October 15, 2025 • 34 mins
Want to know what it's like to play tennis and go to one of the best Universities in the world? Penn is a top 5 school in the country and is a member of the prestigious Ivy League Conference. Listen to Coach Bonfiglio on how he runs the program and what type of players he is looking for. He is also a big believer of the PTT system allowing his guys to COMPETE and increase their match count.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Ladies and gentlemen, I have with me today a winner, a
winner. He all he has done since he has
been coaching college tennis honestly is win.
And not only that, he's also a massive believer in the PTT
system he's hosting. If you don't know, the PTT is
(00:22):
coming to Penn Philly in Januaryand also his entire team love to
play PTT events. Rich, sorry for the long intro.
How are we doing? Doing good man, been been
looking to get on here and and chop it up with you man.
I'm I'm pumped for today. That's a lovely picture in the
background there of you and Mr. Keckley listen.
(00:45):
We got to have at least one goodlooking individual in this
interview and it's not going to be me.
What is that? Do you guys keep in touch a lot?
Obviously you work together at San Diego.
How How's your relationship going with him?
Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm in touch with Kex every day, man, for,
for for better or for worse. I mean, he's one of my best, if
not best friends in the industry.
And man, he's doing a hell of a job over there at USD.
(01:05):
And I was just along for the ride for a few years, so I was
happy to be part of that. I'll say this, Kex sends me a
few voice clips. He sent me one the other day and
it was it was one of the best ofall time really.
It really fired me up. So thanks if you're listening.
I, I appreciate that voice clip.Rich, just quickly looking at
(01:25):
your, at your background here. For those that don't know, Rich
was at Amherst College, which isactually quite unique because
you don't often see Division Three coaches moving into
Division One. Nothing against Division Three
whatsoever. It's an incredibly high level as
well, but you just don't see it that often.
(01:48):
So from there, Rich went to University of San Diego, then he
went to Columbia, then he went to USC, and now he is the head
coach at Penn. Just briefly, Rich, tell us a
little bit about anything comingto mind about your background
and and experience and anyone you want to talk about in that
in that time frame. Yeah, I mean, listen, originally
(02:12):
from New York, have two younger sisters.
All three of us played college athletics.
One sister played field hockey at Brown, other played lacrosse
at Franklin and Marshall. So an academic and athletic
family, just give a little background in Amherst College,
top Division Three school in terms of tennis, one of the
elite universities. Also academically, there's a lot
(02:35):
of overlap, I would say between guys who are seeking Ivy League
offers. And then if you're not able to
get that offer, that's kind of one of the schools that routes
that you're going. So you're getting and sometimes
you just want, you know, guys there that want to be a big fish
in a maybe a smaller pond. So you do get high quality
players. I was there with Todd Dobler,
who besides Amherst spent a ton of time in Division One, was
(02:59):
assistant coach at Notre Dame, head coach at Penn State and
associate head coach at TCU. So again, I'll you know, and
what I'll say is something I'm big on is relationships.
And as I've made jumps from Division Three to Division One
and from the different Division One stops, those relationships,
(03:19):
besides what I've done at those schools were the things that
helped me make those jumps from from school to school, you know,
and, and I'm a big believer in that.
And, you know, I'm fortunate to have, you know, the mentors I
had along the way of where I went to school with Paul Asiante
and then Todd Dobler at Amherst,obviously Ryan Keckley at
University of San Diego, Howie Endelman, who's done a great job
(03:40):
obviously at Columbia, and then Brett Macy at USC, you know,
still in touch with all those guys.
And they're all doing a hell of a job at their respective
programs. So one of the things that I
think you do a good job of is you like to recruit.
You are, I would say maybe a recruiter by nature.
(04:03):
Every college coach is different.
Everyone has their strengths andeveryone has their weaknesses.
But you love it, right? You know, number one class in
Division Three, top five classesat Columbia.
You know, Learner TN is an example at USC.
What do you, what do you do? How do you recruit?
(04:23):
What do you, what's your, you just being yourself?
What do you, what are you communicating with these
players? Yeah, I think, you know,
recruiting is like anything elsethat you want to be successful
at, right? There's there's no real like
secret sauce. There's no cookie cutter answer.
If I'm being honest, you know, Iput in a ton of time and I value
(04:45):
building that relationship with the player.
I think my personality, for better or worse, is going to
come through. If you're speaking with a player
daily, if you're recruiting in the summer when there's
unlimited recruiting opportunities, when you're at
every event, you're going to watch them practice.
So I think listen, it's, it's simply a numbers game.
And if you, if you're going to look at the percentages and the
(05:06):
time that you're investing versus the amount of successful
players you're bringing on, you're going to lose your mind
because you're hearing no, a heck of a lot more than you're
hearing yes. And if that's going to bug you,
you know, unless you're at a fewschools, I don't think you're
going to be very successful at it.
And I think, you know, for all the the times that I was
(05:27):
successful and that's what people talk about maybe with the
different classes, with someone like Lerner, you know, August
Holmgren, you know, Michael Nicholas, Max Westfall, Hugo,
you know, I'm hearing a lot of Nos and there were a lot of
really good players that I thought I was in there with and
I was going to get that, you know, break your heart when they
give you that no call. But listen, that's like anything
(05:48):
else in life. And that's something I talk
about with our guys. You know, you're going to have
to deal with setbacks and you got to be more process oriented
than result oriented. Because if you're only going to
do things when they work out, not going to be very successful
in whether it's tennis or whatever other venture you're
going to go on to whenever the time comes to put the rackets
down. So you are recruiting now?
(06:10):
Obviously you've been at Penn for a few years now taking them
to a national stage. I think that's how we would
describe it. You've clearly got them to an
incredibly competitive level andsay tournaments and you know,
very competitive in the Ivy League.
You know, now with the changing of college athletics and NIL and
(06:35):
revenue share, how has that impacted your job in the Ivy
League? You know what, you know what I
mean? Like how?
How's that changing how you recruit maybe?
Yeah. So I think honestly, it hasn't
changed how I recruit that much of them being honest.
I think there's going to be a few players that if you're
really looking for that blockbuster nil deal, just the
(06:56):
way that the Ivy League is structured and you know, kind of
the we're a little bit slower toto change, right?
We're a little bit set in our ways.
But at the same time, like, you know, I think if you're looking
just to make the most money or get the best offer, I don't know
necessarily if that's going to be us.
But also at the same time, if I was here or if I was at another
(07:18):
program, I don't know, you know,when I'm advising.
Recruits. I don't know if that's always
the best way to look at your tennis and how you're going to
develop because I think sometimes you have to look at
things besides the money becausesome of the money we're being
offered here, I understand when it's like we're talking the the
basketball and football money. Some of that money is life
changing money. For the most part, it's my
(07:40):
knowledge there is some offers that are going out there that is
a good chunk of money that you can you can use to maybe jump
start your pro career. But I don't view it as life
changing money. So in in, in, in my opinion, we
may lose a guy or two here or there if they're if they're
looking for that extra bit of coin.
But I still think the opportunity you have for a top
(08:00):
five education here at Penn and the return on that investment
while not having to sacrifice inthe tennis cent.
I think I think there's been a in, in the past, I think there
was the narrative that if you goIvy, you can't develop and you
can't go pro, You're kind of giving up on your on your tennis
dreams. I would say really in the last
5-10 years, I think that narrative has been proven false.
(08:22):
I think, you know, reference Michael Zhang right now is, is
definitely proven that, you know, he's top 175 in the world.
He's still enrolled. And Michael's a unique
individual, right? Like coming to a place like
Penn, it's not for everybody, but I do think it's possible.
And I think the, the most important thing, you know, where
I've seen, you know, I've been fortunate.
