Former USWNT Star Heather O'Reilly Joining UNC Women's Soccer Coaching Staff
Heather O'Reilly's professional soccer career is coming to an end this fall, but she has already set herself up with her next move.
On Thursday, North Carolina women's soccer head coach Anson Dorrance announced O'Reilly would be joining the staff as a volunteer assistant head coach for the 2019 season.
"Heather O'Reilly checks every box for us in an extraordinary way," Dorrance said in a statement. "First of all she is a Tar Heel legend; secondly she is U.S. full National and Olympic Team royalty; and then her professional team resume is also lights out and even her academic resume is in the top one percent."
O'Reilly, who won three Olympic gold medals and was on the 2015 USWNT World Cup champion team, was a star at UNC starting back in 2003 after she had already made her international debut. She helped the Tar Heels win two national titles (2003 and 2006) and three ACC titles while she was there.
"I am incredibly excited and proud to join the UNC women's soccer coaching staff," O'Reilly said in a statement. "Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina, and the UNC soccer program all mean a great deal to me. What Anson Dorrance and Bill Palladino built here for 40 years set the standard for greatness which we have seen impact at national and global levels for women's soccer."
O'Reilly is currently wrapping up her final season in the NWSL with the North Carolina Courage.