#UNC players Emerson Elgin, Olivia Thomas, Clare Gagne & Coach Damon Nahas after winning NCAA title

yeah Bri thank

you okay is it just [Music]

oh oh my God never done this I don't really like cameras this is

good thing there's a lot of cameras MH thanks Jimmy I needed that

Jimmy really needed that Jimmy I always got you back

bab oh my God what am I doing here why am I sitting next to offensive and defensive NCA like cuz you got big feet

and you can

defend Damonte

[Music]

it the 23 National chion North Carolina we have with us head coach

Damon along with student athletes gagon El and Olivia Thomas coach will have an

opening statement followed by questions for the student athletes they can then go and we'll have questions for Coach

that coach the floor is yours thank you um yeah first and foremost what an amazing group of women

uh um that I've been fortunate to coach over the course of this year um you know

I know a lot of people will say it that their team deserves it this is a special group and I'll say a few other things

later but that's first and foremost because they're the priority here so I'll let you guys ask them questions but I also want to congratulate Lake farest

what an extraordinary side um you know Tony and his staff you know did an amazing job they gave us everything that

we that we uh could have asked for and um you know hopefully it was entertaining everybody out there and

just the resilience of our team to find a way to win was extraordinary against an extraordinary side and the last thing

um I just want to make sure I give a a thanks and I might mention it again later to uh Anon you know he's really

special to me uh he brought me here uh he believed in me from day one more than

anyone else outside my family I want to thank Nikki and crew and Grayson and Hopper back there yeah she made sure I

made her made her I know that so I love you guys but I want to thank and his family um his belief in me allowed me uh

to be in the position I am today and I know he's at home today cheering while his other family was here watching in

the stand so thank you to Anson and uh yeah the for the girls questions for the student Olivia

um when you stepped up for that fre K did you know you were trying to put it in that exact spot I mean is that

something you were like practicing before or did that just off the foot at the right angle and it worked out um

I've been working on it after practices um after I embarrassed myself by skying it against Duke in the ACC semifinals so

yes I've been working on that a

lot she has that ball she hit against Duke is still up in the a yeah it flew kind of

proud of uh Claire

a lot of possession your guys have in that first half of the game can you take

us through sort of the defensive mindset through those first 45 minutes and how you're able to keep off score yeah I

mean I think um I think first of all the defensive effort is from front to back

like Liv starts starts the defensive press and then like every person on the field continues it and I think we really

just go with that attitude of aggression and trying to be first of the allall trying to take those um um take that

first step whenever we can so I think yeah that that effort is an entire team

effort so um when when we're in those moments where the Press is in our half or um we've we've been under pressure

for a while it's really just about staying calm and staying connected and playing for each other and um I'll credit to my backline because I really

didn't have to do that much they might have been in our half for a while but they did a really great job of stepping in front of those shots and um really

doing the little things right so what was going through your head when you had that header there

no no I mean I've always wanted to do a header and so I thought you know if not

now when so uh Olivia so a lot it said about you

know your face your phys all that stuff but how good did it feel one with that compos finish in the semifinal and then

C kick show off the Techni how good do it a part of your game too um it feels

really good I feel like a lot of times people account my attributes only to my

athleticism so I think that being able to show that technicality side of it that technical side of it was just

really amazing and I don't know I'm still really shocked it was a crazy moment um yeah

yeah um obviously with the evolution of women's soccer there's so many great teams out there you know it's not like

one team dominating over and over again and considering North Carolina hasn't won a national championship in a little

while it honestly means the world being back here um after the 2022 run we just

kind of came in with this mentality and this dedication to not only Damon and the staff and everyone each other but

knowing that we could do it I think going into the season with all the adversity with all the changes people

kind of count us out and so from the start we had this Underdog mentality and I think that's what really thrived in

moments where we suffered we knew we were going to have to gr through it like we knew it's not going to go our way and just having faith and trust in each

other Damon emphasizes trust a lot and I think in many moments where we do break down and you know we're unsure what's

going to happen next we just have trust in each other and everyone around us and I think that got us to this

point forest and what did the conversations kind of look like to change

you want to start want start um well the first time we played

wake for we did not have the same lineup that we came out today um for example like Livia was injured so there was a

