University of North Texas Athletics
Hedlund Set to Retire After 2026 Season
11/14/2025 9:59:00 AM | Women's Soccer
UNT's all-time wins leader will hang it up after 32 seasons
DENTON, Texas — John Hedlund, the only head coach in the history of UNT women's soccer, will retire at the conclusion of the 2026 season after 32 years leading the program.
Hedlund, who is the longest tenured coach and all-time wins leader at UNT across all sports, made the announcement on Friday.
Hedlund is one of the most successful coaches in NCAA women's soccer history, as he ended the 2025 season ninth on the all-time wins list with 406. He has guided the Mean Green to 16 conference championships (nine regular season titles and seven league tournament championships), including a school record six consecutively, seven NCAA Tournament appearances, and had no losing seasons in his first 30 years at the helm. He was the nation's only active coach to have accomplished that feat in 20-plus seasons. Only three other coaches in history have had no losing seasons in 30-plus years, and Hedlund and North Carolina's Anson Dorance are the only ones to have accomplished the feat at one university. Entering his final season, Hedlund's teams have won nearly 70% of their matches.
"I have been very fortunate to coach at only one place throughout my entire career, and for me, there has never been a better place than the University of North Texas," Hedlund said. "The timing of retiring from coaching couldn't be more perfect for me after next season. We have a great administration, led by (Vice President and Director of Athletics) Jared (Mosley), and a lot of very talented young coaches here at UNT. I feel excellent about passing the torch for winning conference championships to the next generation across all our great sports here at North Texas."
At home, Hedlund's teams have been dominant. In the program's 31 seasons, UNT has won 80% of its home matches, and from 2009-2022, the Mean Green didn't lose a home match in conference play. Their 65-match conference home unbeaten streak is still an NCAA Division I record.
"John Hedlund's impact on North Texas soccer and our entire athletic department is nothing short of remarkable," Mosley said. "Over three decades, he has built a championship culture defined by excellence, consistency, and class. His legacy is measured not only in wins and titles, but in the countless student-athletes he has mentored and the standard he has set for our programs. We look forward to celebrating Coach Hedlund throughout his final season and honoring the incredible mark he has left on Mean Green Athletics."
Hedlund started the UNT women's program from scratch in 1995 after serving as an assistant coach for the men's team under head coach Dr. Richard Lowe. That program was dissolved following the 1994 season.
Before he was a men's assistant at UNT, the Plano, Texas, native had a successful playing career. Most of his playing career was spent in the Major Indoor Soccer League for the Dallas Sidekicks, who would play in front of sold-out crowds at Reunion Arena and took Dallas by storm in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He won two league championships with the Sidekicks as a player, in 1986 and 1993. He also represented his country as a member of the U.S. Olympic qualifying team in 1983-84. Hedlund played in several big tournaments in the Team USA jersey in Sweden, Finland, South Korea and Malaysia, among others. Before that, he was a standout player for Midwestern State and is in its Hall of Fame after earning two NAIA All-America nods and being named the 1983 NAIA National Tournament Most Outstanding Offensive Player. In 2022, Hedlund was named the Midwestern State University Athlete of the Decade for the 1980s.
Hedlund, who is the longest tenured coach and all-time wins leader at UNT across all sports, made the announcement on Friday.
Hedlund is one of the most successful coaches in NCAA women's soccer history, as he ended the 2025 season ninth on the all-time wins list with 406. He has guided the Mean Green to 16 conference championships (nine regular season titles and seven league tournament championships), including a school record six consecutively, seven NCAA Tournament appearances, and had no losing seasons in his first 30 years at the helm. He was the nation's only active coach to have accomplished that feat in 20-plus seasons. Only three other coaches in history have had no losing seasons in 30-plus years, and Hedlund and North Carolina's Anson Dorance are the only ones to have accomplished the feat at one university. Entering his final season, Hedlund's teams have won nearly 70% of their matches.
"I have been very fortunate to coach at only one place throughout my entire career, and for me, there has never been a better place than the University of North Texas," Hedlund said. "The timing of retiring from coaching couldn't be more perfect for me after next season. We have a great administration, led by (Vice President and Director of Athletics) Jared (Mosley), and a lot of very talented young coaches here at UNT. I feel excellent about passing the torch for winning conference championships to the next generation across all our great sports here at North Texas."
At home, Hedlund's teams have been dominant. In the program's 31 seasons, UNT has won 80% of its home matches, and from 2009-2022, the Mean Green didn't lose a home match in conference play. Their 65-match conference home unbeaten streak is still an NCAA Division I record.
"John Hedlund's impact on North Texas soccer and our entire athletic department is nothing short of remarkable," Mosley said. "Over three decades, he has built a championship culture defined by excellence, consistency, and class. His legacy is measured not only in wins and titles, but in the countless student-athletes he has mentored and the standard he has set for our programs. We look forward to celebrating Coach Hedlund throughout his final season and honoring the incredible mark he has left on Mean Green Athletics."
Hedlund started the UNT women's program from scratch in 1995 after serving as an assistant coach for the men's team under head coach Dr. Richard Lowe. That program was dissolved following the 1994 season.
Before he was a men's assistant at UNT, the Plano, Texas, native had a successful playing career. Most of his playing career was spent in the Major Indoor Soccer League for the Dallas Sidekicks, who would play in front of sold-out crowds at Reunion Arena and took Dallas by storm in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He won two league championships with the Sidekicks as a player, in 1986 and 1993. He also represented his country as a member of the U.S. Olympic qualifying team in 1983-84. Hedlund played in several big tournaments in the Team USA jersey in Sweden, Finland, South Korea and Malaysia, among others. Before that, he was a standout player for Midwestern State and is in its Hall of Fame after earning two NAIA All-America nods and being named the 1983 NAIA National Tournament Most Outstanding Offensive Player. In 2022, Hedlund was named the Midwestern State University Athlete of the Decade for the 1980s.
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