By Pete Ruden
As a coach, it’s important to build good relationships with the athletes on the team. For Iowa men’s tennis assistant coach Matt Hagan, it was easy.
Hagan was a standout player for the Hawkeyes just two years ago, so he was teammates with many of the athletes still on the team. That helps him to coach the team in a way that most coaches are not be able to.
“He just knows the guys on the team,” said senior Nils Hallestrand, who was also Hagan’s roommate in his playing days. “He knows all of our games really well. He knows what works with each one of us.”
Because he was on the team he now coaches, Hagan is in a different position as a coach, being able to relate to the players in a way that anyone outside the program could not.
“He can definitely also relate to us really well, just because he’s so close to us when it comes to age. He was in college just a few years ago,” Hallestrand said. “It’s definitely a good relationship between him and the players.”
Hagan made his mark on the Hawkeye tennis program during his senior season, when he was named first-team All-Big Ten. So when he was offered a job to be a coach in Iowa City, he couldn’t turn the opportunity down.
“I love tennis, and I love the college atmosphere, and I love everything about it,” Hagan said. “It was kind of like the perfect role and perfect opportunity for me to start off my coaching career, especially after playing here for four years.”
In his playing days at Iowa, Hagan had 48 career wins in singles matches and 64 wins in doubles. He was ranked as high as No. 31 in the country in doubles along with partner Dom Patrick.
Iowa head coach Ross Wilson, who coached Hagan, thinks that Hagan’s on-court demeanor will help him as a coach, just as it did when he was a player.
“When he was having a lot of success toward the end of his junior into his senior year, I think his demeanor on the court was really good,” Wilson said. “He didn’t get too high; he didn’t get too low. He was mentally pretty solid and stable, and I think that’s something that’s really going to benefit him on the coaching side of things.”
It isn’t often someone as young as Hagan gets a Division-1 coaching job, but when it comes down to it, Wilson thinks he is the perfect candidate.
“At the end of the day, I trust the guy,” Wilson said. “I trust him to do the right things in practice. I trust him that he knows the right things to say during matches, and he’s able to really help our guys become better players and better people on and off the court.”
Though Hagan has authority over his former teammates, they still maintain a good relationship. After being close with Hagan the player, Hallestrand continues to be close with Hagan the coach.
“Nothing really [changed],” Hallestrand said. “Except now he can punish me if I do something wrong.”