Bill Palladino Position: Assistant Coach

It can be argued that the University of North Carolina possesses the best women's collegiate soccer coach in the country. Perhaps even more amazing, though, is that Carolina can legitimately claim that it has the second best coach in the nation as well in long-time Tar Heel chief assistant head coach Bill Palladino.

Palladino is a man who decades ago could easily have left UNC and secured his choice of some of the best head coaching opportunities in the women's ranks.

But in 2007 he returns for his 28th year as head coach Anson Dorrance's right hand man, demonstrating the tremendous loyalty he has to the program he helped create at UNC, his alma mater. Palladino's success in coaching outstanding defenses has been a key element in leading Tar Heel teams to 18 Atlantic Coast Conference championships and 19 national collegiate titles since he joined the staff in 1979.

The defenses he has coached at Carolina have allowed only 316 goals in the 675 games the Tar Heels have played in their history. Carolina's defense was a huge part of the success of the 2006 team which outscored its opponents 81-13 en route to winning another national championship. Three Tar Heel defenders -- Robyn Gayle, Kristi Eveland and Jessica Maxwell -- all earned some form of All-America honors after last season.

As Carolina's lead assistant, Palladino is the chief architect behind what promises to be yet another stifling Carolina defense in 2007. In fact, under Palladino's expert direction, the Carolina defensive units have consistently been a critical cog in the Tar Heels' run to national championship after national championship. In 1987, the Tar Heels set an NCAA record on the defensive end of the field unlikely to ever be matched. The team allowed only two goals during entire season. Goalkeeper Anne Sherow led a team effort which produced 22 shutouts in 24 games. Those 22 shutouts stand as an NCAA record that would be equaled by another Carolina team exactly one decade later. While going 27-0-1 in 1997, the Tar Heels won another NCAA title and posted 22 shutouts in the team's 28 games.

In 2003, Palladino worked his magic again on the UNC defense with a great assist from Chris Ducar due to Palladino's absence for much of the season while still coaching the U.S. National Team. That defense that did not allow a single goal in six NCAA Tournament games as the Tar Heels outscored their opponents 32-0 in NCAA play and stormed to their first NCAA title in three years.

Palladino's proficient skill in coaching defense has been utilized by more than just the UNC soccer program. In 2002 and 2003, he served as the top assistant coach for the U.S. Women's National Team before retiring from that role in January of 2004. In that capacity, Palladino served as the chief assistant to U.S. National Team head coach April Heinrichs, a 1987 UNC graduate who coached the national team from 2000-05. In the fall of 2003, Palladino split his duties between UNC and the National Team as it competed in the 2003 Women's World Cup. The U.S. women won the bronze medal in that competition.

Palladino has been an integral part of the Tar Heel women's soccer program almost from the very start. He came aboard as an assistant coach during the program's second year in existence and has been right along side Dorrance throughout the last 27 years, a stretch that has seen UNC win 19 national championships and 18 Atlantic Coast Conference titles. In 1991, Palladino was named South Region Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/Met Life Insurance Company. He took over the helm for much of that season as interim head coach while Anson Dorrance directed the efforts of the U.S. Women's National Team in its highly successful quest to win the 1991 Women's World Cup title in China. Palladino was head coach of the Tar Heels for 10 games that season and Carolina was victorious in each contest, including three games in the NCAA Tournament. North Carolina won the 10th of its 19 national titles with a 3-1 win over Wisconsin on November 24, 1991 at Fetzer Field. He became the first assistant coach to have ever won head coaching regional coach-of-the-year honors.

"For me, Bill is the reason I enjoy my job so much," says head coach Anson Dorrance. "He is the reason the players enjoy the program so much. Bill is a big part of the reason there is such great team chemistry."

"Bill is a team builder. He has helped us develop a philosophy towards player development that encourages an informal but effective rapport between players and coaches," Dorrance continues. "Bill is a terrific counterbalance against my fiery and intense nature. That balance makes our program unique and fortunately very successful."

Palladino's coaching career with the Carolina women's team began in 1980. A Chapel Hill, N.C. native, Palladino joined the staff that year after three seasons as an assistant coach - also to Dorrance - with the UNC men's soccer program from 1977-79. Dorrance was named head coach of the men's program in 1977 and led it for 12 seasons, retiring as the men's head coach after the 1988 campaign. In 1979, Dorrance launched the women's program at UNC, and since then, he and Palladino have been a part of the 19 national championships and 18 conference titles claimed by the women's program.

The 56-year-old Palladino holds an "A" coaching license from the United States Soccer Federation. He was head coach of the South team at the 1995 U.S. Olympic Festival in Denver, Colo. He also served as head coach of the Raleigh Wings in the W League in the late 1990s. Under his stewardship, the team completed an undefeated season in 1998 and added a second W League crown in 1999.

At Carolina, his duties include on-field coaching, recruiting, directing camps, scouting and administration.

A 1973 University of North Carolina graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology, Palladino played varsity men's soccer at Carolina for three seasons from 1970-72 under the aegis of legendary coach Marvin Allen. Palladino expanded his already-vast repertoire from 2001-03 when he served as a sideline reporter and color commentator for national and regional WUSA telecasts.

Palladino has two children from his first marriage. Twins Bill and Suzi live in Chapel Hill, N.C. and San Francisco, Calif., respectively.

Palladino is married to former Tar Heel soccer star Wendy Gebauer Palladino, who earned All-America honors while playing at UNC from 1985-88. Bill and Wendy are the parents of Zachary Ryan, who was born on January 14, 2005. Wendy is employed by Wachovia Securities as a financial analyst.