Elmar Bolowich, a national championship head coach, enters his second year with the Patriots for the fall 2021 season. He was named the Patriots' 10th men's soccer head coach in program history in December 2019.
Bolowich elevated programs at North Carolina and Creighton to national prominence. He led the Tar Heels and Bluejays to 21 NCAA appearances combined, advanced to the College Cup six times (including five consecutive appearances - 2008-12) and guided the Tar Heels to their first national championship in program history in 2001. The NSCAA National Coach of the Year in 2001, Bolowich is just five wins shy of 400 in his decorated coaching career (395-184-57).
Bolowich led his teams to top-three finishes in at least one national poll six times and a top-10 finish 11 times over his last 18 seasons, including a No. 3 ranking in the final 2010 NSCAA Poll while at North Carolina and a pair of No. 4 final rankings in 2011 and 2012 while at Creighton.
During his eight seasons at Creighton, Bolowich amassed an overall record of 115-40-17 and ranks second on the program's all-time wins list. Bolowich led the Bluejays to their second consecutive NCAA Division I College Cup in 2012. He earned three coaching awards at the conclusion of the season when he was named NCSAA Midwest Coach of the Year, MLSSoccer.com Coach of the Year and Missouri Valley Conference Coaching Staff of the Year. In his final campaign at Creighton (2018), the Bluejays finished with a 11-4-3 record, including a 2-0 win over then-No. 11 Clemson.
In 2014, Bolowich was named Big East Coach of the Year after Creighton finished the season with the highest winning percentage in the nation (16-3-3, .795) and claimed the Big East Conference regular season championship. A year later in 2015, the Bluejays finished with 19 victories, the most in Division I, and had the third-highest scoring offense in the nation.
The Bluejays made six NCAA Tournament appearances, advanced to the College Cup three consecutive seasons, won four regular-season conference titles and captured two conference tournament championships under Bolowich's leadership. He helped guide 12 Bluejays to All-America status and had 11 student-athletes earn conference Player of the Year honors.
Bolowich led the North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer program for 22 years and is the winningest coach in UNC men's soccer history, posting an overall record of 280-144-40 (.647). He guided the Tar Heels to 15 NCAA Tournament appearances and led the program to its first national championship in program history in 2001.
A two-time ACC Coach of the Year (2000, 2010), Bolowich led the Tar Heels to the NCAA Tournament nine times and reached the NCAA Quarterfinals six times over his last 11 years with the program.
While at North Carolina, Bolowich coached 22 All-America selections, 28 First Team All-ACC honorees and nine MLS SuperDraft First Round selections. Seven former Tar Heels who played under Bolowich have represented the United States with the U.S. National Team.
