He has done it all, and he knows what it takes to get to the top. LSU men’s tennis coach Jeff Brown made the program a part of his life since he stepped on campus in 1985. And he kept moving up the ranks from a college player, to the professional level, to LSU’s coach. Brown grew up in Gainesville, Fla., but the tennis program at LSU appealed to him when he started college. “Obviously the University of Florida was there, but at the time, LSU had a greater emphasis on [its] tennis team,” Brown said. He excelled on the court as a player and culminated his collegiate career by serving as team captain in 1988. He earned Doubles All-American honors and is also the fourth-winningest singles player in LSU history, compiling more than 100 career wins. But Brown was not finished on the tennis circuit after college. He broke into the pro ranks and won his first doubles tournament at the 1990 Volvo International. “I had played since I was 5, so I knew I was going to do something,” Brown said. “Professional tennis became an option through college tennis because of the level of my tennis, so I gave it a shot, and I was able to break through relatively quickly.” On the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, Brown played doubles in several Grand Slam Tournaments. These tournaments included the 1990 U.S. Open, when he advanced to the fourth round and defeated tennis legends Pete Sampras and Jim Courier. “We had won a big tournament about two weeks before [the U.S. Open] and gone through the whole star-struck thing, but Sampras and Courier were playing unbelievably,” Brown said. “We just kind of hung around and were able to get through that win, which turned out to be the win that everybody recognizes in my career.” Brown said playing among some of the greatest tennis players was a memorable experience. But he said the best part of the ATP tour was gaining a greater perspective of the world. “The names are the things people talk about, playing with [Andre] Agassi and those kind of guys,” Brown said. “But for me, the more memorable experiences were just traveling around the world, meeting different people and understanding more of the whole world, not just the tennis world.” Brown suffered a foot injury in 1994 that ended his professional career. His life changed in other ways as well, as he made the transition from tennis player to tennis coach and met the woman who would later become his wife. Brown was first an assistant coach at LSU in 1994 for Hall of Fame coach Jerry Simmons. When Simmons retired in 1998, Brown had the chance to become the Tigers’ head coach at age 30. Brown said the most important lessons Simmons taught him were hard work and preparation. He said he passes them on to the teams he coaches today. In his 11 seasons at LSU, Brown has brought the Tigers to the NCAA tournament every year. The six-time Louisiana Coach of the Year has accumulated a 177-81 all-time record, and his teams have finished in the top 15 in six of his seasons as coach. LSU senior team captain Kevin Dessauer said Brown stresses success to the team both on and off the court. Brown has trained three Southeastern Conference Scholar Athletes of the Year, eight Academic All-Americans and 50 SEC Honor Roll members. “He always mentions something about academics,” Dessauer said. “If he’s giving a motivational speech, he’ll say ‘in life,’ not just ‘on the tennis court.'” Dessauer said he is grateful for the tennis knowledge Brown brings to the team. “He’ll tell me the things it’ll take to get the win if I can’t do it,” Dessauer said. “He’s definitely the most experienced, and there’s that sense of confidence that he’s out there, he’s on your court and he’s on your side, luckily.” Off the court, Brown’s wife, Debbie, said her husband is a great father to the couple’s two children, 4-year-old Connor and 14-month-old Cameron. “He organizes the guys really well,” Debbie Brown said. “He makes time for his family and loves to be around to play with his boys and make sure he gets enough time with them. He makes it seem very easy.” When asked to pick the most special moment from his coaching career at LSU, Brown could not pick just one. “Each team brings something extremely memorable,” Brown said. “It’s usually after that last NCAA tournament match when you’re playing, and you don’t want it to end because you don’t want to say goodbye to your current team.”
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