(08:42):
I've been in a lot of different spots.
So I've been at the high end of Division Three.
I've been in the power 4 at USC.I've been at a really good, you
know, the top mid major at USD Columbia and the Ivy was at the
top. And now here at Penn, you know,
listen, you're not going to haveall the bells and whistles at
every program per SE. And I've listened to some of
your other interviews. I, I actually think sometimes
(09:03):
that can be a negative because it's a little, I don't know, I
had a tough time. I feel like you're getting too
much while not putting enough in.
And at the spots that I've been,if you have really good coaches,
you have dedicated student athletes and you have tennis
balls and tennis courts, you canget really good if you have the
right people and you have the right mindset and you're willing
to work. Well, I'll say this.
(09:24):
I'm a big believer in who you put yourself around.
I went to Drake University, absolutely loved it, strung my
rackets for four years, and honestly, I'm just going to be
honest. People said to me, why did you
go to Drake? I didn't know.
I came from Scotland and I went to Drake and I loved it.
I absolutely loved it. I had great teammates, I had
great coaches, and I don't regret a single thing.
(09:47):
So Speaking of Ivy Leagues, right, By the way, some Ivy
League teams, including yourself, are in.
It is incredibly competitive. You've got the Columbia's, the
Cornell's, the Harvard's, obviously you've got Penn,
Princeton. Like if you play a dual match or
(10:09):
you want or you are considering going to Penn, it's going to be
competitive and and you need to be ready.
So on that, let's talk about theteam.
Yeah, let's talk about you guys.This year.
You've played a ton of matches, obviously through PTTS, but in
general, your guys have played aton of matches.
(10:29):
You compete a lot, expectations on the season.
Yeah, I list listen, I think like you said, Ivy League has
gotten really competitive. And listen, I think you can look
at it in one of two ways, right?I think if you're someone who is
scared of competition or doesn'tembrace that, you know, you
think it's getting tougher for for someone like me and, and,
(10:52):
and my staff Stratton here and the players that we're
recruiting, I view that as a good thing.
I view that as, hey, listen, we're not having to go out of
conference for every match and every time we're playing a
match, it's a quality opponent. And if you want to maximize on
the tennis front and you really want to give your shot, you
know, to GoPro, you got to beat the best.
There's no like shortcuts. There's no way around it.
(11:12):
So I view that as, listen, the, you know, the, the cream will
the, you know, the the highest competitor, they're going to
rise to the top. And that's kind of what we're
about, I think this year. Listen, I'm really excited about
this year. We we've had a really nice
start. You know, our our top player,
Manfredi Graziani came out of the gates really nicely picked
up before all Americans in a tune up took out Dylan Dietrich
(11:36):
from UVA 76 and the third who obviously went on to make the
semi finals of all Americans. He's he's a household name.
You know, we had Manfredi and Aaron Sandler qualify and then
end up winning the consolation bracket in the all Americans,
which had never been done beforehere at Penn, picking up five
ranked wins, two top ten wins and and six power power four
(11:59):
wins. You know, listen, we have three
guys that are at that 13 mark right now on UTR and 13 plus,
and then we have a lot of guys that are in that, you know,
12312 four to 12/6 range, where it's going to be an absolute
dogfight to see who gets in there.
You know, so I think, you know, iron sharpens iron and you know,
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I'm a big believer in that. And listen, I think every time
you're going to go out there, you're going out there to win,
right. So our goal, listen, our goal is
to win the Ivy League. Do I think that's going to be
difficult? Yeah, absolutely.
Right. It's really good competition.
The the the margins are narrow. And you know, and I don't say
that lightly. You know, do I think we're
necessarily the favorite on paper?
(12:42):
No. But do I think that we're the,
you know, on paper or have we really closed that gap between
where we were two and three years ago and where the top is?
Yeah, I, I, I, I really think we're right within striking
distance. And listen, if you're just going
to go, you know, I think, listen, I think UTR is the most
accurate rating system and barometer, right?
(13:04):
It's the first thing I look at in anything I'm doing recruiting
wise. It's the first thing I do.
I think it gives you a really, really good idea of what type of
player listening, you know, you're, you're dealing with.
But at the same time, once you crack the can and you go out
there and play, the UTRS are thrown out the window.
And that's when I think the intangibles come in.
That's when I think, what have you done Monday through Friday?
(13:25):
That's what's going to show up and as, you know, as much as I
would, I'm a guy who's I like tobe in control of everything.
As much as I want to think that I'm impacting those matches on
match day, you know, more than you know, I'm like going to be a
deciding factor at the end of the day.
The work we've put in leading upthen is going to decide that.
And our guys are the ones winning the matches.
(13:45):
You know, the fact that we've been able to elevate the program
these past few years and have had some really nice results
early on here, you know, Stratton and I can and can put
them in winning positions, but those guys are the ones winning
the matches, so I give them all the credit.
You guys have always played gooddouble S How do you train and
(14:09):
how do you prepare your guys fordouble S?
What do you? Do yeah.
Listen, I'm, you know, not to give away any secrets.
I don't think there, I don't think there is.
Listen, I don't think there is any like, you know, secret
sauce. Again, listen, got to do the
basics well. Got to do the basics well first
serves you get a racket on the return put it in right take over
the middle when you can come join your partner at net right.
(14:32):
I'm not saying anything that's that's earth shattering right.
I'm not not reinventing the wheel, but also I think we're
we're we're people that are going to we're a volume team.
OK, I'm a volume guy we're goingto Rep it out.
So it almost becomes, you know, second nature right in, in those
pressure moments. If you're if there's so many
different things going on, there's so many good players,
(14:55):
there's fans, there's umpires, there's so many different things
going on. I think if it's not second
nature and it's not programmed correctly, I think it's going to
break down. So I think you just have to
train it and Rep it out. And obviously there's strength,
strengths and weaknesses of guysand and we're going to set up
our guys to, you know, be able to show off those strengths and
try to limit those weaknesses. But at the end of the day, you
(15:18):
know you got to do the basics well.
There's no shortcuts. By the way, a lot of these
questions are, yes, OK, everyonecan listen and learn more about
Rich and learn more about the program.
But also for me, like when I wascoaching at Tennessee, I, I told
the guys, I said we're playing pen.
I think it might be in kickoff weekend.
It might have been early in the season.
I said we have to be ready from the start because they played
(15:41):
really good double S and I thinkwe may have lost the double S .1
time. I can't remember.
Listen, as much as I'd like to take credit card, we had, we had
a couple of match balls there onone against Shun and and
Piachenka. And you know, we, we didn't get
it done. We lost in, we lost 7 fiver and
a breaker. But listen, listen, that's what
college tennis is about, man. You know, you got to get those,
(16:01):
those fine, those fine lines. But I was in an unreal
atmosphere and I love competing.What does Pen have?
How do you separate yourself from other Ivy League schools?
You have a player, his name is John.
He's a 12/5 UTR and he's considering three other Ivy's,
yeah. So I think, you know, listen, I
think one thing I, I'm a big believer in is I'm not a, I'm
(16:24):
not a big negative recruiter. So I think like the first thing
is, right, like any of those choices, right?
If you're in if, if you're deciding between schools of that
level or, or you know, a lot of the schools that I've been at,
there is no like wrong decision,right?
Like wherever you're going to gofor the most part.
Like it's not like if you go with A, your life is great and
if you go with B, you made the wrong decision.
(16:44):
But I think I think one thing isthat the people here myself,
Stratton Gilmore, right, he's myassistant, met him at a tennis
Academy where they teach great base fundamentals.
We, we met when I was 18 and he's probably 14 or 15.
That's where that relationship started.
