Intercollegiate Tennis Association

Creating A New Path with Grant Chen

Grant Chen has followed Emerson's advice of "do not go where the path may lead but go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Grant started his college career on the UCLA club team before joining the UCLA tennis team staff as a student-manager. He then advanced to Director of Operations, Assistant Coach, Associate Head Coach, and was named the head men's coach at SMU in 2018. Grant is the epitome of the modern-day college coach. He is a true CEO, managing and excelling at all aspects of his role and finding ways to give back to the sport he loves in his limited free time.

"What Sacrifices Are You Willing to Make?" with Lloyd Bruce-Burgess

In 2019, Lloyd Bruce Burgess gave up his comfortable well paying job as the Director of Tennis for Genesis Health Clubs in order to pursue his dream of becoming a head college tennis coach. He joined the University of South Florida staff as a volunteer assistant where he served for 5 months before being named the men's assistant coach at the University of Iowa in January 2020. He helped the Hawkeyes to a historic season before learning last summer that the program would be eliminated at the end of the 2021 season.

In this podcast, we discuss Lloyd's decision to step away from a successful career to join the college coaching ranks; how his years in management apply to his role as a college coach; and how he is dealing with having his career disrupted once again, this time through no fault of his own.

 

Finding the Right Fit - Danielle Lund McNamara

Danielle McNamara is in her second stint as the head women's tennis coach at Yale. From 2006 to 2014 she led the team to four Ivy League titles and a 124-49 record. She returned to Yale in 2016 and her team was experiencing one the best seasons during Danielle's tenure before the season shut down due to Covid-19.

In this podcast, we discuss Danielle's move into the head coaching role at Yale at just 25 years old; her decision to step away from college coaching only to be lured back in by the University of Texas. She also shares why Yale was ultimately the best fit for her; how other coaches can think about where to take their talents and some ideas she has implemented at Yale to grow closer connections with her community.

 

The Power of Great Sportsmanship with Dr. Tommy Valentini

This podcast with Dr. Tommy Valentini builds on some of the topics discussed in Chapter 16 of the ITA Coach Masterclass on Ethical Decision Making & Sportsmanship. Tommy is not only the head men's tennis coach at Gustavus Adolphus but is also a Professor of Sports Ethics. Tommy is currently undefeated in Conference Play (95-0) in his 11 years as a head coach!

 

In this podcast, Dave & Tommy discuss why teaching the sport of tennis alone is not enough to build the character of an individual or team, what Tommy learned from the legendary Dr. Steve Wilkinson, and how coaches can build a winning program on a strong foundation of exemplary sportsmanship.

 

From NAIA Player to Coaching at DII & DI with Anthony Pham

Anthony Nguyen Pham has covered a lot of ground during his time in college tennis. He played at NAIA, Baker University; got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at NCAA Division II Drury; moved on to be a head coach of both the men's and women's teams at NCAA Division I Niagara; transitioned to the assistant coach position at NCAA Division I Purdue and then the associate head coaching role at NCAA Division I Wisconsin. He recently moved from Madison, Wisconsin to Boulder, Colorado to take on the role of assistant coach of the University of Colorado women's tennis team.

In this podcast, Dave and Anthony discuss some of the similarities and differences between coaching at the different divisions and levels, Anthony's thoughts on the limited diversity within the coaching ranks, and what career advice he would provide young minority coaches looking to carve out a career as a college tennis coach.

 

Don't Set Limits On Yourself Or Your Program - Chris Young

Dave Mullins was very fortunate to coach against Chris Young for eight years while he was at the University of Oklahoma. Dave witnessed firsthand the amazing impact Chris has had on the Oklahoma State women’s tennis program and is thrilled that he is able to share some of his insights with a larger audience today.

Chris is now the Director of Tennis at Oklahoma State and has managed to turn a very average Power 5 program into a national powerhouse coming within a hair of capturing an NCAA team title in 2016. He was instrumental in fundraising and building an incredible tennis facility in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and has made college tennis one of the most relevant sports in the minds of his Athletic Department, University, and greater Oklahoma tennis community.

Problem Solving & Priorities - Matt Knoll

Matt Knoll spent 22 seasons as the head men’s coach at Baylor amassing an astounding record of 510 wins & 150 losses, 13 Big 12 Regular Season Conference Titles, 6 Big 12 Coach of the Year awards, 3 ITA National Coach of the Year awards, two individual NCAA titles, an ITA Indoor National Championship and one team NCAA title.

 

He has now turned his talents to helping others as a college sports mentor and advisor. Matt founded American College Placement.

 

In this podcast, Matt takes us through how he helped the Baylor men’s team go from worst to first, what he has learned consulting for some of the top DI programs in the country and he also provides some solutions for common coaching headaches. 

 

If you would like to provide Matt with some of your own scenarios or ask him some questions yourself, you can do so by registering for our "Ask Me Anything" webinar session with Matt on Tuesday, March 30th. Click here to get more information & register for the webinar.

 

Mexico-USA-College Coaching - Latina Tennis Coaches Association

Nadia Abdala played four years at Arizona State University before playing professionally on the WTA tour reaching a career-high of # 517. Since 2014 she has served as the Assistant Women's Coach at the University of San Diego.

Clarisse Baca was a standout player at Sacramento State, helping her team to four straight Big Sky Conference Championships, and was herself a four-time All-Big Sky selection. She is now the head women's coach at the Academy of Art where she helped the program reach its highest national ranking in program history (# 5) in 2019.

Both Clarisse & Nadia were born and raised in Mexico and have known one another since their early days in the sport of tennis. In this podcast we discuss their experiences moving to the USA and their transition to college coaching. They also share details about an exciting new initiative they have developed named the Latina Tennis Coach Association. 

They founded this association in 2019 with a focus on empowering Latina women in sports and tennis. They currently have approximately 170 members with 60 of these members having played college tennis. Ten current members are also college tennis coaches. To get more information and join, visit the @latinatenniscoach on Instagram and fill out a short form!

The Many Hats of a College Tennis Coach - Dwayne Hultquist

Dwayne Hultquist has almost completed 21 seasons as the head coach at Florida State and is the winningest coach in Florida State history. Like many of our guests, he has won his fair share of coaching awards through the years.

 

However, as much time as Dwayne has put into developing his team into ACC and NCAA title contenders he also recognizes the need to spend just as much time building community support for his program.

 

In this podcast, we discuss how a coach can go about building community interest in their team even if they are new to an area and do not have many connections - if any; how he balances his work building support for his program and his coaching duties; and how he manages his responsibilities as a coach while raising five children with his wife Angela.

Finding Your Entrepreneurial Spirit - Darryl Cummings

Darryl Cummings accumulated over 600 wins during his 20 years as a college coach at Norfolk State University, Virginia Wesleyan and Old Dominion University.

You have probably come across Darryl on social media or on his YouTube channel, you may also know him as one of the founders of the UTR and Cummings Athletics. In this podcast, Darryl shares his insights into how coaches can develop their entrepreneurial spirit, their marketing skills, and what he would do if he was the Czar of College Tennis for a day.