2003 Men's Soccer Roster
Grant Porter
- Position:
- Midfield/Defend
- Height:
- 5-11
- Weight:
- 165
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Charlotte, N.C.
- High School:
- Providence Day
Porter assists in all aspects of the program from handling travel plans to recruiting. Carolina has routinely brought in top-10 recruiting classes in recent years: No. 3 in 2012, No. 4 in 2013, No. 7 in 2015, No. 1 in 2016, and most recently the 2017 group was ranked No. 2 in the nation.
He played alongside 16 MLS draft picks as a player, and has helped guide 19 players into professional soccer since becoming a Tar Heel assistant coach in 2011.
Porter’s 10 years with the Carolina program is likely unmatched by any other former player turned coach in Tar Heel history. His resume includes the aforementioned two national titles in 2001 and 2011, and a perfect 10 appearances in the NCAA Championship.
Porter has been a member of four Atlantic Coast Conference regular season championship clubs, and two ACC Championship title teams.
Additionally, his 10 seasons donning Carolina blue has seen his clubs notch an overall record of 158-40-25, a winning percentage of .765. That figure includes a 68-18-5 record as a player and a 90-22-20 mark as an assistant coach.
Porter rejoined Carolina in 2011 with eight years of coaching experience under his belt since graduating from UNC. Porter was the Director of Soccer for the Charlotte United Futbol Club in Charlotte, N.C., from 2006-2010. During that time he was also the head soccer coach at Charlotte Country Day School during the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
While at Charlotte Country Day, Porter helped groom an all-state selection, a pair of all-region honorees and six all-conference award winners.
Porter was an assistant coach at UC Santa Barbara in 2005 where he helped lead the Gauchos to an NCAA Championship appearance and a top-25 final national ranking. Eight players on that roster went on to Major League Soccer.
He began his coaching career at Georgia State University where he was the head assistant coach for two seasons. Porter helped lead the Panthers to a winning record and a trip to the Atlantic Sun Tournament semifinals. Porter earned a master's degree in sport administration from GSU.
Porter was a four-year starter during his time in Chapel Hill from 2000-03. He was credited with the game-winning assist in the 2001 national championship game, and was awarded the UNC Nicholas Douglass Potter Coaches' Award in 2001.
Porter would later go on to become the team captain in his senior year of 2003. The run from 2000-03 ranks as one of the best four-year spans in school history. The Tar Heels won 21 matches in back-to-back seasons, and were crowned both 2000 ACC Championship and 2001 NCAA national champs.
Porter, who works with US Soccer as a regional scout for youth national teams, holds a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina in economics.
