GRANVILLE, Ohio – Head men's tennis coach and 1989 Denison graduate David Schilling was recently welcomed back to our Big Red athletics family and we figured it was time for everyone to learn a little more about him. We recently caught up with Coach Schilling and asked him some hard-hitting questions in our latest edition of 'Get To Know The Coach'.

 
Q: When do you first remember falling in love with the sport of tennis?
A: My father was the tennis coach at The College of Wooster and I was a soccer player, not a tennis player. However, early in his career, he took me on a couple of team trips, and I got to know the players on the team.  Even though I didn't play (or particularly like tennis), meeting these college aged kids and seeing how they competed, lit the fire. At that point I knew college tennis was for me and went down a path that has led me here to Denison.

 
Q: What do you enjoy most about being a college tennis coach?
A: The team aspect of the sport is by far my favorite part of coaching. Working together with a group of young players and building towards team goals.   Most tennis players have limited or no experience in team tennis when they arrive on campus, so the process of teaching kids to be part of a team program is particularly rewarding.  Winning as a team and losing and learning as a team cannot be replicated in any other form of competitive tennis.

 
Q: Tell us about your family and how they influence you on and off the court?
A: As I mentioned, my father was a tennis player growing up, played collegiately at Southern Methodist University, and coached for 34 years at The College of Wooster. This was particularly influential in my upbringing.  Tennis was always "his" sport and "my" sport was soccer, but once he started coaching collegiately and I was exposed to the team aspect, it affected all my previous impressions of the game. He was/is incredibly influential in helping me learn the sport, how to coach, and how to interact with college-aged players.  My mother was always there for all my matches, drove me around the Midwest to help my growth and development as a player, and was the backbone of my support.  They both had incredible influence in my life as a whole, but more importantly as a person.

 
Q: Any pre-match superstitions or routines?
A: Haha, not too many. I spent 20+ years working with Ty Tucker at Ohio State who had an incredible array of routines and superstitions.  In fact, it was an ongoing debate between he and I about the role of superstitions' in sport.  Unfortunately, I don't' think I made much of an impact on his thinking, haha. Therefore, I try and avoid too many of these sorts of things, although I probably have a bunch that I am not even aware of.

 
Q: Do you have a favorite tennis player or tennis mentor that you follow or look up to?
A: I had favorite players growing up, like Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander, and many mentors through the years. When I was at Kenyon College, I was lucky enough to work with Paul Wardlaw, Scott Thielke, and Jim Steen, and learned so much from each of them.  While at Ohio State, I learned so much from Ty Tucker, as well as former assistants David Geatz (current University of Penn men's tennis head coach), Chris Garner (current Navy men's tennis head coach), Jeremy Wurtzman (current Indiana men's tennis head coach), and Justin Kronauge (current Ohio State men's tennis associate head coach). Finally, Peter Burling was a great mentor for me during my two years as an assistant at Denison and, of course, my father.

 
Q: If you were to choose only one food (or meal) to eat the rest of your life, what would it be?
A: I'd have to go with chicken and rice, as I eat of ton of it. My former Kenyon players would be disappointed if I didn't pick this combo.  They apparently found this to be quite amusing.

 
Q: What is your favorite song(s)/music of all-time?
A: My favorite band of all time is U2.  I am pretty sure there are not too many former players who wouldn't know the answer to this question, which means I really overdid it during our time together, haha.

 
Q: Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer?
A: Federer.  Grace, style, and Wilson rackets.

 
Q: You enjoyed many successes over the years as an assistant coach at Ohio State, but what made it the right time to return to your alma mater and take over the men's tennis program at Denison? What are your expectations for the program moving forward?
A: I always joked that the only school I would ever leave Ohio State for was Denison.  When Peter Burling retired, I knew I had to take a look and find out more.  When researching the position and learning about the incredible place that Denison is in today, I knew the timing was right.  The incredible leadership provided by Adam Weinberg as president and Nan Carney-DeBord as athletic director were evident in every touch point of research I did. Speaking to the search committee, current players, alumni and other parts of the Denison community made it abundantly clear this is an incredible time in Denison's long and proud history. As an alum, I knew what a special place Denison is, but returning and working with the current community has only cemented my belief in the university.

My expectations for the program moving forward are to build a perennial national contender; one that competes for championships.  Conference championships, national indoor championships, and NCAA championships. We are looking to build what we call a five-star culture. One that the players learn the great value of taking an individual sport like tennis and turn it into a team/family atmosphere.  We will recruit passionate, high energy, and competitive players that will represent the Denison community in a first-rate manner, both on and off court.