You got two guys for better or for worse.
Listen, single, right, We don't we're not we don't have wife and
(17:08):
kids to go home to that We have to.
And that's not saying for betteror for worse.
It's just from a time perspective.
I got all the time in the world.And that can either be a good
thing or a bad thing. If you want to be around me a
lot and you want to get better and you want someone who's going
to invest in your tennis, but also invest in you as a person
right over dinners you come to Penn.
(17:29):
I also think if you look at, youknow, looking at UTR, I'll, I'll
reference UTR again. Last year we were the, the team
that improved in, in all Division One.
We are rated number six in termsof the average UTR improvement
on a roster. OK, we are improved by .45 on
average. So that means that other guys
(17:50):
are improving more, maybe less. But if you come here, we're
going to develop you, you're going to get better.
I I also think look like at the end of the day, you know, I'm
going to be, I'm going to be someone who's high energy,
right? And you know, it has to be a
good personality fit. I also think, listen, you talk
to any pen alums, pen alums havea ton, a ton of pride.
(18:13):
I had buddies that played here, you know, the last time that
they won the Ivy's and when the position opened, all of them
reached out to me, right? So I think it's someone, you
know, you come here, you're going to be put in touch with
those people for when the time comes to be put down your
rackets, right? You're looking at, you know,
this isn't, it's just a decisionfor four years.
I look at it as a 4050 year decision and you're building
(18:35):
hopefully lifelong relationships.
Those guys, you know, again, pivoting a little bit from the
tennis side of things, you know,listen, people are coming here
to set themselves up for successon the court, but also to
develop as people and ultimatelysuccessful husband, successful
people and whatever job they're going to get to.
Those people that you're that most people are, are shooting,
(18:57):
you know, on LinkedIn or emails or trying to use connections to
just get them to respond. Those are guys that on match
day, if we're playing a big match, they're dabbing you up or
they're swinging by on a random practice and and hitting in, you
know, So I think in terms of yougrowing your network as a tennis
player, also people that would want to maybe invest in your
tennis after school potentially,you know, things of that nature.
(19:18):
So I think you're getting the best of both worlds.
Again, going through my coachingpath, I've been at a lot of
different places, right? I've worked with as the, you
know, at USC, right? For example, I was the USDA
national coach. I traveled with Stefan
Distonich, obviously, who I got to, you know, invited me up to
watch him play in the US Open, which was a cool experience.
(19:38):
Obviously August Holmgren, those, those two guys reached
number one in the country in college tennis in, in singles
and Steph as well in double s Jacqueline reached top 3IN
singles and number one in the country in double S at Columbia.
So the reason I referenced that and we had two players here,
Eduardo Graziani and Kevin Zhu who reached #2 in the country in
(19:59):
double S my first year, right? So I think 4 different venues,
all different types of players, Power, power, 4 mid, major, Ivy.
People are getting better. Right.
So again, the biggest thing I can say is I think it matters
again, the people you're surrounding yourself with.
And I think if you look at my track record, players have
gotten better. Players have gone on to play
(20:21):
after school at all different venues, Americans, Canadians,
Danes, you, you know, so it's it's a it's a different mix.
Stratton came from UVA beforehand where he obviously,
you know, two time defending national champs when he came.
So again, was travelling with guys like Inyaki at the at your
guys challenger, the Tennessee Challenger when you were there.
(20:42):
So again, you're getting 2 coaches that I don't think are
necessarily cut from the Ivy cloth only.
And again, that's something in recruiting I also look for,
right? You're going to have your your
prototypical Ivy guys that maybehave always grown up with the
hope of playing at a high end academic school, whether that's
Ivy or a select number of schools.
(21:03):
But sometimes you got to find a mix of guys that maybe weren't
on that track all the time, but you're able to kind of maybe
open their eyes to something they didn't think was possible.
Maybe they didn't think they could go to a school like that.
So I think finding the mix of players, whether it's
international, whether it's guysthat are only looking at power
fours or mid majors that are more on the tennis side of
(21:24):
things, but also are good students, right?
So I think I think we've been able to obviously develop here,
but also anywhere I've been, I've been able to identify
talent. So I think if you're someone and
we've had guys that have bought into that vision, right, that
have come here, guys like ShariaBardwash, who, you know, came
in, he was a sub 12. He's now knocking on the door of
(21:45):
the 13. And I think he's he's actually
better than that. It's just just needs some
opportunities. But those guys bought into that
vision. And then a guy like Voge tech
Valves from Czech Republic, who's here, you know, a top 6
player in the world, 2 blue chips from California.
These guys bought into that message.
And I think, listen, if you're worried about me surrounding you
with talent OR we're not going to be good enough, let me worry
(22:06):
about that. You know, I, I think I've shown
I can do that. And I know, listen, Stratton on
Court, One of the best guys on Court, One of the best
developers I've been around and I've been around really good
people. You know, so sorry for the long
winded answer, but it's something that's important to
me. And I think it's also one of
those things, if you talk to anybody, whether that I
recruited, whether they ended upcoming and we continue that
(22:28):
relationship beyond or someone that even maybe chose another
school, I feel like if you spendthe time with me, you know, they
always come away with a pretty genuine feeling, for better or
for worse. And you know, we're going to be
invested in you. That's that's the biggest thing
I can say. No worries on the long answer.
I think if anyone's listening orif your recruit listening to
(22:48):
this, I think you can hear the passion.
I think you're you're going to improve.
The it's almost a guarantee thatif you genuinely love the game
of tennis and you want to listen, you're going to improve.
You don't want to play a lot though.
I would say don't come here. There we go, right?
And then that's why I do this. I want, I want honesty, right?
(23:10):
Speaking of honesty, how do yourpractices look?
What do you guys do? You obviously you know Ivy
League, you've got school classes to balance individual
double S team practice. What do you do?
So I think listen, you know we've both both Stratton and I
have been in a lot of different places, programs that have done
(23:30):
it all individually, programs that have done a mix and
programs that have done like pretty much all team.
So we've kind of, you know, in my eyes, we've kind of taken
what we have determined to be the best of both worlds.
So guys are typically doing individuals in the morning two
to three times a week, right? That's around their class
schedule. In addition to that, we offer,
(23:54):
you know, we're not going to just do one team like big team
practice. We'll do that maybe on Friday
and Saturday because I do think there is a team aspect to it
that gets lost. You need to build that culture
and you need that competitiveness with everyone
around. I mean, that's a big thing, but
we'll usually break it up into two separate practices, right?
So two to three hour blocks, twoof them you got you have, we
(24:18):
have two coach right now. We're we had three last year.
We're bringing on another one. So that means with our roster
size of 11:50 in two practices, you're anywhere between four
guys in that practice or six guys in practice.
Do you have a roster limit or no?
We do not have a roster limit, but we're, but we're again,
we're always going to be in likeI don't have a roster limit in
(24:39):
this in terms of like with, you know, what came out of the
settlement because we didn't optinto that settlement, but we are
capped internally. So we'll be in that 9:50 to
12:00 range, you know, dependingon the year.
I also think that's a good number.
I think it's AI think it's a healthy number where you have
guys that are going to support one another and if you have
injuries, you're not so thin. But I also think, you know, if
(25:01):
we're going to sell development and, and attention given to
individual guys, I think if you're, if you're going beyond
that, as much as you'd like to give all these different players
opportunities, you know, realistically, I don't think you
can, you know, from a numbers perspective.
So in each of those practices, you're going to have, you know,
2 right now, but three coaches looking ahead to next week for
four to six players. You know, So now in that in that
(25:24):
practice, you know, that could be whatever we're focusing on.
