Tagged with: Boomer Saia, Clemson, Colorado, Darrell Jernigan, Davidson, East Carolina, Grant Roberts, Houston Barrick, Ian Van Cott, Jason Potthoff, Kelly Cameron, Matt Lucas, North Florida, Richmond, Texas Tech, WisconsinMilwaukee

The calendar has turned to August which means several schools will be in session shortly so most of the current coaching openings should get filled sooner rather than later. Over the last week there have been three head coaching hires along with several assistant coaching hires. 

University of North Florida Director of Athletics Lee Moon announced the hiring of Matt Lucas as the Ospreys new men’s head coach. Lucas comes to Jacksonville after serving as the associate head coach at Buffalo last season and will replace Mark Finnegan who departed after four seasons to become the men’s assistant coach at Auburn. Below are some quotes from UNF’s release:

“This is a great hire for our program and we are thrilled to have Matt and all his coaching experience leading our team,” said Moon. “During the interview process, Matt demonstrated a real passion for the game and developing student-athletes. Throughout his career he has been a strong teacher of the game and has a wealth of experience in both collegiate and professional tennis. He is an outstanding recruiter and has strong ties to the tennis community in North Florida. We are excited to have Matt at UNF and look forward to watching him continue and even grow the success of our men’s tennis program.”

“I am extremely excited about this opportunity to lead the lead the men’s tennis program at the University of North Florida,” said Lucas. “I want to thank Lee Moon and Nick Morrow for entrusting me with the reigns of this great program. I also want to thank UNF women’s coach Mariana Cobra for her support during the interview process. It is an exciting time for the tennis program and I look forward to helping build on the past successes while striving to further the national prominence of UNF Tennis and continue competing for ASUN Championships. Our guys will also be involved in the Jacksonville community and maintain their strong performances in the classroom as well. With my ties to the area, I can’t wait to get back to the River City and begin working with the team. It is a great day to be and Osprey. SWOOP!”

 

University of Richmond Interim Athletic Director David Walsh announced the hiring of Houston Barrick as the Spiders new men’s head coach. Walsh didn’t have to look too far to find his guy because Barrick had been just six miles away at VCU as the associate head coach for the last five years. Barrick, who played collegiately at Virginia from 2007 to 2010, replaces Ben Johnson who stepped down after seven seasons to pursue other opportunities. Johnson led the Spiders to a 25-4 record last season and was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year. Below are some quotes from Richmond’s release and here is a video showing the $1M renovation of the current tennis facility that is expected to be completed by September:

“We’re truly excited about Houston joining the Spider family,” Walsh said. “His energy and experience, both as a player and a coach, will be a valuable asset to our program. His knowledge of our conference and the area truly provide us with someone who we believe can continue to build our program to compete for championships, while producing outstanding student-athletes and ambassadors for this University.”

“I’m thrilled and excited to be a part of the Spider family. I’m grateful to David, Monica and the entire Richmond administration for believing me and giving me this incredible opportunity,” Barrick said. “This is a first class institution with a first class athletic program and I look forward to working with a tremendous group of student-athletes and working to compete for championships for years to come.”

 

 

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Director of Athletics Amanda Braun announced the hiring of Jason Potthoff as the Panthers new women’s head coach. Potthoff comes to Milwaukee after spending the last two seasons as the women’s assistant at Houston and prior to that he was the women’s assistant at Missouri for four seasons. Potthoff replaces Jeff Aranda who departed after two seasons with the Panthers going 21-24 during his tenure. Below are some quotes from UWM’s release:

“I first want to thank Deputy Athletics Director Cathy Rossi for being such a great ambassador for Milwaukee during the search process. I am grateful to Director of Athletics Amanda Braun and Senior Associate AD Kathy Litzau for giving me this opportunity to be the next head women’s tennis coach at Milwaukee, and I can’t wait to get started. I look forward to getting to campus, connecting with the team, and preparing for the season. We have so many great resources and such a great support staff at Milwaukee, and this team will be dedicated to making all Panthers proud by what we do, both on and off the court!”

 

 

 

Assistant Coaching Hires

Darrell Jernigan, who had been the head coach at Southern Wesleyan University (D2) for the past four seasons, is the new women’s assistant at Clemson replacing Maru Brito who took the women’s head coaching job at Tulane. 

Ian Van Cott, who graduated from Tulane in 2016 and was a volunteer assistant at Princeton last season, is the new men’s assistant at East Carolina. The assistant position at ECU was vacant for most of last year.

Grant Roberts, who had been a volunteer assistant at his alma mater Kentucky for the last three seasons, is the new women’s assistant at Colorado. Roberts replaces Kieran Burke who left after one season to take a position at Cizr Tennis.

Boomer Saia, who was the temporary women’s assistant at Vanderbilt last season, is the new women’s assistant at Texas Tech. Saia replaces Ric Mortera who was the associate head coach last season – unsure where Mortera went.  

Kelly Cameron, who was the women’s assistant at Illinois for the last two seasons, is the new women’s assistant at Davidson. Cameron fills the opening that was created when Susanne Depka was promoted from assistant coach to head coach following Sara O’Leary’s departure for Virginia. 

 

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I’ve been tracking all the head coaching changes on my coaching carousel page and right now I’m showing the following jobs as still open: Men – UConn, La Salle, Sacred Heart, & St. John’s; Women – Eastern Michigan, La Salle, Marist, New Mexico State, Sacramento State, Towson State.

There are also several assistant positions still open as well: Men – SMU, Georgia Tech, Pepperdine, James Madison, Buffalo; Women – Arkansas, Illinois, Northwestern, Minnesota, Rice, Columbia, Brown, UNLV, Utah State, Wyoming, Pittsburgh, Houston, VCU, Florida Gulf Coast,