Jake Matthai
November 15 - Carlos Somoano (men's soccer)
"Everything you see on the field – obviously, we're not robots – he shows us what to do, he tells us what to do and he allows us to be ourselves. They recruit great guys. You look at our team, there's so many good players. And I think what makes him such a good coach is he believes in us, he makes us believe in each other. It's a player-led team instead of a coach-lead team, and that's important to him and it's always been good and gotten results because of it."
– Cam Lindley