You're going to be with someone that's working on something
similar to them, right? We're not going to just do, hey,
everyone's doing this other thanour dynamic warm up that
everyone does together. Everything is individualized.
But I would say at least half ofthose practices you got to
(25:44):
compete, right? So and Friday and Saturday
you're going to compete. And I don't want to hear about,
well, I'm working on this. No, no, no, we're working on
that in your individual time or if we carve that out in a
specific team practice with one of the coaches.
Once we're competing, even if that's just in a, in a, in a
drill setting, right, where you're just playing points or
it's like a controlled pattern drill.
(26:07):
Once you're competing, find a way to win, right?
I don't want to hear about, I'm working on this.
And that doesn't mean we don't value development, right?
We're going to work and listen, we'll do as many individuals as
you want and we'll spend whatever time individually with
you working on those things. But once you're competing, you
got to compete because that's also a skill set.
Winning is a skill set. Learning how to problem solve
(26:29):
when it feels like everything isgoing wrong is a skill set.
And ultimately, with the amount of matches these guys are
playing both in college and out of college, there's no way
you're going to be feeling good most days.
So how do you problem solve Is also a skill set the same way
that breaking the sideline with your forehand from the C
position might be? So now I see why your guys play
(26:51):
so many PTT events you you want.Maybe.
You want them competing. Yeah, And, and also I, you know,
I heard someone, I think I heardDrake say this.
Listen, in college, you're goingto have a weekend, whether it's
a weekend, whether it's indoors,ecacs, whatever the event might
be. You're you might have a match
where you play really well or you play poorly and you lose.
(27:13):
How do you respond? How do you regroup, right.
A lot of the things that you know, we're big on and I'm big
on here is, hey, expect adversity, right?
You're going to be, that's a life skill, right?
Not what happened, right? Everyone knows what happened.
Don't tell me what's wrong. What are we going to do to
problem solve? How do we respond, right?
And those, those are the things that I see and, and I've seen it
(27:35):
all the different programs and the people that we've competed
against and the guys that have been most successful in our
programs and our program here, the guys that are most resilient
and are most willing to respond to adversity in the best way
are. Successful.
Just on that note, there is APTT, like I said, coming to
(27:58):
Philly for the first time ever in January, 2nd or third week.
I don't have it in front of me right now.
I'm trying to I'm trying to get up there but got a spot.
For you? Got a spot for you right on the
couch, man. Coaches like Rich, it's very
appealing to them to get one of these PTT events on their home
(28:20):
courts. An added bonus is if you can do
it either right before the fall,right before the spring season
starts to truly get an idea of of where your team is before the
season begins. So like, how will you approach
that? Each guy will play one match a
day, they'll have one off day, right?
How do you, how will you do that?
(28:41):
Will you watch film with them after?
Will you work on something aftertheir match if they asked you
to? Are you going to do things in
the morning? What?
What will you do that week around the PTT?
Yeah, so around the PTT 1, I think the film is a great thing,
right? Like I think for better or for
worse, I think everyone likes watching themselves when they
win. When you lose though, that's
(29:03):
when you actually can learn a ton, right?
So I think having the film is great.
The coaches will be, the coacheswill be right here, right?
We're going to be watching thesematches because I do think there
is something to having live eyeson your players.
And I think one thing that we'retrying to do and, and it it,
like I, I said, we're a volume team, but also making sure that
(29:24):
our guys are especially our top guys that are going against, you
know, that are maybe their skillsets are kind of where they need
to be and we need to prioritize them.
Maybe being mentally and physically fresh is managing
them properly. So I think it depends on where
guys are at physically and how many matches they've gotten in
over break leading up to them. I think guys that are and, and I
(29:45):
think they will be playing over break, you know, that's not a
that's a hope and then guys havedone that.
So I think, I think. We will do.
On days I would rather do the work after, honestly, you know,
I think it's one of these thingswhere I want to look at the
matches, what we did well, what we didn't do well and have
something specific to focus on, you know, because they're going
to be playing a lot of matches. We have the season coming up a
(30:07):
few days after that and no better way to prepare other than
the PTT. At the end of the year, tell me,
as a head coach for the University of Pennsylvania, how
will you be satisfied ranking and say tournament, Ivy League
finish? You'll you'll sit down at the
(30:28):
end of the year, you'll go back to your house or your apartment
and you'll go, man, I feel good.That was a good year.
What, what is it? What does that look like?
Yeah, I think, listen, I'm a competitor.
I want to win. I want to have success, right?
So, yeah, all those things. I think there are rankings that
I would like. I think they're obviously I
(30:49):
would love to win an Ivy title, but at the end of the day,
listen, I, I want a team that I know that our staff and our
players left everything out there.
We're not looking back and like,man, this one match or hey, that
week, if we had done a little bit better preparation, maybe we
get over the finish line. You know, it's, that's the
(31:10):
biggest thing. I think if we're able to look at
look at ourselves in the mirror and we're able to sit there in
the locker room, hopefully feeling, you know, feeling good
or not feeling good, you know, but hopefully it's a +1.
I think if we're able to look ateach other and be like, hey,
man, listen, left it all out there.
You know, there's nothing I would have changed.
Obviously there's results. You always want to have the best
results. But if there's nothing that we
would have changed. And also I want our opponents
(31:33):
coming away being like, man, that team competes hard.
That's a tough team. That's a disciplined team.
That's a team that I don't want to see every weekend, right?
That's what I think. You know, that's a team that
looks like they've been coached well.
And I don't mean in terms of just skill set.
I mean in terms of discipline. If you don't know, to make the
NSA tournament in college tennis, you either have to win
(31:57):
your conference or you have to be an automatic bid by ranking,
which is usually around 43 ish 4442 somewhere around there.
But wait, I hope they didn't take this rule away, otherwise
I'm going to sound like a you know what, But you also, I
(32:18):
believe, have to be above 500. Yeah.
So if you don't know what that means, that means your record
has to be better than 50% of wins to losses.
So how do you schedule outside of the Big 10?
Sorry, outside of the Big 10, outside of the Ivy, what do you?
Do yeah. So listen, we, we it's a
(32:40):
rankings formula, right? Like it's not like there's any
surprises, right. So I have things in a
spreadsheet. I have relationships that I've
I've made over the course of time and we're targeting, you
know, we're we're targeting teams based on what we need.
You know, I think I'm also in, in terms of, you know, listen,
we've played the likes of Tennessee, we've played UCLA,
we've played Pepperdine. You know, we'll play a lot of
(33:04):
the top mid majors. We're playing Oklahoma State,
you know, so I think it's all targeting teams in that honestly
for us like that 30 to 60 range,you know, we will have teams
that are in that 10 to 20 or higher.
But I think where we're at rightnow from a rankings perspective,
that makes the most sense. I'm also a big double header
guy, OK. So I think, listen, you're going
(33:26):
to have injuries. Things are going to come up.
Guys need to be able to play matches.
Guys also sometimes need to build confidence.
So pretty much every home match,maybe with the exception of when
we're in the conference season and if we need it we can add it.
But we're playing a double header almost every time we're
at home just to get wins and andalso just to get guys reps in
case they're not coming in cold.Right.
(33:48):
Well, I don't know about people listening, but to me, this is
incredible insight into the program.
This is incredible insight into Rich as a head coach and what he
believes in. Guys get better guys, guys
compete. You, you, you need to love the
game of tennis. You're going to get one of the
(34:09):
best educations in the world. And if you're considering going
to Penn, I, I, I think it's a great option.
I think it's a fantastic option.You know, the, the, the stats
are there. And I think what you guys are
doing is you're doing a, you're doing a tremendous job.
So look, I don't want to take any more of your time.
