July 18, 2002
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame head coach Bob Bayliss announced today the hiring of Todd Doebler as a men’s tennis assistant coach. Doebler, who spent the last two years as an assistant at Pepperdine, replaces 2002 National Assistant Coach of the Year Billy Pate, who was recently named the new head coach at Alabama.
“We are unbelievably excited to get someone of Todd Doebler’s abilities to come in here to help direct this team,” said Bayliss. “Todd turned down a number of Division I head coaching jobs to come here to Notre Dame. We are getting a proven winner — a guy with boundless energy and enthusiasm and a great knowledge of the game. We are also getting a guy who is well-grounded in a basic fundamental philosophy of integrity and work ethic and all the things you look for in a terrific assistant coach.”
“I am very excited to be at Notre Dame and I am looking forward to helping continue the success on a national level that this program has enjoyed,” said Doebler. “While coaching at Pepperdine, I was very impressed with how hard the Notre Dame players competed and how they conducted themselves on the court. It is a great opportunity to work at one of the most prestigious institutions and with one of the most respected coaches in the country.”
During Doebler’s time at Pepperdine, the Waves compiled a 43-14 record. In 2001, Pepperdine advanced to the NCAA round of 16 and finished 18th in the nation. Last season, the Waves were 25-6, advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals and finished with a No. 5 national ranking. Doebler coached three All-Americans at Pepperdine, including Al Garland, who was ranked No. 1 in the nation for a time last season.
“I’ve known Todd for years and I know what an asset he was to head coach Peter Smith at Pepperdine,” said Bayliss. “Peter told me on a couple of occasions that he was the best assistant he had ever had. We are getting a head coach to come in to take the place of the other head coach we had last year. I fully expect Todd Doebler to become a Hall of Fame tennis coach.”
Doebler graduated from Bloomsburg University in 1996 and earned a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Hartford in 1998, while serving as an assistant coach for the men’s and women’s tennis programs at Trinity College. Prior to coaching at Pepperdine, Doebler was the head coach for men’s and women’s tennis and men’s and women’s squash at Connecticut College from 1998-2000. During the summer of 2000, Doebler served as an assistant coach for the Hartford FoxForce of the World Team Tennis league, coaching players such as James Blake and Monica Seles.
Pate became the second consecutive Irish assistant coach to land a head coaching job after coaching at Notre Dame, joining Michael Morgan, who was an Irish assistant from 1999-2000. In his two years, Pate helped the Irish to a 40-14 record and their first appearance in the NCAA round of 16 since 1994.
“Billy did a great job for us and was rewarded with the National Assistant Coach of the Year Award,” said Bayliss. ” We all wish him well in his career at Alabama and I anticipate they will be a top-10 team this year.”
Doebler is the sixth assistant coach at Notre Dame under Bayliss, who enters his 16th year at the school this fall. Each of the last three assistant coaches were named Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year (Andy Zurcher in ’97, Morgan in ’99 and Pate in ’02), while Pate became the first Irish coach to win the national award last season.
Assistant coaches under Bayliss have gone on to success as head coaches after leaving Notre Dame. In addition to Pate and Morgan, Brian Kalbas, a 1989 Notre Dame graduate and an Irish assistant coach from 1990-92, is in his 11th year as women’s tennis head coach at William & Mary. He is a four-time regional coach of the year and was named National Coach of the Year in 1998.