Dorrance did no wrong?

To read about the settlement in the sexual harassment suit against UNC-Chapel Hill women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance, it's easy to get the impression Anson Dorrance did nothing wrong.

This, from Dorrance himself, from UNC-CH Chancellor James Moeser and from athletic director Dick Baddour.

This, the same day the university agreed to pay $385,000 to a former soccer player who says the coach harassed her and others.

This, the same day Dorrance issued a letter of apology (albeit mealy-mouthed) for his behavior.

This, four years after paying $70,000 to another former player, with Dorrance agreeing to attend sensitivity training, not for six months, but for eight years.

In all, the university has agreed to pay nearly half a million dollars (and conduct a comprehensive review of its sexual harassment policies) for what Dorrance didn't do.

All to keep the case from going to trial, where the embarrassing details of Dorrance's alleged behavior might make it awfully hard to keep up the mantra: Anson Dorrance did nothing wrong.

What exactly is the soccer coach accused of doing?

According to the lawsuit, he queried his players incessantly about their sex lives, made graphic remarks about their imagined sexual exploits and made comments about his players' female attributes. In one scenario described in the suit, a player was sitting knee to knee with Dorrance in his hotel room -- she 17, he 45 -- when the coach asked whom she was sleeping with. He didn't use such delicate language.

Suffice to say that judges on one of the most conservative appeals courts in the nation issued a ruling that Dorrance's harassment was "sufficiently severe or pervasive to create a hostile (or abusive) environment."

As the ruling noted: Dorrance professed to be a father figure. In reality, though, he asked players questions no father would ask.

The judges took pains to clarify that this was not just off-color language.

What made the situation particularly troubling was that the players were so young, away from home for the first time, and the coach was so incredibly powerful.

Remember, Dorrance is not just any soccer coach. He was and is the most successful soccer coach in U.S. college history.

The judges wrote: "As such, he had tremendous power and influence over a player's opportunity for achievement in the soccer world, both at UNC and beyond."

That's what makes the announcement that the captains of Dorrance's current team support him wholeheartedly so stunning. (Not.)

When I talked Tuesday evening with Dorrance, he urged me to talk to the many former players who say they never felt harassed or witnessed such behavior on his team.

But then why sign a letter of apology in 1998 to the father of one of the women who filed the suit? Why write the lame apology attached to the settlement this week? To that he gave no answer.

Dorrance had long claimed he wanted the chance to clear his name at trial. In a statement issued Monday, he said he understood the university's desire to have the case end here.

That is, to keep the ugly details under wraps.

Moeser backed up the coach, saying he never believed the case had any merit. Again: Anson Dorrance did nothing wrong.

With the settlement, conveniently, we'll never really know.