UNC Women’s Lacrosse: Jenny Levy is the IWLCA Coach of the Year

On Tuesday, UNC women’s lacrosse head coach Jenny Levy was named Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) 2022 NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year. It is a deserved honor, as Coach Levy led the Tar Heels to their third national championship (and first undefeated season) after a thrilling 12-11 win over Boston College that avenged a 10-11 loss to the Eagles in the 2021 semifinals.

Jenny Levy won this award twice before, both during her other national championship seasons in 2013 and 2016. Add this honor to the pile for Coach Levy, who is also ACC Coach of the Year... three years running.

This award comes on the heels of Coach Levy winning even more silverware this summer as Coach of Team USA in the 2022 World Lacrosse Women’s Championship. The Americans were 8-0 in the tournament, winning the gold medal game against Team Canada 11-8.

Firmly established as one of the greatest coaches at UNC in any sport, Coach Levy surely has one eye on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Women’s lacrosse was granted provisional status in 2018 and could be included as an official medal event as soon as 2028 (it will not be an event during the 2024 Paris Olympic games).

Coach Levy could join Dean Smith as the only Tar Heel coach with a national championship and Olympic gold medal (Anson Dorrance has a World Cup, but no Olympic gold medal). This dual accomplishment would put Levy in rarified air among the historically great coaches across all sports at Carolina, no small feat!