Tennis is known for passionate players, from Andy Roddrick slamming his racket against the court in frustration to Serena Williams’ tirades at line judges.
Watching LSU tennis coach Jeff Brown in practice or during a match, audience members may fail to see the same fiery intensity in his outward demeanor.
His laid-back and calm presence is exactly what allows him to command the respect of the team he has coached for more than 20 years as an assistant and head coach.
“He’s been around the game so long, been coaching here for so long, he’s seen everything,” said junior Jordan Daigle. “He doesn’t always have the most to say, but when he speaks, everyone respects him.”
Brown has spent close to half his life at LSU, but his relationship and history with LSU goes deeper than his coaching career, as he was a nationally recognized player before becoming assistant coach under Jerry Simmons in 1994.
From his first match with the Tigers, Brown relished the support surrounding LSU athletics, coming to LSU as a player in 1985 and quickly making an impact on the court. Brown earned All-Southeastern Conference Singles honors later that year.
“I grew up in Gainsville, Florida, and I was familiar with the college tennis scene, but Louisiana was very different,” Brown said. “LSU in particular was a great experience for me– just how sports crazy and into tennis and every sport on campus this state was as a whole.”
Brown earned 1988 Doubles All-American honors and led the Tigers as the team captain to the NCAA Tennis Tournament in both singles and doubles.
“It was a challenging time for me,” Brown said. “We were committed to the group and the coach [Simmons] we had at the time and knew we had a group that could compete for a national championship. We were constantly being pushed to the limit in a new place.”
The LSU teams featuring Brown between 1985 and 1988 notched two SEC Championships while finishing in the top-10 nationally in three out of the Gainsville, Florida native’s four seasons.
Brown’s best season with the Tigers overall was in 1988 when LSU went 27-2, eventually reaching the finals of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Stanford to finish the season No. 2 in the nation.
“There’s so many times throughout those four years that we played,” Brown said. “But the NCAA finals and beating Georgia [in the quaterfinals] in front of 5,000 people and the celebrations that went on with that.”
After his senior year at LSU, Brown made it to the Association of Tennis Professionals circuit in 1990. In the early ’90s, Brown competed in the 1990 U.S. Open, the 1991 Australian Open and Wimbledon tennis majors making it to the Round of 16 for doubles in each.
His biggest career win came in the 1990 U.S. Open when Brown and eventual 1995 Wimbledon finalist Scott Melville defeated the duo of Pete Sampras and Jim Courier to advance to the Round of 16.
“You get the feeling you earned your way onto the tour and are able to play in the top events without having to play challengers,” Brown said. “It was a feeling of belonging out there at a certain point for a certain amount of time, and it’s an achievement that meant a lot to me putting up so much time in tennis.”
After playing a few years in the pros, Brown’s career came full circle when he became an assistant under his former coach, Simmons, for three seasons.
The pair led the Tigers to a 85-35 record in his seasons as an assistant, reaching as high as a No. 9 in final polls in 1995 and 1997.
Since taking over for Simmons, Brown is the winningest tennis coach in LSU history, guiding the Tigers to 15 NCAA Tournament berths and three top-10 finishes in polls.
Perhaps unsuprisingly, the laid-back and humble coach keeps quiet about his accomplishments as a player, not showing off his own highlight reel to the team he now coaches.
“He’s never put on game tape of himself, but I’m from Louisiana so I’ve always known about the player he was back in the day,” Daigle said. “Occasionally, we’ll hear a few stories about him, but he never put on any tape of his glory days.”
You can reach Justin Talbot on Twitter @JT15_TDR 

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photo courtesy of Jeff Brown

Jeff Brown