University of North Carolina Athletics
Former Tar Heel All-America And Virginia Assistant Erin Neppel To Direct UNC Rowing
June 30, 2021 | Women's Rowing
CHAPEL HILL – Erin Neppel, one of the most decorated rowers in University of North Carolina history and an assistant coach for the three-time Atlantic Coast Conference champion Virginia Cavaliers, is the newest head coach of the Tar Heel rowing program.
Neppel becomes the third head coach in Carolina women's rowing history, joining Joel Furtek (1997-2002) and Sarah Haney (2002-2019). Emilie Gross and Thomas Revelle served as interim co-head coaches for the past two seasons.
"It's truly exciting when a head coaching candidate is someone who cherishes her experience as a Tar Heel student-athlete, has gone on to success in the coaching ranks in both the ACC and NCAA Championships, and has tremendous passion to come back and raise the level of our program, and Erin Neppel checks all of those boxes," says UNC Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham. "Erin was an All-America in the earliest days of our program and has played a key role in team successes and individual development at Virginia and Canisius. She shares our belief that Carolina Rowing has the potential to become a great program and artfully detailed her plan and enthusiasm to tap into that potential."
Neppel was a second-team All-America at Carolina in 2001 and earned All-ACC and all-region honors in 2000 and 2001. She is one of three All-Americas in UNC rowing history and one of three Tar Heel rowers to earn All-ACC honors in multiple seasons.
"This is completely surreal," says Neppel. "I'm unbelievably grateful as this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Coming back to Carolina Rowing as the head coach is the most exciting challenge in my career so far. It really feels like I am coming home, and I can't wait to get going."
Neppel comes to Carolina from Virginia, where she helped lead the Cavaliers to ACC titles in 2018, 2019 and 2021 (no championship was contested in 2020 due to the pandemic). The Wahoos swept all five Grand Finals in 2021, rowing to first-place finishes in the Varsity 8, 2nd Varsity 8, 3rd Varsity 8, Varsity 4 and 2nd Varsity 4 races.
Virginia placed fifth, 10th and fifth in the 2018, 2019 and 2021 NCAA Championships and finished fourth in 2018 in the prestigious Head of the Charles regatta in Cambridge, Mass., behind Stanford, Yale and Princeton.
"It's difficult to express everything I learned at Virginia and how much love and gratitude I have for my experience there," says Neppel. "I have worked with some of the best coaches and athletes in the country. I am fortunate to take with me a blueprint for one of the strongest cultures and coaching philosophies in collegiate rowing today. (Head coach) Kevin Sauer's formula has resulted in an insane longevity that speak volumes about relationships, expectations, 'life stuff' and eve things that have nothing to do with rowing but are so important.
"It also made me hungry. Hungry to be better, to keep improving every day, to do the little things all the time. That was huge for us at UVA and I will certainly bring that with me to North Carolina. I also like winning and helping boats go fast. The system at Virginia taught me a ton about what that takes and what it looks like, and I'm excited to share that with our team at Carolina."
Neppel was heavily involved in recruiting for the Cavaliers, signing 50 rowers in the last three seasons, and managed the novice rowing program.
Prior to her four seasons in Charlottesville, Neppel coached at Canisius in Buffalo, N.Y., where she worked with Furtek as an assistant coach for two seasons and served as the interim head coach in 2016-17. In 2016, she was named Region 2 Assistant Coach of the Year. Her Varsity 4 was Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion in 2015 and the Varsity 8 was second in the MAAC in 2016. In 2017, Neppel led the Griffs to a third-place finish at the MACC Championship, which matched the program's best conference finish.
Neppel (pronounced nuh-PELL) also has coached at UCF and the West Side Rowing Club in Buffalo. While at West Side, Neppel coached the U.S. Senior Development Camp.
She was captain and Most Valuable Rower of the UNC rowing team, where she was the stroke of the Varsity 8, which was ranked in the top 15 in the nation and was invited to train with the U.S. National Team at the Chula Vista (Calif.) Training Center. Carolina was ranked in the top 20 during her career.
"My undergraduate career at Carolina were the most formative four years of my life," says Neppel. "I remember being so proud to represent UNC as a student-athlete. I was proud of the work we were doing and how unbelievably hard it was, and I was proud to challenge teams who weren't expecting us to be competitive. I remember the awesome times with my teammates. We lived together, trained together and experienced Carolina Rowing together. We have stayed incredibly close over the years."
