Colorado Springs, Colo. – Former Metropolitan State University of Denver head women's soccer coach Danny Sanchez was inducted into the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Hall of Fame on Friday night.
 
Sanchez was once described as "unimpressive, dry, not very engaging and kind of boring" by former Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver) Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR), Dr. Joe Quatrochi. Yet, once Danny was hired as the Roadrunners' women's head soccer coach, Quatrochi realized his first impressions were far from the truth.
 
"I got to know him right away," said Quatrochi. "Immediately upon his arrival he became a team member within athletics and it's important here because you have to band together…He made it very clear early on that he was going to develop relationships with other coaches and other people on campus and it didn't take very long for me to realize just what a high quality, one in a million sort of person he is."
 
Danny first arrived at MSU Denver (formerly known as Metro State College of Denver) in 2002 and in that year, he led the Roadrunners to their first-ever Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) regular season title. They would later win the RMAC Tournament title and advance to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) semifinals. The 2002 team posted a 19-3-3 overall record, 12-0-2 in the RMAC. The young coach's successful season wasn't a fluke and Danny would soon be recognized as one of the most influential coaches in RMAC and Roadrunner history.
 
"As someone who has followed athletics since I arrived here in 1991, I don't know that I've ever seen anything like that," said Quatrochi. "When Danny arrived, the team moved from not being successful to immediately successful and winning the RMAC."
 
During his six-year stint with the Roadrunners, Danny shaped the women's soccer program into a dominant, unforgettable force. He led the Roadrunners to four undefeated conference seasons (2003-2006) and six RMAC regular-season titles (2002-2007). In the post-season, the Roadrunners garnered three RMAC Tournament titles (2002, 2004, 2005) and made six NCAA Tournament appearances, while capturing two national championship titles in 2004 and 2006. To this day, the national championship titles are the only two ever captured in program history.
 
"It was apparent to anyone around what a master he was at managing people, changing the culture and having high expectations," mentioned Quatrochi. "That no nonsense mentality is what served him so well. It's obvious his players followed him, and his staff was loyal to him. That was all apparent to me as an outsider."
 
As a coach and mentor, he knew he had to teach his student-athletes there's more to life than soccer.
 
"I could tell you that what is most important to him is not just the game and that's something that really impressed me about Danny, [he's] such a high quality guy," Quatrochi commented. "It was about life; it was about teaching. As someone in the teaching profession, I really admired that about Danny." 
 
Quatrochi recalls that during one of the preseason soccer retreats in Vail, Colorado, Danny didn't make the retreat about how to win and the tactics heading into the next season. Instead, it was about taking a moment to appreciate where you are and who you are with.
 
"It just speaks to the depth of this individual and it's no surprise why he has been so successful in every dimension of his life," said Quatrochi. "For me to have things like that stick out and not a specific game related call or moment, [demonstrates] how he embodies life as what's most important and not just soccer."
 
Danny finished his time with the Roadrunners posting a 128-11-7 overall record with a .901 winning percentage. He was a six-time RMAC Coach of the Year, the 2004 NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year, a four-time National Soccer Coaches Association of America (known today as United Soccer Coaches) Midwest Region Coach of the Year and was named RMAC All-Time Top Coach for women's soccer during the RMAC Centennial Celebration in 2009. He also produced two National Players of the Year and 14 NSCAA All-Americans in his tenure.
 
"We had so many terrific coaches during my time here [at MSU Denver], but certainly Danny sticks out and to have the record he did is just unprecedented," said Quatrochi. "To win so many games, who wins nine out of 10 competitions for six years? It just doesn't happen."
 
He laid the foundation for the upcoming years as Danny's former player Adrianne Pietz (formerly Adrianne Alvarez) took over as head coach from 2008-2016. As a member of the 2004 national championship team, Pietz knew a thing or two about winning. She kept the tradition alive, guiding the Roadrunners to seven more NCAA Tournament appearances and two more RMAC titles.
 
Danny left the Roadrunners in 2007 and coached four seasons at University of Wyoming (2007-2011) accumulating a 36-34-11 record. In 2012 he took over as the women's soccer head coach at University of Colorado Boulder (CU) where he resides today. At CU, Danny amassed a 70-44-15 record in the six seasons. To this date, he has an overall career record of 337-104-38 in 22 seasons as head coach at the NCAA and NJCAA level (234-89-33 NCAA record in 16 seasons).
 
"For some people who have a lot of success, they just might not be the best people and I can tell you that from everything that I've seen and from what I know [about] Danny, as good as a coach he is, he is a better person," Quatrochi remarked.