(34:30):
Rich, I appreciate you guys. I look forward to coming over in
January. Best of luck this season and I
will be following your success. Appreciate the time man, always
enjoy chopping it up with you, all right?
See you later. Take care.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have with me today a winner, a
winner. He all he has done since he has
been coaching college tennis honestly is win.
And not only that, he's also a massive believer in the PTT
system he's hosting. If you don't know, the PTT is
(00:22):
coming to Penn Philly in Januaryand also his entire team love to
play PTT events. Rich, sorry for the long intro.
How are we doing? Doing good man, been been
looking to get on here and and chop it up with you man.
I'm I'm pumped for today. That's a lovely picture in the
background there of you and Mr. Keckley listen.
(00:45):
We got to have at least one goodlooking individual in this
interview and it's not going to be me.
What is that? Do you guys keep in touch a lot?
Obviously you work together at San Diego.
How How's your relationship going with him?
Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm in touch with Kex every day, man, for,
for for better or for worse. I mean, he's one of my best, if
not best friends in the industry.
And man, he's doing a hell of a job over there at USD.
(01:05):
And I was just along for the ride for a few years, so I was
happy to be part of that. I'll say this, Kex sends me a
few voice clips. He sent me one the other day and
it was it was one of the best ofall time really.
It really fired me up. So thanks if you're listening.
I, I appreciate that voice clip.Rich, just quickly looking at
(01:25):
your, at your background here. For those that don't know, Rich
was at Amherst College, which isactually quite unique because
you don't often see Division Three coaches moving into
Division One. Nothing against Division Three
whatsoever. It's an incredibly high level as
well, but you just don't see it that often.
(01:48):
So from there, Rich went to University of San Diego, then he
went to Columbia, then he went to USC, and now he is the head
coach at Penn. Just briefly, Rich, tell us a
little bit about anything comingto mind about your background
and and experience and anyone you want to talk about in that
in that time frame. Yeah, I mean, listen, originally
(02:12):
from New York, have two younger sisters.
All three of us played college athletics.
One sister played field hockey at Brown, other played lacrosse
at Franklin and Marshall. So an academic and athletic
family, just give a little background in Amherst College,
top Division Three school in terms of tennis, one of the
elite universities. Also academically, there's a lot
(02:35):
of overlap, I would say between guys who are seeking Ivy League
offers. And then if you're not able to
get that offer, that's kind of one of the schools that routes
that you're going. So you're getting and sometimes
you just want, you know, guys there that want to be a big fish
in a maybe a smaller pond. So you do get high quality
players. I was there with Todd Dobler,
who besides Amherst spent a ton of time in Division One, was
(02:59):
assistant coach at Notre Dame, head coach at Penn State and
associate head coach at TCU. So again, I'll you know, and
what I'll say is something I'm big on is relationships.
And as I've made jumps from Division Three to Division One
and from the different Division One stops, those relationships,
(03:19):
besides what I've done at those schools were the things that
helped me make those jumps from from school to school, you know,
and, and I'm a big believer in that.
And, you know, I'm fortunate to have, you know, the mentors I
had along the way of where I went to school with Paul Asiante
and then Todd Dobler at Amherst,obviously Ryan Keckley at
University of San Diego, Howie Endelman, who's done a great job
(03:40):
obviously at Columbia, and then Brett Macy at USC, you know,
still in touch with all those guys.
And they're all doing a hell of a job at their respective
programs. So one of the things that I
think you do a good job of is you like to recruit.
You are, I would say maybe a recruiter by nature.
(04:03):
Every college coach is different.
Everyone has their strengths andeveryone has their weaknesses.
But you love it, right? You know, number one class in
Division Three, top five classesat Columbia.
You know, Learner TN is an example at USC.
What do you, what do you do? How do you recruit?
(04:23):
What do you, what's your, you just being yourself?
What do you, what are you communicating with these
players? Yeah, I think, you know,
recruiting is like anything elsethat you want to be successful
at, right? There's there's no real like
secret sauce. There's no cookie cutter answer.
If I'm being honest, you know, Iput in a ton of time and I value
(04:45):
building that relationship with the player.
I think my personality, for better or worse, is going to
come through. If you're speaking with a player
daily, if you're recruiting in the summer when there's
unlimited recruiting opportunities, when you're at
every event, you're going to watch them practice.
So I think listen, it's, it's simply a numbers game.
And if you, if you're going to look at the percentages and the
(05:06):
time that you're investing versus the amount of successful
players you're bringing on, you're going to lose your mind
because you're hearing no, a heck of a lot more than you're
hearing yes. And if that's going to bug you,
you know, unless you're at a fewschools, I don't think you're
going to be very successful at it.
And I think, you know, for all the the times that I was
(05:27):
successful and that's what people talk about maybe with the
different classes, with someone like Lerner, you know, August
Holmgren, you know, Michael Nicholas, Max Westfall, Hugo,
you know, I'm hearing a lot of Nos and there were a lot of
really good players that I thought I was in there with and
I was going to get that, you know, break your heart when they
give you that no call. But listen, that's like anything
(05:48):
else in life. And that's something I talk
about with our guys. You know, you're going to have
to deal with setbacks and you got to be more process oriented
than result oriented. Because if you're only going to
do things when they work out, not going to be very successful
in whether it's tennis or whatever other venture you're
going to go on to whenever the time comes to put the rackets
down. So you are recruiting now?
(06:10):
Obviously you've been at Penn for a few years now taking them
to a national stage. I think that's how we would
describe it. You've clearly got them to an
incredibly competitive level andsay tournaments and you know,
very competitive in the Ivy League.
You know, now with the changing of college athletics and NIL and
(06:35):
revenue share, how has that impacted your job in the Ivy
League? You know what, you know what I
mean? Like how?
How's that changing how you recruit maybe?
Yeah. So I think honestly, it hasn't
changed how I recruit that much of them being honest.
I think there's going to be a few players that if you're
really looking for that blockbuster nil deal, just the
(06:56):
way that the Ivy League is structured and you know, kind of
the we're a little bit slower toto change, right?
We're a little bit set in our ways.
But at the same time, like, you know, I think if you're looking
just to make the most money or get the best offer, I don't know
necessarily if that's going to be us.
But also at the same time, if I was here or if I was at another
(07:18):
program, I don't know, you know,when I'm advising.
Recruits. I don't know if that's always
the best way to look at your tennis and how you're going to
develop because I think sometimes you have to look at
things besides the money becausesome of the money we're being
offered here, I understand when it's like we're talking the the
basketball and football money. Some of that money is life
changing money. For the most part, it's my
(07:40):
knowledge there is some offers that are going out there that is
a good chunk of money that you can you can use to maybe jump
start your pro career. But I don't view it as life
changing money. So in in, in, in my opinion, we
may lose a guy or two here or there if they're if they're
looking for that extra bit of coin.
But I still think the opportunity you have for a top
(08:00):
five education here at Penn and the return on that investment
while not having to sacrifice inthe tennis cent.
I think I think there's been a in, in the past, I think there
was the narrative that if you goIvy, you can't develop and you
can't go pro, You're kind of giving up on your on your tennis
dreams. I would say really in the last
5-10 years, I think that narrative has been proven false.
(08:22):
I think, you know, reference Michael Zhang right now is, is
definitely proven that, you know, he's top 175 in the world.
He's still enrolled. And Michael's a unique
individual, right? Like coming to a place like
Penn, it's not for everybody, but I do think it's possible.
And I think the, the most important thing, you know, where
I've seen, you know, I've been fortunate.
(08:42):
I've been in a lot of different spots.
So I've been at the high end of Division Three.
