Tennis Coach Derek Schwandt Reflects on First Season as Head Coach

The Hail Mary fell incomplete and the upset was completed. The Philadelphia Eagles had captured Super Bowl LII with a wild 41-33 triumph over the favored New England Patriots.

Earlier that Sunday, Feb. 5, another dramatic victory occurred. The Liberty University men’s tennis team upended Kennesaw State University with a tense 4-3 win in Peachtree Corners, Georgia.

“I’m from Philadelphia, so that was a big day,” Liberty head coach Derek Schwandt said.

It was one of many memorable days for Schwandt, an Eagles fan who recently finished his first season as a college head coach.

Schwandt received the Big South Conference Coach of the Year award after guiding the Flames to a 12-12 record, including 4-3 in conference play. The season marked an overall five-win improvement from the year before.

Schwandt was an assistant coach at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Fresno State University and the University of Virginia before he was hired to lead the Flames in May 2017.

“It’s been a goal of mine professionally to become a head coach and lead a team to the top level of DI since I got into (coaching) 10 years ago,” Schwandt said. “(Liberty) was an amazing opportunity, especially after coming out for the interview and seeing the place and seeing how dedicated the athletic department is to being successful.”

The Flames endured a fair share of up and downs throughout Schwandt’s rookie head coaching season, including a three-game winning streak March 17-24, followed by a four-game losing streak to close the year.

During the winning streak Liberty came together as a team and pulled out a 5-2 triumph over San Diego State in California that Schwandt pointed to as a season highlight.

The losing streak, along with the Flames’ season, concluded April 16 when the team suffered a disappointing 4-3 loss to Longwood University in the quarterfinals of the Big South Men’s Tennis Championship.

“It was really a tough one to get over for a few days, but we moved past it and will use it as fuel for summer training,” Schwandt said. “We’ve stayed in the process all season and that’s not going to change.”

Since then, Schwandt said that he has met with each of his players individually to create a vision for this summer and next season.

One of Schwandt’s goals for next season and the years beyond is to increase the intensity and volume of work as he seeks to build a perennially successful men’s tennis program.

“There’s no way around hard work and being physical,” Schwandt said. “We’re definitely going to step up and continue to build the intensity at which we’re practicing and training.”

For his first year Schwandt said he was pleased with the fight his players and coaching staff brought and the team bonding that occurred.

“Whether it was practices or the gym or matches, I thought we had really good energy,” Schwandt said. “The guys enjoyed it, which is big. For how hard we work them and all the matches, you’ve got to enjoy it. While it wasn’t the end that we were shooting for, we definitely had some positive momentum this year.”