Upon entering the Headington Family Tennis Center’s doors, you will see the 2016 National Championship runner-up trophy at the welcome desk. On the right are stairs, which leads to the indoor courts where fans can watch all six indoor courts. The indoor courts were resurfaced Feb. 4, 2016, and the outdoor courts were resurfaced, March 31, 2017.
After coming off a 14-9 (3-2) regular season record and being a runner-up in the NCAA tournament, the team would not only receive newly resurfaced courts, but OU would also gain a new piece during the off-season.
Oklahoma would acquire a new head coach.
Search for a new coach
Former Oklahoma head coach John Roddick announced May 29, 2016 he was leaving OU to become a director of tennis for Central Florida, which meant the job search to find the Sooners next head coach would begin. The next coach would have huge shoes to fill as the men’s tennis program have been national championship runner-ups the past three years.
It took 43 days before the Sooners found their next head coach to lead the program. Oklahoma announced Nick Crowell as the next head coach. Previously, Crowell was the associate coach at Florida State. Crowell said the long process started in June, but it was worth it.
Crowell receives mentor’s advice when going for the OU job
Crowell’s mentor is Florida State’s men’s tennis head coach Dwayne Hultquist. Crowell and Hultquist worked together for 13 years when Crowell was the associate coach for the Seminoles, and Hultquist was a coach when Crowell was a player at Texas. Hultquist said they developed a great relationship and chemistry over the years, and Hultquist gave Crowell different responsibilities every year to help prepare Crowell in becoming a head coach.
“So as time went on maybe he handled a little bit more recruiting, I tried to with every aspect of coaching tennis I tried to let him have some control of that,” Hultquist said in a phone interview. “Even though he was an assistant coach his roles were quite high.”
Hultquist said Crowell was qualified to be a head coach, but he kept telling Crowell to wait for the right job, which Hultquist believes is Oklahoma.
Crowell said he put his name in the conversation in June, and in early July he realized the job was turning into his favor. Crowell said it was a Friday night around 8:30 p.m. when he got a phone call from a 405 number, which was the university calling him. Crowell said he put his entire focus and attention to show his best job to athletic director Joe Castiglione about his philosophy and plans for Oklahoma’s program.
Crowell said OU flew him to an in-person interview the following Tuesday. Crowell said he was impressed with everyone’s professionalism during the interviews. Oklahoma sold Crowell for three different reasons, which was the administration’s professionalism, the facilities and what the tennis program could provide.
Crowell said he felt hopeful after the interview, but he did not know if he got the job. Crowell was on pins and needles until the following Friday evening when he got another 405-phone call, and midway through the conversation Castiglione offered Crowell the job. Hultquist said Crowell is a good fit for the Sooners because he knows the area since Crowell is from Amarillo, Texas.
“Oklahoma had a lot of success, but he needed to be his own coach,” Hultquist said. “He didn’t have to come in and do things the way John (Roddick) did, he needed to do the way he wanted to do.”
Crowell’s dream was to be the head coach at Oklahoma. Crowell said when the Sooners were playing in the NCAA tournament he would envision himself coaching the team. Crowell also said he paid attention to the player’s manners on and off the court.
“I felt like for him that was a point to be in the part of the country that he wanted to, at a big time school, and also to go to a school that was committed to be good, and certainly the facilities are great at Oklahoma, and the budget is good, and the commitment is there,” Hultquist said.
Crowell meeting the squad’s first Sooner: Spencer Papa
It was summertime, and Crowell had yet to meet the players face-to-face, so Crowell talked to the players through phone calls, text messaging and email. However, junior Spencer Papa is from Edmond, Oklahoma, so in late July, Papa drove 45 minutes to meet Crowell at the Headington Family Tennis Center’s locker rooms.
Papa was not nervous when he first met Crowell. Papa said they talked about the team, trying to build OU’s culture, and the program’s long-term future. Papa had two aspects stand out about Crowell, which was how much passion he was putting into the program for the players, and Crowell’s voice when he asked about the player’s personality, and how he wanted the squad to have a family-environment experience.
“Anytime any of us need anything he’s one phone call away and just little things like that,” Papa said. “It’s nice to have someone like that who cares about you, (and) makes it fun to work hard for him.”
A new coaching philosophy and style
Crowell’s philosophy has two key points, which is being aggressive in doubles play, and team conditioning. Hultquist believes Crowell’s coaching specialty is doubles play. The Sooners won 10 doubles points during the 2017 regular season, and the team finished with a 9-1 record when they won the doubles point. Oklahoma also won five matches despite losing the doubles point.
Crowell’s next key point is conditioning. During the fall tournaments, senior Florin Bragusi complimented the team’s success because some players would play multiple singles and doubles matches, and the squad’s conditioning helped the team stay competitive.
“We’ve talked about it, and he’s really good at communicating with us, and he really understands our needs, and we understand his (needs), so he’s done a really good job of just letting us know what he expects of us,” senior Alex Ghilea said.
Crowell’s coaching style also includes Crowell and assistant coach Nate Feldman to stay calm during matches even when their players are struggling.
One example is when freshman Jochen Bertsch was down 5-6 during the break against Tulsa’s freshman Jarod Hing. Crowell’s calm approach helped Bertsch when Crowell told Bertsch to not panic.
Bertsch won the next game to force a tiebreaker at 6-6. Bertsch was tied 5-5 in the tiebreaker before Bertsch hit a clutch shot and got an ace on his next serve to win the tiebreaker 7-6 (7-5).
Crowell’s coaching style is different from coach Roddick, but Ghilea said he has enjoyed the new style under Crowell, which is to have an aggressive mindset, to play for the big points and to play with a purpose.
“We do different things in practice pretty much every day, and also like the duration in practices sometimes it’s longer when we don’t have matches, but then when we have matches practice will be shorter, and that’s something John (Roddick) didn’t really do, we pretty much did the same thing every time,” Bragusi said.
Crowell moving his family while introducing a family-bond experience to the squad
Crowell’s hardest transition was moving his family from Florida. Crowell has a 7-year old daughter, a 5-year old son and a 2-year old son. Crowell’s wife was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, which Crowell said it was hard to move away from family and to live in a different part of the United States. However, Crowell said his family is adjusting well.
“For me I was really ready to be a head coach,” Crowell said. “So we were looking for these opportunities as a family. When you get that call, and they offer you the job it becomes a reality that you're going to pick up and move your family.”
The most considerable impact Crowell has made this season is the family-driven bonding experience. The first example is Crowell bringing the Sooners together at his house for team dinners because Papa said it shows Crowell cares a lot about the players as people and not just as tennis players.
“Nick and his wife have been amazing,” senior Andrew Harris said. “They've always said we're always welcomed at his house. … We do a lot more team dinners this year, so all match days we'll get together as players and coaches and eat together, and it just brings everyone together and closer together.”
The next example is Crowell is open to getting ideas from the players, which Bragusi said is important to him. Bragusi also credits Crowell for meshing the four veteran players and the three rookie players together.
“For example, he would ask me questions about certain things on the court, … and I like that he’s very open-minded,” Bragusi said.
Crowell said he wants everyone who is a part of the men’s tennis program to feel like they are in a family environment because it takes a team to win championships.
Crowell is the best coach to bring the family-bonding experience to OU because he has a family. Crowell’s wife and kids watch every home game and after every match his kids are excited to see their dad whether the Sooners win or lose.
“He has a great family, and he's very family-orientated and really committed to his kids and spending time with them as well,” Hultquist said. “He’s a very good role-model that way as well.”
