John Roddick, Director of Tennis at the University of Central Florida, has coached in the junior academy space and the pro ranks but has spent the majority of his coaching career in the college coaching world. Roddick's first collegiate coaching jobs were as assistants at Florida State (1999-2000) and Georgia (2000-02). During his two-year stint with Georgia, the Bulldogs won the national championship (2001) and finished as runners-up (2002).

During his time as the head men’s coach at the University of Oklahoma, he led the team to three consecutive NCAA finals, winning Big 12 titles and many other awards along the way. He is now in the process of attempting to build a similar list of accomplishments at UCF.

He was named the UCF Director of Tennis on May 29, 2016. He serves as the men's head coach with oversight of both the men's and women's programs.

In this podcast, John discusses how he went about building the program at Oklahoma and provides advice to coaches as to what they should prioritize when taking over a program, how to build upon any early successes they may enjoy, and lots of other great insights.

Key parts of this conversation have been minute-marked for your listening convenience:

• 01:17 - Why did you choose to start your college tennis coaching career after graduating?

Rapid Fire Questions:

• 42:11 - What is a book that made a major impact on you as a coach?