lot of different changes going into this and I think we have peaked at the perfect time like we missed a lot of

people through the national team injuries throughout the years and I mean throughout the season and so we were

really peing our NCA tournament run so when we went into the halftime it was more of we just need to focus on

ourselves play our games you know we went in there actually positive that we came out of the first half with a z00

considering all the pressure we had on us so you know staying mindful that we didn't have the best half and yet it was

still 00 and using that to energize us knowing that we're just going to keep going on the front foot we're going to

keep pushing forward um it was a really good halftime talk it wasn't like it was

like we didn't want to blame like there's no blaming no negativity it was just all positive going into second

half this is for all the players you have a chance yet number one to speak

with Anon Dorr whether it be a FaceTime or something like that um after the game especially since he's the guy to

recruited some of you um but number two did you I saw B cam was down there I asked us on Friday and going ask it

again you guys make another case say hey he just won a national championship give D in the full-time

job you want to answer that one

I guess I mean I don't really care now but um Bubba Bubba came um before the game

at my hotel room and uh him and Vince and they um they let me know in that

moment that that I had the head coaching job at the University of North Carolina and so he told me I can tell them before

or whenever I wanted to and honestly I didn't want to I thought about it I didn't want to tell them before because

I it's really not about me and I I I've said this before I didn't do this to get the job um and I didn't want I knew they

would have been excited in their emotions but I also didn't want their emotions running so high that it potentially would distract from what we

were trying to accomplish and I was just hopeful that we want it so I can share with with them in the moment otherwise I

would have gosh I don't know what I would have told them but um but yeah so um and I and and again these girls they

fought for each other um throughout this entire year and I know they fought for me and I and I love them for that um but

I I hope they know I think they know and you know they did that for me but um you

know I did this because I just love coaching them and this National Championship is really the gift this is

a greater gift than the actual the head coaching position here at the North Carolina and now they get to I get to share this with them for the rest of

their lives and um now they get to they're stuck with me well you got know that year em you want to come back for

another year both but uh anyway U for the rest of their lives Liv's got me for a little bit longer Claire's gone but um

yeah I'm I'm really grateful and I owe it to the girls um for helping me

accomplish something that that we've all worked really hard for so you told them after the game today yeah right after in

the Huddle once they stopped yelling we kind of knew I told them yeah I B I ran into Bubba in the hotel

and I was the one that Lit him up to Damon's room so I was like guys Bubba was on the FMA there has to be good news

well I thought you know if you came in my room to tell me I didn't get the job that's really on the day of the national

championship game so but I didn't want and I talked to trace I talked to my wife about it and just thought it was the best thing not to share with them

until well follow up on everon when you told your players if that's true like your teammate said hey Bubba's on the

premises did you guys have any kind of like team meeting or message like we got to win this

like um I don't know to answer that without being honest you can make up whatever

you want yeah go no some people ran up to Damon's floor to hopefully hear the good

news yeah I stay away from them yeah no um I don't think anything about our

mentality or how we approached the game changed I think deep down we knew like Damon deserved this whether he got it or

not so I think we went in there with the same mindset we've gone into the whole tire tournament and just on the FaceTime

I I FaceTime Anon soon as the game to make sure that when they were getting the trophies that he was part of it this is this is a gift for him and and um I

wanted them to they love him and he's around us all the time and he deserved to be a part of this with us you knew

this was going to be DAV as the second were coming off did

you kind of reflect on the Heartbreak of two years ago and

just anxious to see the zero um when we had a throw in on our

side and there's about 38 seconds left I was like oh God oh God oh God cuz you know as of two years ago it they scored

on us with a like last minute so it was very anxiety feeling but I think this

team just is so gritty and we haven't given up a lot of late goals so I had confidence that we wouldn't but again

you just never know it's soccer so yeah in a moment and then the game ended and I was just so in shock that I I

hyperventilated and stopped breathing yeah I mean to follow up on that yeah

we're never really comfortable until zero hit the clock anyways even last last game against Duke when it was three we still made sure that we weren't

conceding anything we were doing a little things um you know two year what happened two years ago yeah exactly I

try to block that out but look every moment we talk about every moment that potentially is a challenge for us is something to motivate you and uh that's

something that uh We've we've done all year long and that's just one of those so um yeah we're going to look forward