I've been in the power 4 at USC.I've been at a really good, you
know, the top mid major at USD Columbia and the Ivy was at the
top. And now here at Penn, you know,
listen, you're not going to haveall the bells and whistles at
every program per SE. And I've listened to some of
your other interviews. I, I actually think sometimes
(09:03):
that can be a negative because it's a little, I don't know, I
had a tough time. I feel like you're getting too
much while not putting enough in.
And at the spots that I've been,if you have really good coaches,
you have dedicated student athletes and you have tennis
balls and tennis courts, you canget really good if you have the
right people and you have the right mindset and you're willing
to work. Well, I'll say this.
(09:24):
I'm a big believer in who you put yourself around.
I went to Drake University, absolutely loved it, strung my
rackets for four years, and honestly, I'm just going to be
honest. People said to me, why did you
go to Drake? I didn't know.
I came from Scotland and I went to Drake and I loved it.
I absolutely loved it. I had great teammates, I had
great coaches, and I don't regret a single thing.
(09:47):
So Speaking of Ivy Leagues, right, By the way, some Ivy
League teams, including yourself, are in.
It is incredibly competitive. You've got the Columbia's, the
Cornell's, the Harvard's, obviously you've got Penn,
Princeton. Like if you play a dual match or
(10:09):
you want or you are considering going to Penn, it's going to be
competitive and and you need to be ready.
So on that, let's talk about theteam.
Yeah, let's talk about you guys.This year.
You've played a ton of matches, obviously through PTTS, but in
general, your guys have played aton of matches.
(10:29):
You compete a lot, expectations on the season.
Yeah, I list listen, I think like you said, Ivy League has
gotten really competitive. And listen, I think you can look
at it in one of two ways, right?I think if you're someone who is
scared of competition or doesn'tembrace that, you know, you
think it's getting tougher for for someone like me and, and,
(10:52):
and my staff Stratton here and the players that we're
recruiting, I view that as a good thing.
I view that as, hey, listen, we're not having to go out of
conference for every match and every time we're playing a
match, it's a quality opponent. And if you want to maximize on
the tennis front and you really want to give your shot, you
know, to GoPro, you got to beat the best.
There's no like shortcuts. There's no way around it.
(11:12):
So I view that as, listen, the, you know, the, the cream will
the, you know, the the highest competitor, they're going to
rise to the top. And that's kind of what we're
about, I think this year. Listen, I'm really excited about
this year. We we've had a really nice
start. You know, our our top player,
Manfredi Graziani came out of the gates really nicely picked
up before all Americans in a tune up took out Dylan Dietrich
(11:36):
from UVA 76 and the third who obviously went on to make the
semi finals of all Americans. He's he's a household name.
You know, we had Manfredi and Aaron Sandler qualify and then
end up winning the consolation bracket in the all Americans,
which had never been done beforehere at Penn, picking up five
ranked wins, two top ten wins and and six power power four
(11:59):
wins. You know, listen, we have three
guys that are at that 13 mark right now on UTR and 13 plus,
and then we have a lot of guys that are in that, you know,
12312 four to 12/6 range, where it's going to be an absolute
dogfight to see who gets in there.
You know, so I think, you know, iron sharpens iron and you know,
(12:21):
I'm a big believer in that. And listen, I think every time
you're going to go out there, you're going out there to win,
right. So our goal, listen, our goal is
to win the Ivy League. Do I think that's going to be
difficult? Yeah, absolutely.
Right. It's really good competition.
The the the margins are narrow. And you know, and I don't say
that lightly. You know, do I think we're
necessarily the favorite on paper?
(12:42):
No. But do I think that we're the,
you know, on paper or have we really closed that gap between
where we were two and three years ago and where the top is?
Yeah, I, I, I, I really think we're right within striking
distance. And listen, if you're just going
to go, you know, I think, listen, I think UTR is the most
accurate rating system and barometer, right?
(13:04):
It's the first thing I look at in anything I'm doing recruiting
wise. It's the first thing I do.
I think it gives you a really, really good idea of what type of
player listening, you know, you're, you're dealing with.
But at the same time, once you crack the can and you go out
there and play, the UTRS are thrown out the window.
And that's when I think the intangibles come in.
That's when I think, what have you done Monday through Friday?
(13:25):
That's what's going to show up and as, you know, as much as I
would, I'm a guy who's I like tobe in control of everything.
As much as I want to think that I'm impacting those matches on
match day, you know, more than you know, I'm like going to be a
deciding factor at the end of the day.
The work we've put in leading upthen is going to decide that.
And our guys are the ones winning the matches.
(13:45):
You know, the fact that we've been able to elevate the program
these past few years and have had some really nice results
early on here, you know, Stratton and I can and can put
them in winning positions, but those guys are the ones winning
the matches, so I give them all the credit.
You guys have always played gooddouble S How do you train and
(14:09):
how do you prepare your guys fordouble S?
What do you? Do yeah.
Listen, I'm, you know, not to give away any secrets.
I don't think there, I don't think there is.
Listen, I don't think there is any like, you know, secret
sauce. Again, listen, got to do the
basics well. Got to do the basics well first
serves you get a racket on the return put it in right take over
the middle when you can come join your partner at net right.
(14:32):
I'm not saying anything that's that's earth shattering right.
I'm not not reinventing the wheel, but also I think we're
we're we're people that are going to we're a volume team.
OK, I'm a volume guy we're goingto Rep it out.
So it almost becomes, you know, second nature right in, in those
pressure moments. If you're if there's so many
different things going on, there's so many good players,
(14:55):
there's fans, there's umpires, there's so many different things
going on. I think if it's not second
nature and it's not programmed correctly, I think it's going to
break down. So I think you just have to
train it and Rep it out. And obviously there's strength,
strengths and weaknesses of guysand and we're going to set up
our guys to, you know, be able to show off those strengths and
try to limit those weaknesses. But at the end of the day, you
(15:18):
know you got to do the basics well.
There's no shortcuts. By the way, a lot of these
questions are, yes, OK, everyonecan listen and learn more about
Rich and learn more about the program.
But also for me, like when I wascoaching at Tennessee, I, I told
the guys, I said we're playing pen.
I think it might be in kickoff weekend.
It might have been early in the season.
I said we have to be ready from the start because they played
(15:41):
really good double S and I thinkwe may have lost the double S .1
time. I can't remember.
Listen, as much as I'd like to take credit card, we had, we had
a couple of match balls there onone against Shun and and
Piachenka. And you know, we, we didn't get
it done. We lost in, we lost 7 fiver and
a breaker. But listen, listen, that's what
college tennis is about, man. You know, you got to get those,
(16:01):
those fine, those fine lines. But I was in an unreal
atmosphere and I love competing.What does Pen have?
How do you separate yourself from other Ivy League schools?
You have a player, his name is John.
He's a 12/5 UTR and he's considering three other Ivy's,
yeah. So I think, you know, listen, I
think one thing I, I'm a big believer in is I'm not a, I'm
(16:24):
not a big negative recruiter. So I think like the first thing
is, right, like any of those choices, right?
If you're in if, if you're deciding between schools of that
level or, or you know, a lot of the schools that I've been at,
there is no like wrong decision,right?
Like wherever you're going to gofor the most part.
Like it's not like if you go with A, your life is great and
if you go with B, you made the wrong decision.
(16:44):
But I think I think one thing isthat the people here myself,
Stratton Gilmore, right, he's myassistant, met him at a tennis
Academy where they teach great base fundamentals.
We, we met when I was 18 and he's probably 14 or 15.
That's where that relationship started.
You got two guys for better or for worse.
Listen, single, right, We don't we're not we don't have wife and
(17:08):
kids to go home to that We have to.
And that's not saying for betteror for worse.
