Daryl Greenan, current head coach at the University of Iowa, was named Mississippi State’s new head women’s tennis coach. MSU Athletic Director Greg Byrne made the announcement Tuesday, and his official induction is pending the approval of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees.
Greenan replaces Tracy Lane who, after 13 completed seasons as head coach of the Lady Bulldogs, resigned in August to pursue other career opportunities.
Lane posted the most career wins for a MSU women’s tennis coach with a record of 90-155. In 34 years of MSU women’s tennis, excluding Lane’s 13-year tenure, coaches have lasted an average of two seasons.
Even Bill Cooke – MSU geosciences professor and beloved local musician – had a one-year stint as a women’s tennis coach in 1992.
Greenan said he is excited to acquaint himself with his new team. He will inherit a squad with five of eight players who call Europe home.
“In a way, it’s like having [all] freshman. I don’t know them and didn’t get to know them through the recruiting process,” he said. “The goal is to get the most out of the athletes in place and really develop a strong relationship with them … I want to find out what makes them tick, what buttons to press.”
Greenan arrives at MSU with a 64-51 overall record (28-23 in Big Ten) after five seasons at Iowa. The Hawkeyes posted winning records in four of his five seasons, finishing in the top four of the Big Ten on three occasions. Iowa qualified for the NCAA Tournament twice under his guidance. In 2006, Greenan was named Big Ten Coach of the Year.
During Greenan’s marquee 2005-06 campaign, Iowa finished 9-1 in Big Ten play, which led to a school record second-place finish in the conference. The team’s overall record of 18-6 that season secured a third straight NCAA birth and a final national ranking of No. 33.
Greenan said he is ready to take on the challenge of a program with only five of eight players currently on scholarship. He also said he is prepared to grapple with the SEC – a conference boasting 10 teams in the top 26.
“We want to recruit players that will help us move up in the league,” Greenan said. “If we move up a few spots in the SEC, then we could be a tournament level team. If we get four SEC wins, that might place us in the top 25 in the country.”
Last year, the Bulldogs finished last the SEC with a 10-10 (1-9 in SEC) record.
Sophomore tennis player Jordan Zachary said Lane’s departure saddened her, but she is excited to see Greenan take the program in a new direction.
“We heard he may change things drastically with new drills and all the different things he has planned for us,” she said. “We think it will be great, but it may be tough at the beginning – getting to know each other and him getting to know our playing styles. But it shouldn’t take too long with him having played in college, and he’s been coaching for a while.”
Zachary said part of the team’s excitement stems from what they discovered after looking up Greenan’s playing history.
“We don’t know anything about him really. We haven’t met him. But we have seen his stats,” Zachary said.
And the stats do not lie.
Playing for Valdosta State, Greenan was nationally ranked in the top 20 for singles in 1995. That same year, he played for VSU’s doubles team, which finished No. 2 in the country. He was inducted into VSU’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.
Greenan said his coaching philosophies are fairly straight forward.
“It’s not brain surgery. We have to work hard both in conditioning and on the court,” he said. “I’m not a yeller, screamer. I try to focus on the positive, try to be encouraging.”
Greenan is a native of Ontario, Canada, but first gained SEC women’s tennis experience at the University of Alabama where he was an assistant from 2003 to ’04. While coaching for the Tide, Greenan was named the 2004 Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s South Region Assistant Coach of the Year.
Greenan met his wife, Shannon, while he was a head coach for the Mississippi University for Women from 1998 to 2001 – his first coaching job.
“Having family and friends in place makes the transition smoother,” he said. “That wasn’t the case in Iowa.”