now maybe time for one or two more yeah a

littley des

um stop it was just really crazy um I don't

know how to put into words honestly in the moment I blacked out um I told some people on the field who

were interviewing me that I was singing songs in my head to get me through I learned that when I was younger running

the 400 just to sing songs Mass the pain so I was just really fighting and I

was like oh gosh I got I got to score this it's like I can do it and Trinity

came up to me she's like you got this and I was like you know what you're right Tren I do got this and then I

blacked out I don't really remember the goal but I remember us being up one Zer

that's all I got really happy what songs you

okay that's the issue it wasn't a good hype song at all so and no one's going

to know it it's the song by Maria the scientist called to you I don't know why it was stuck in my head I think I was

getting ready to it and it just kept playing over and over in my head so this is what I deal with on a daily

sorry what was your m

U honestly I just told them because they were it was really quiet in the lock room right and they can feel it and and

we talk a lot about you know feeling when you know how do you feel

comfortable being uncomfortable and when you are under stress and all that kind of stuff and you do and and when you're

playing against a high Lev team at this stage it's going to happen I told them number one we wanted to kind of raise

our energy just take a breath I told them we won that first half because what I mean by that is Wake far has dominated

us we won being Z Z being z z and that that half time was a win for US based on

how the performance went and that to me was the biggest message and ultimately it's like now we got 45 minutes to

really take a breath and realize who we are and what got us here and and hopefully you can see the desire and

determination from the group in the second half but yeah that was really my message to them it wasn't anything but just kind of like wake up it's okay we

won that based on about based on the performance from wake and let's see if we can't go get a win this 45 minutes

all right so I hear it's a good one so we got

one um I mean I don't think really words to describe like I think as someone who is leaving this program it's just been

so special to go on this journey with these people um the national championship doesn't mean anything if

you're not doing it with people you love so um I think that family mentality is something that we really emphasized from

the get-go and every person on this team knows that every other person on this team will show up for them off the field and I think that's really the bottom

line that's really why we play sports um yeah so I'm I'm just so proud to be a national champion not only because it's

UNCC but because it's this UNC team and that's something we talk about a lot as well is that it's the people in the

program that make it special we blocked out all the outside noise this season and we focused on ourselves and we focused on what this team and this group

of people can do and I think our chemistry and our um like our love for

each other shows on the field as

well apparently only I love this team I love you Claire don't worry I I don't

know how to follow that but um as someone who's been a part of this program and this is now my fourth team here I don't really I don't think I can

describe the difference from each teams I mean every team is special in its own way but there's just something about this team where we knew that no matter

what happened like we had each other like I can go text anyone else outside like on my team and be like hey I need

help and they will show up on my doorstep in five minutes like it's this trust and Reliance that we had on each other that we knew that when things went

South or when things got hard we could just you know rely on each other and pick each other up in moments when we're

not having the best game whether it's on or off the field from a group of what do

we have like nine returners and now it's 17 new like new people coming in like we didn't really know how the season was

going to go we didn't know how everyone was going to adapt and everyone just bought in immediately and it's just been a wonderful experience from the

start anything else

okay no it's thank you all congatulations

thank

you all right questions

my daughter just took it yeah it's

okay questions for Coach all right coach I got to ask now

that it's been a couple years was it a foul on that last against UCLA you tell me I think it was

right um but like in respect to margarit and them you know they uh you know the

game and unfortunately V wasn't really relevant in regards to that type of a

call um so I'm not going to take away anything from UCLA um it's good talk you

know behind the scenes and talking to officials you know head officials and stuff like that sure but um this isn't

about that moment I mean I'm devastated for the girls in that moment and you know we were 16 seconds away from a

national championship and this this went right here is as much uh you know all those girls in 22 every one of them um

many of them were here tonight and uh you know those that weren't were texting me throughout the this entire run and

they had so much you know hope and want for this for us to win this and to me

this is almost a you know this is almost like a championship for them as well I

mean I felt like they were there and you know again you can talk about the call whatever it might be but um this one is

is for all of them to celebrate you know we're here right now because of so many different things that transpire it's not

just about what happens on a weekly or a daily basis it's kind of like what has happened and transpired you know Emerson and them that were there during that