Neppel was a Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete honoree and earned her degree in exercise and sports science at Carolina in 2001 and her master's in sports administration at Canisius in 2016.
Neppel becomes the third head coach in Carolina women's rowing history, joining Joel Furtek (1997-2002) and Sarah Haney (2002-2019). Emilie Gross and Thomas Revelle served as interim co-head coaches for the past two seasons.
"It's truly exciting when a head coaching candidate is someone who cherishes her experience as a Tar Heel student-athlete, has gone on to success in the coaching ranks in both the ACC and NCAA Championships, and has tremendous passion to come back and raise the level of our program, and Erin Neppel checks all of those boxes," says UNC Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham. "Erin was an All-America in the earliest days of our program and has played a key role in team successes and individual development at Virginia and Canisius. She shares our belief that Carolina Rowing has the potential to become a great program and artfully detailed her plan and enthusiasm to tap into that potential."
Neppel was a second-team All-America at Carolina in 2001 and earned All-ACC and all-region honors in 2000 and 2001. She is one of three All-Americas in UNC rowing history and one of three Tar Heel rowers to earn All-ACC honors in multiple seasons.
"This is completely surreal," says Neppel. "I'm unbelievably grateful as this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Coming back to Carolina Rowing as the head coach is the most exciting challenge in my career so far. It really feels like I am coming home, and I can't wait to get going."
Neppel comes to Carolina from Virginia, where she helped lead the Cavaliers to ACC titles in 2018, 2019 and 2021 (no championship was contested in 2020 due to the pandemic). The Wahoos swept all five Grand Finals in 2021, rowing to first-place finishes in the Varsity 8, 2nd Varsity 8, 3rd Varsity 8, Varsity 4 and 2nd Varsity 4 races.
Virginia placed fifth, 10th and fifth in the 2018, 2019 and 2021 NCAA Championships and finished fourth in 2018 in the prestigious Head of the Charles regatta in Cambridge, Mass., behind Stanford, Yale and Princeton.
"It's difficult to express everything I learned at Virginia and how much love and gratitude I have for my experience there," says Neppel. "I have worked with some of the best coaches and athletes in the country. I am fortunate to take with me a blueprint for one of the strongest cultures and coaching philosophies in collegiate rowing today. (Head coach) Kevin Sauer's formula has resulted in an insane longevity that speak volumes about relationships, expectations, 'life stuff' and eve things that have nothing to do with rowing but are so important.
"It also made me hungry. Hungry to be better, to keep improving every day, to do the little things all the time. That was huge for us at UVA and I will certainly bring that with me to North Carolina. I also like winning and helping boats go fast. The system at Virginia taught me a ton about what that takes and what it looks like, and I'm excited to share that with our team at Carolina."
Neppel was heavily involved in recruiting for the Cavaliers, signing 50 rowers in the last three seasons, and managed the novice rowing program.
Prior to her four seasons in Charlottesville, Neppel coached at Canisius in Buffalo, N.Y., where she worked with Furtek as an assistant coach for two seasons and served as the interim head coach in 2016-17. In 2016, she was named Region 2 Assistant Coach of the Year. Her Varsity 4 was Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion in 2015 and the Varsity 8 was second in the MAAC in 2016. In 2017, Neppel led the Griffs to a third-place finish at the MACC Championship, which matched the program's best conference finish.
Neppel (pronounced nuh-PELL) also has coached at UCF and the West Side Rowing Club in Buffalo. While at West Side, Neppel coached the U.S. Senior Development Camp.
She was captain and Most Valuable Rower of the UNC rowing team, where she was the stroke of the Varsity 8, which was ranked in the top 15 in the nation and was invited to train with the U.S. National Team at the Chula Vista (Calif.) Training Center. Carolina was ranked in the top 20 during her career.
"My undergraduate career at Carolina were the most formative four years of my life," says Neppel. "I remember being so proud to represent UNC as a student-athlete. I was proud of the work we were doing and how unbelievably hard it was, and I was proud to challenge teams who weren't expecting us to be competitive. I remember the awesome times with my teammates. We lived together, trained together and experienced Carolina Rowing together. We have stayed incredibly close over the years."
Neppel was a Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete honoree and earned her degree in exercise and sports science at Carolina in 2001 and her master's in sports administration at Canisius in 2016.
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