About this episode
Dash Connell is one of the lucky coaches who have the unique honor to coach at their alma mater. He was an All-American at Tyler Junior College before moving on to play for the Texas A & M Aggies under Tim Cass. He returned to Tyler in 2009 to work for his former coach John Peterson, before taking over the head coaching duties in 2011 as interim head coach for one year, being named head coach in 2012. Dash discusses what it was like to follow in the footsteps of a legendary coach in John Peterson, what he learned from him and how he handles the expectations for the tennis program at Tyler. We talk about some the myths college coaches have around junior intercollegiate tennis, the pros and cons of recruiting junior college players and much more. Key points of this conversation have been indexed for easy listening here: 01:44 - What attracted you to Tyler Junior College? 04:02 - At what point did you figure out that you might want to be a college tennis coach? 05:41 - What qualities did coaches see in you to make you an offer as a coach? 07:01 - What profound lessons did you learn early on from your coaches? 10:57 - Did you feel a lot of pressure to emulate your coaches success? 12:35 - How do you personally manage the pressure to succeed? 14:25 - What were some of the unexpected surprises that you faced when transitioning through your coaching career? 16:47 - How did you put your own personality & philosophy on your team? How did you make your program, your own? 20:07 - What myths do you think exist in the realm of college coaching ranks about Junior College tennis? 22:15 - What are the similarities between Junior College tennis and other divisions? 24:02 - What are the pros & cons of recruiting Junior College tennis student-athletes? Why should other coaches consider recruiting Junior College tennis student-athletes? 26:01 - What are some of the challenges that you face? 28:42 - Why do you think up and coming coaches should consider coaching at the Junior College level? 31:22 - How would you advise Junior College coaches and coaches at any other levels to maximize their potential?