time you know Kate and Dalene and you kind of go down Tessa who played significantly different roles who didn't

really Emerson's the only one that really played any minutes really in that game and um they felt that heartache

they felt that pain you know at that time I said it to people before is we earn the right to be devastated on that

day U we earned that right and we had no regrets and yeah you would like that call to be to be made and maybe we a

national champion but it wasn't to be on that day congratulations to UCLA um but

this is a celebration for the program from past players and it's a group of 27

girls that put the work in to do it for something bigger than themselves and that's something that uh anyone that's

in Al Al should be proud of second coach you said you felt like it was a wind going in

the did you change anything it felt like you guys were more on the front foot coming out in the second you change

tactic yeah no I think uh just some slight little things here and there I think it was more of you know our girls

are so aggressive they want so badly to go get the ball that sometimes it's okay that they didn't go chasing um because

sometimes when we were our aggression um played against us sometimes right which

open up some gaps when you're playing against a really good confident team they were a to play through that and ultimately when they had the ball in the

back it wasn't hurting us any right and that's really the hard thing in this game was like we want the ball we want

the ball but were are where it didn't harm us unless we kind of got ourselves stretched so we talked about a couple of

adjustments while making sure we were a little bit more compact so we can be higher up to be able to press a little bit more where then you saw some of the

qualities that um you know they were put under a little bit of pressure they were conceding some possession and our transition was really really good in

that and then you found some better spells of of play uh with you know within those balls that we won um in the

first half even when we won it we pressed well on their goal kicks we they conceded the ball but we kept giving the

ball away so we didn't to like rest while we play like maintain a spell of possession and those are just a few of

the things that we talked about and then look at this time at this stage it's about the will and determination um if

if you have the talent to match it sometimes that is what kind of gets you over the hump and I thought that did in the second

half players yeah I mean anytime you see a former player I mean I the the great

thing is this is not one of those former players is this the first time I've seen them or talk to them since whatever time

they've been on campus I talk to them all the time um you know I'm I'm in

their lives all the time they you know whatever they're doing whether they're playing professionally or whatever it is they you know we are we have a really

strong connection and um this was just them being really happy for for me and

the program so to see them it's just more of a relief and just a um a thank you for them too because this is you

know I'm where I am and and some of the things that I've been able to accomplish are are a product of what they've done

too they've made me better along the way and then I have a lot of friends and family that were here and and I can't

thank them enough they come to every one of our runs in our games so just to kind of you know my my wife reminds me of

that right she's like hey you got to go back over there and um so I did and you get to see some of our closest friends of our of our kids that I wanted to make

sure that I thank them and appreciation for just supporting me and whether we would have won or lost they would have

been there as well and I would have thanked them the same the back mentioned that family have you spoken to your

brother yet since uh getting the news that you're now the head coach I mean he was pretty adamant uh all along saying

remove the tag why like he's busy on social media or something um yeah he he

was down the field with me um and uh yeah look whenever you know family is

family like you have you know blood family you have these these players that are part of your family and um you know

I'm I'm proud of my brother and you know you fight for your family right and I think this the one thing that we've

always kind of been brought up to is you fight for the things the things that you've earned and if you didn't think

that I've earned this um then then he shouldn't he shouldn't advocate for me

uh so I know the place he's coming from is not just because he's my brother and I appreciate that and I'm his biggest

fan and he's mine and I have an older brother I'll shout out Christian who's in New York um give him and Jules a

shout out they'll love that um and uh but yeah so I appreciate his support um

and he knows and he was down the field he kind of enjoyed that moment with me as well I want to give a shout out to Chandler too Chandler's over here I told

her I would do that she's the one that keeps me she keeps me uh alert to everything

reminds me of the times and when and where to be she I've never seen her yell at me she yelled at me on the field

forever to get there um but uh she extraordinary at her job and she does

with a smile um and she's a big part of this so Chandler thank you uh John's in

the back too John Bruner he's been a massive supporter and I want to give a shout out to John and his family for all

his support along this way he's been a really strong confident of mine and um you know those relationships and I also

want to I want to thank Larry Gallow Larry Gallow who was here when I was brought in he's retired since this year

he's been an extraordinary supporter of mine and the team for years and years even before I come and he means a lot to