It's just from a time perspective.
I got all the time in the world.And that can either be a good
thing or a bad thing. If you want to be around me a
lot and you want to get better and you want someone who's going
to invest in your tennis, but also invest in you as a person
right over dinners you come to Penn.
(17:29):
I also think if you look at, youknow, looking at UTR, I'll, I'll
reference UTR again. Last year we were the, the team
that improved in, in all Division One.
We are rated number six in termsof the average UTR improvement
on a roster. OK, we are improved by .45 on
average. So that means that other guys
(17:50):
are improving more, maybe less. But if you come here, we're
going to develop you, you're going to get better.
I I also think look like at the end of the day, you know, I'm
going to be, I'm going to be someone who's high energy,
right? And you know, it has to be a
good personality fit. I also think, listen, you talk
to any pen alums, pen alums havea ton, a ton of pride.
(18:13):
I had buddies that played here, you know, the last time that
they won the Ivy's and when the position opened, all of them
reached out to me, right? So I think it's someone, you
know, you come here, you're going to be put in touch with
those people for when the time comes to be put down your
rackets, right? You're looking at, you know,
this isn't, it's just a decisionfor four years.
I look at it as a 4050 year decision and you're building
(18:35):
hopefully lifelong relationships.
Those guys, you know, again, pivoting a little bit from the
tennis side of things, you know,listen, people are coming here
to set themselves up for successon the court, but also to
develop as people and ultimatelysuccessful husband, successful
people and whatever job they're going to get to.
Those people that you're that most people are, are shooting,
(18:57):
you know, on LinkedIn or emails or trying to use connections to
just get them to respond. Those are guys that on match
day, if we're playing a big match, they're dabbing you up or
they're swinging by on a random practice and and hitting in, you
know, So I think in terms of yougrowing your network as a tennis
player, also people that would want to maybe invest in your
tennis after school potentially,you know, things of that nature.
(19:18):
So I think you're getting the best of both worlds.
Again, going through my coachingpath, I've been at a lot of
different places, right? I've worked with as the, you
know, at USC, right? For example, I was the USDA
national coach. I traveled with Stefan
Distonich, obviously, who I got to, you know, invited me up to
watch him play in the US Open, which was a cool experience.
(19:38):
Obviously August Holmgren, those, those two guys reached
number one in the country in college tennis in, in singles
and Steph as well in double s Jacqueline reached top 3IN
singles and number one in the country in double S at Columbia.
So the reason I referenced that and we had two players here,
Eduardo Graziani and Kevin Zhu who reached #2 in the country in
(19:59):
double S my first year, right? So I think 4 different venues,
all different types of players, Power, power, 4 mid, major, Ivy.
People are getting better. Right.
So again, the biggest thing I can say is I think it matters
again, the people you're surrounding yourself with.
And I think if you look at my track record, players have
gotten better. Players have gone on to play
(20:21):
after school at all different venues, Americans, Canadians,
Danes, you, you know, so it's it's a it's a different mix.
Stratton came from UVA beforehand where he obviously,
you know, two time defending national champs when he came.
So again, was travelling with guys like Inyaki at the at your
guys challenger, the Tennessee Challenger when you were there.
(20:42):
So again, you're getting 2 coaches that I don't think are
necessarily cut from the Ivy cloth only.
And again, that's something in recruiting I also look for,
right? You're going to have your your
prototypical Ivy guys that maybehave always grown up with the
hope of playing at a high end academic school, whether that's
Ivy or a select number of schools.
(21:03):
But sometimes you got to find a mix of guys that maybe weren't
on that track all the time, but you're able to kind of maybe
open their eyes to something they didn't think was possible.
Maybe they didn't think they could go to a school like that.
So I think finding the mix of players, whether it's
international, whether it's guysthat are only looking at power
fours or mid majors that are more on the tennis side of
(21:24):
things, but also are good students, right?
So I think I think we've been able to obviously develop here,
but also anywhere I've been, I've been able to identify
talent. So I think if you're someone and
we've had guys that have bought into that vision, right, that
have come here, guys like ShariaBardwash, who, you know, came
in, he was a sub 12. He's now knocking on the door of
(21:45):
the 13. And I think he's he's actually
better than that. It's just just needs some
opportunities. But those guys bought into that
vision. And then a guy like Voge tech
Valves from Czech Republic, who's here, you know, a top 6
player in the world, 2 blue chips from California.
These guys bought into that message.
And I think, listen, if you're worried about me surrounding you
with talent OR we're not going to be good enough, let me worry
(22:06):
about that. You know, I, I think I've shown
I can do that. And I know, listen, Stratton on
Court, One of the best guys on Court, One of the best
developers I've been around and I've been around really good
people. You know, so sorry for the long
winded answer, but it's something that's important to
me. And I think it's also one of
those things, if you talk to anybody, whether that I
recruited, whether they ended upcoming and we continue that
(22:28):
relationship beyond or someone that even maybe chose another
school, I feel like if you spendthe time with me, you know, they
always come away with a pretty genuine feeling, for better or
for worse. And you know, we're going to be
invested in you. That's that's the biggest thing
I can say. No worries on the long answer.
I think if anyone's listening orif your recruit listening to
(22:48):
this, I think you can hear the passion.
I think you're you're going to improve.
The it's almost a guarantee thatif you genuinely love the game
of tennis and you want to listen, you're going to improve.
You don't want to play a lot though.
I would say don't come here. There we go, right?
And then that's why I do this. I want, I want honesty, right?
(23:10):
Speaking of honesty, how do yourpractices look?
What do you guys do? You obviously you know Ivy
League, you've got school classes to balance individual
double S team practice. What do you do?
So I think listen, you know we've both both Stratton and I
have been in a lot of different places, programs that have done
(23:30):
it all individually, programs that have done a mix and
programs that have done like pretty much all team.
So we've kind of, you know, in my eyes, we've kind of taken
what we have determined to be the best of both worlds.
So guys are typically doing individuals in the morning two
to three times a week, right? That's around their class
schedule. In addition to that, we offer,
(23:54):
you know, we're not going to just do one team like big team
practice. We'll do that maybe on Friday
and Saturday because I do think there is a team aspect to it
that gets lost. You need to build that culture
and you need that competitiveness with everyone
around. I mean, that's a big thing, but
we'll usually break it up into two separate practices, right?
So two to three hour blocks, twoof them you got you have, we
(24:18):
have two coach right now. We're we had three last year.
We're bringing on another one. So that means with our roster
size of 11:50 in two practices, you're anywhere between four
guys in that practice or six guys in practice.
Do you have a roster limit or no?
We do not have a roster limit, but we're, but we're again,
we're always going to be in likeI don't have a roster limit in
(24:39):
this in terms of like with, you know, what came out of the
settlement because we didn't optinto that settlement, but we are
capped internally. So we'll be in that 9:50 to
12:00 range, you know, dependingon the year.
I also think that's a good number.
I think it's AI think it's a healthy number where you have
guys that are going to support one another and if you have
injuries, you're not so thin. But I also think, you know, if
(25:01):
we're going to sell development and, and attention given to
individual guys, I think if you're, if you're going beyond
that, as much as you'd like to give all these different players
opportunities, you know, realistically, I don't think you
can, you know, from a numbers perspective.
So in each of those practices, you're going to have, you know,
2 right now, but three coaches looking ahead to next week for
four to six players. You know, So now in that in that
(25:24):
practice, you know, that could be whatever we're focusing on.
You're going to be with someone that's working on something
similar to them, right? We're not going to just do, hey,
everyone's doing this other thanour dynamic warm up that
everyone does together. Everything is individualized.
