Carlos Somoano | Eckerd College | Soccer | 1989-92
One of the most successful college soccer coaches in the country, Carlos Somoano got his start at Eckerd College.
The 1992 Eckerd graduate was a four-year standout on the Triton soccer team earning All-SSC second team honors in 1989 and first team 1991 before embarking upon a career that has produced one of the strongest resumes among NCAA Division I men's coaches.
Somoano's coaching career launched at Eckerd, where he was an assistant coach for the Tritons under Jim DiNoble from 1992 to 1995. He then spent six years as an assistant coach at Virginia Commonwealth before accepting the same post at the University of North Carolina in 2001. Somoano helped build the Tar Heels into a national power in nine years as the program's assistant.
His success as an assistant landed him the head coaching position in 2011, and he immediately led UNC to an NCAA National Title in his first season in becoming only the second first-year coach in NCAA history to secure a national championship. The feat earned Somoano Soccer America National Coach of the Year honors.
Somoano is currently the active leader in winning percentage among Division I head coaches, boasting a record of 107-26-21. In 2017, the Tar Heels went 17-4-1 and advanced to the national semifinals at the College Cup. It marked the fifth time in Somoano's seven years at the helm for UNC to advance to the quarterfinals and beyond in postseason play.
Somoano received a Bachelor of Science in biology from Eckerd in 1992 and a Master's of Sports Management degree from the University of Richmond in 2000.