me uh and then just without naming all the names all the the UNC coaches and staff um that have continued to support

me throughout this process they know this has been a long process but they have been you know amazingly supportive

and um you know it just goes to show what the community is like there and um just their public thank you to all of

them without naming specific names more question I think we have a really important one there about four rows deep

right there what was happen your yellow

card the best question of the night that's a pretty good question

um who who are you speaking for are you with the newspaper or yeah you are okay

um so why did I get the yellow card um well I was what did he say he said

something about my children and I didn't like it I didn't like I didn't like how he he spoke about

you and I I gave I told him what I thought of him and uh he called The Ref over and they gave me yellow card but I

was fighting for my children do you know who my children are so no what the yellow card was um I they called a foul

against us and I thought that immediate immediately right before that should have been a foul for us and then ultimately the foul happened against us

and we got a yellow card for it and I just thought you know what that's wrong so I shared my I voiced my opinion does

that answer your question which answer is better though the second one or the first one about you all

right back to the other media in

the yeah I mean I I said this earlier but look

first of all they um they challenged me every single day that's the honest to God truth um they allowed like you know

they they kind of I let them be who they are and I think they they opened up a vulnerable side of my of me as well and

I think that that tested me every single day but it also pushed me to a different level they them coming every day the way

if you just are around them and you see their interaction I loved coming to work they they the way they represented

themselves the way they came with enthusiasm the way they loved each other helped me love what I did and if I

walked away not as the coach from here and this was it they that you you want to kind of continue to fall in love with

the game and it makes you think about how much you want to do and you know you know what you want to do for them you

don't want to disappoint them yeah you want to do something different than everybody else we want to be something special and and they allowed me to do

that and um you know they are an extraordinary group of women and and look to be transparent the climate of

college sports is a little bit different right now right and across the board and it might be a little bit different in in

one sport to another but this is the truth the truth is this is an example the template of this group right here

can be something that can be used across the country right when you talk about all the different things and the

distractions and the me me me all that kind of stuff and there's a lot of opportunities rightfully so for these for these athletes this is a group of

girls that if people follow and hopefully it's documented Could Be Inspired for the young players coming up

for the young girls coming up with girls that had a dream to kind of fight for it and do whatever they could to try and achieve it and he might fall short but

it doesn't it doesn't take away from what they've done um and they just so happen to be on a stage and I think right now yes winning a national

championship is something that is extraordinary that they'll take for the rest of their lives but the biggest story in this is that people just pay

attention to all the obstacles and challenge they had since last year and what they've been to accomplish if that

doesn't inspire a young 10-year-old or even a 15-year-old or whoever is coming along to do things the right way um

they'll get their reward one way or the other but if they put their team first and love the person left and right of

them um is going to they're going to have they're going to have opportunities to achieve great things for the rest of

their lives and this is a great group to be able to use I think in this Sport and for any other sport in college Time One

More We Men early on

Wass challenging

which Emily we got two Emil yeah Mur look murf and and Colton both I love dearly um you know everyone's paths go

some different way sometimes in this climate you know I said to you know murf came up and she's special to me known

her a long time she's one of the she has been my kids love murf she has been an

amazing human being to my to my sons and my daughter uh and I'll forever love her

for that um you know her when she was looking at trans I was right alongside

her you can ask her interview her um I did everything I could to help navigate her process as quick as it was to get to

Wake Forest um and she had an extraordinary year and she's going to have an extraordinary career and I'll be

I'll be her biggest fan along the way Colton you know I said to her after I've known Colton a long long long time and

she is an amazing human being her family is amazing um her twin sister played at weake and at the end and I could see her

you know when I talk to her I gave her hardan a kiss and I just told her how much I loved her um how much she knows

that and she knows that I'll be there for her no matter what when um but there are moments whenever someone you leave

that's so close it's hard at first and I had a hard time at first with it um but

after we play him the first time I understood and then after right now the pain that she felt I also told her I

said um seeing you with your sister uh I understand and for her and her family to

be able to have the opportunity to see their daughters twin sisters uh who are so close to be on that stage is

something to never forget and I will be um you know forever thankful for the time I had with them um but it just is

the beginning of my relationship with them all right coach congratulations thank you app thank you thank you guys