But I would say at least half ofthose practices you got to
(25:44):
compete, right? So and Friday and Saturday
you're going to compete. And I don't want to hear about,
well, I'm working on this. No, no, no, we're working on
that in your individual time or if we carve that out in a
specific team practice with one of the coaches.
Once we're competing, even if that's just in a, in a, in a
drill setting, right, where you're just playing points or
it's like a controlled pattern drill.
(26:07):
Once you're competing, find a way to win, right?
I don't want to hear about, I'm working on this.
And that doesn't mean we don't value development, right?
We're going to work and listen, we'll do as many individuals as
you want and we'll spend whatever time individually with
you working on those things. But once you're competing, you
got to compete because that's also a skill set.
Winning is a skill set. Learning how to problem solve
(26:29):
when it feels like everything isgoing wrong is a skill set.
And ultimately, with the amount of matches these guys are
playing both in college and out of college, there's no way
you're going to be feeling good most days.
So how do you problem solve Is also a skill set the same way
that breaking the sideline with your forehand from the C
position might be? So now I see why your guys play
(26:51):
so many PTT events you you want.Maybe.
You want them competing. Yeah, And, and also I, you know,
I heard someone, I think I heardDrake say this.
Listen, in college, you're goingto have a weekend, whether it's
a weekend, whether it's indoors,ecacs, whatever the event might
be. You're you might have a match
where you play really well or you play poorly and you lose.
(27:13):
How do you respond? How do you regroup, right.
A lot of the things that you know, we're big on and I'm big
on here is, hey, expect adversity, right?
You're going to be, that's a life skill, right?
Not what happened, right? Everyone knows what happened.
Don't tell me what's wrong. What are we going to do to
problem solve? How do we respond, right?
And those, those are the things that I see and, and I've seen it
(27:35):
all the different programs and the people that we've competed
against and the guys that have been most successful in our
programs and our program here, the guys that are most resilient
and are most willing to respond to adversity in the best way
are. Successful.
Just on that note, there is APTT, like I said, coming to
(27:58):
Philly for the first time ever in January, 2nd or third week.
I don't have it in front of me right now.
I'm trying to I'm trying to get up there but got a spot.
For you? Got a spot for you right on the
couch, man. Coaches like Rich, it's very
appealing to them to get one of these PTT events on their home
(28:20):
courts. An added bonus is if you can do
it either right before the fall,right before the spring season
starts to truly get an idea of of where your team is before the
season begins. So like, how will you approach
that? Each guy will play one match a
day, they'll have one off day, right?
How do you, how will you do that?
(28:41):
Will you watch film with them after?
Will you work on something aftertheir match if they asked you
to? Are you going to do things in
the morning? What?
What will you do that week around the PTT?
Yeah, so around the PTT 1, I think the film is a great thing,
right? Like I think for better or for
worse, I think everyone likes watching themselves when they
win. When you lose though, that's
(29:03):
when you actually can learn a ton, right?
So I think having the film is great.
The coaches will be, the coacheswill be right here, right?
We're going to be watching thesematches because I do think there
is something to having live eyeson your players.
And I think one thing that we'retrying to do and, and it it,
like I, I said, we're a volume team, but also making sure that
(29:24):
our guys are especially our top guys that are going against, you
know, that are maybe their skillsets are kind of where they need
to be and we need to prioritize them.
Maybe being mentally and physically fresh is managing
them properly. So I think it depends on where
guys are at physically and how many matches they've gotten in
over break leading up to them. I think guys that are and, and I
(29:45):
think they will be playing over break, you know, that's not a
that's a hope and then guys havedone that.
So I think, I think. We will do.
On days I would rather do the work after, honestly, you know,
I think it's one of these thingswhere I want to look at the
matches, what we did well, what we didn't do well and have
something specific to focus on, you know, because they're going
to be playing a lot of matches. We have the season coming up a
(30:07):
few days after that and no better way to prepare other than
the PTT. At the end of the year, tell me,
as a head coach for the University of Pennsylvania, how
will you be satisfied ranking and say tournament, Ivy League
finish? You'll you'll sit down at the
(30:28):
end of the year, you'll go back to your house or your apartment
and you'll go, man, I feel good.That was a good year.
What, what is it? What does that look like?
Yeah, I think, listen, I'm a competitor.
I want to win. I want to have success, right?
So, yeah, all those things. I think there are rankings that
I would like. I think they're obviously I
(30:49):
would love to win an Ivy title, but at the end of the day,
listen, I, I want a team that I know that our staff and our
players left everything out there.
We're not looking back and like,man, this one match or hey, that
week, if we had done a little bit better preparation, maybe we
get over the finish line. You know, it's, that's the
(31:10):
biggest thing. I think if we're able to look at
look at ourselves in the mirror and we're able to sit there in
the locker room, hopefully feeling, you know, feeling good
or not feeling good, you know, but hopefully it's a +1.
I think if we're able to look ateach other and be like, hey,
man, listen, left it all out there.
You know, there's nothing I would have changed.
Obviously there's results. You always want to have the best
results. But if there's nothing that we
would have changed. And also I want our opponents
(31:33):
coming away being like, man, that team competes hard.
That's a tough team. That's a disciplined team.
That's a team that I don't want to see every weekend, right?
That's what I think. You know, that's a team that
looks like they've been coached well.
And I don't mean in terms of just skill set.
I mean in terms of discipline. If you don't know, to make the
NSA tournament in college tennis, you either have to win
(31:57):
your conference or you have to be an automatic bid by ranking,
which is usually around 43 ish 4442 somewhere around there.
But wait, I hope they didn't take this rule away, otherwise
I'm going to sound like a you know what, But you also, I
(32:18):
believe, have to be above 500. Yeah.
So if you don't know what that means, that means your record
has to be better than 50% of wins to losses.
So how do you schedule outside of the Big 10?
Sorry, outside of the Big 10, outside of the Ivy, what do you?
Do yeah. So listen, we, we it's a
(32:40):
rankings formula, right? Like it's not like there's any
surprises, right. So I have things in a
spreadsheet. I have relationships that I've
I've made over the course of time and we're targeting, you
know, we're we're targeting teams based on what we need.
You know, I think I'm also in, in terms of, you know, listen,
we've played the likes of Tennessee, we've played UCLA,
we've played Pepperdine. You know, we'll play a lot of
(33:04):
the top mid majors. We're playing Oklahoma State,
you know, so I think it's all targeting teams in that honestly
for us like that 30 to 60 range,you know, we will have teams
that are in that 10 to 20 or higher.
But I think where we're at rightnow from a rankings perspective,
that makes the most sense. I'm also a big double header
guy, OK. So I think, listen, you're going
(33:26):
to have injuries. Things are going to come up.
Guys need to be able to play matches.
Guys also sometimes need to build confidence.
So pretty much every home match,maybe with the exception of when
we're in the conference season and if we need it we can add it.
But we're playing a double header almost every time we're
at home just to get wins and andalso just to get guys reps in
case they're not coming in cold.Right.
(33:48):
Well, I don't know about people listening, but to me, this is
incredible insight into the program.
This is incredible insight into Rich as a head coach and what he
believes in. Guys get better guys, guys
compete. You, you, you need to love the
game of tennis. You're going to get one of the
(34:09):
best educations in the world. And if you're considering going
to Penn, I, I, I think it's a great option.
I think it's a fantastic option.You know, the, the, the stats
are there. And I think what you guys are
doing is you're doing a, you're doing a tremendous job.
So look, I don't want to take any more of your time.
(34:30):
Rich, I appreciate you guys. I look forward to coming over in
January. Best of luck this season and I
will be following your success. Appreciate the time man, always
enjoy chopping it up with you, all right?
See you later. Take care.
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