VIDEO: Press Conference
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman Vice President for Athletics Allen Morgan has announced former Michigan State and Miami (Ohio) head coach and current Knoxville Professional Jim Frederick as the university's new head men's and women's tennis coach.
Frederick takes over for Carson-Newman Hall of Famer Jean Love, who coached Carson-Newman's tennis programs for three decades. Love retired from coaching but maintains her position as a member of Carson-Newman's faculty.
"Jim obviously has a strong tennis background," Morgan said. "You would expect that from a guy who spent more than a decade coaching in the Mid-American Conference and the Big Ten. He has a wealth of local experience working in Knoxville. He is very accomplished in developing youth players. We're thrilled to welcome him to Carson-Newman University."
Frederick has worked most recently as the Director of Junior Tennis at the Knoxville Racquet Club. The East Stroudsburg University graduate has spent the last 26 years in the Knoxville area working in tennis in some capacity. He spent more than a decade as the head professional at the Cedar Bluff Racquet Club and Beaverbrook Country Club.
Frederick has been highly involved with a litany of organizational bodies in the Southeast. He's worked the Greater Knoxville Tennis Association as a Junior Development Director and has spent time with the Tennessee Tennis Association as the Chairman of the Junior Team Tennis Committee.
He served as the president of USTA Tennessee from 2010-12 and worked as chairman of both the Tennessee Tennis Patrons Foundation and the Southern USTA Innovative Pro Relations Committee.
Please welcome Jim Frederick to Mossy Creek. The former Michigan State and Miami (Ohio) mentor is the new head coach for C-N's men's and women's tennis programs. pic.twitter.com/cZ80VORgu6
— C-N Athletics (@CNathletics) June 20, 2018
"This is a dream come true to me to get back into collegiate coaching," Frederick said. "I've had an admiration for Carson-Newman throughout my career. I've known the Catlett family (the Carson-Newman Tennis Complex is named after Buddy Catlett) for a long time. I gained a lot of respect for the program when I was at Miami because we'd always play Carson-Newman."
Prior to his days as a head professional, Frederick coached collegiately at Miami (Ohio) and Michigan State. He was 212-109 in 12 years as a collegiate head coach.
He helped Miami Ohio to a quartet of Mid-American Conference titles at the start of his coaching career with the Redhawks before rounding out his tenure in Oxford with a fifth MAC title in 1989. The Redhawks never finished below third in the MAC standings in Frederick's decade with the program. Miami also won a quartet of MAC tournament titles.
After Miami, Frederick did a two-year stint at Michigan State, taking over a Spartan men's tennis program that won one Big Ten match in a decade prior to his arrival. Frederick helped MSU snap a 63-match conference losing streak and garner its first league win since 1982. As a result, Michigan State improved by eight wins in his first year and garnered its most wins in a season in 23 years, since 1967.
"We want to develop a culture of hard work here," Frederick said. "We want our players to go out on the court and know that they've put in the time and the effort that they deserve to win."
Frederick played collegiately at East Stroudsburg where, as a two-year captain and most valuable player, he led the Warriors to two straight PSAC championships.
CNMT/CNWT Jim Frederick Introductory Press Conference 6-20-18
