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Tennis Staff
 Paul Goebel

Paul Goebel was named head coach of the men's tennis team prior to the 2004-05 season, after spending the previous five seasons as the program's assistant coach. Goebel has overseen great strides in the men's tennis program, both on the court and in the classroom and was named the Conference USA Coach of the Year in both 2012 and 2013.

Goebel led Memphis to the NCAA Championships in 2012, marking the program's first appearance in the tournament in its 63-year history. The U of M finished the season 19-6 and ranked No. 31 in the final ITA rankings. The Tigers reached a program best No. 30 on March 20.

The team followed that accomplishment up with a run to the NCAA Round of 16 in 2013 after winning their first-ever C-USA Championship, 4-2, over Tulsa. The Tigers followed that up with their first-ever win in the NCAA tournament field, defeating BYU, 4-0, in the first round, then upending hosting Ole Miss, 4-2, in the NCAA regional finals to make the program's first-ever appearance in the Round of 16.

The Tigers garnered nine post-season honors in 2013, including sophomore Connor Glennon's C-USA Player of the Year award and with the No. 1 doubles team of Joe Salisbury and David O'Hare closing the year on a nine-match winning streak and ending the year as the No. 39 ranked doubles team in the country.

Under Goebel's tutelege, 13 Tigers have earned all-conference accolades, the most post-season conference awards by a Memphis squad in program history. Connor Glennon was named Co-Freshman of the Year in 2012 and Player of the Year in 2013. Glennon, Johnny Grimal and David O'Leary all earned first team singles honors in 2012, with Glennon and Grimal repeating all-conference singles honors in 2013, adding an all-conference nod for Joe Salisbury. In doubles, the teams of Glennon and David Henry and David O'Hare and Joe Salisbury earned nods to the doubles first team in 2012 and O'Hare and Salisbury earned a second consecutive honor in 2013.

Goebel has coached some of the most decorated Tigers in men's tennis, including Jorge Vazquez, who became the second Memphis Tiger in the program's history to be named first team All-C-USA in 2008-09. Vazquez joined former-Tiger and current-Lady Tiger head coach Lee Taylor Walker, who was named to the C-USA All-Decade team in 2005. Vazquez peaked at the No. 51 spot in the College Tennis Online rankings during the 2009 season, after earning wins over four players ranked among the Top 125 tennis players in the nation, two of which were Top 50 players. Vazquez finished the season ranked No. 106 in the country.

Former Tiger Amrit Narasimhan is currently playing professionally on the ATP tour. Narasimhan was the 2007 C-USA Newcomer of the Year while playing for Goebel. He also earned All-C-USA Singles Second Team and C-USA All-Academic Team honors while playing for Memphis.

Off of the court, Goebel has continued to yield outstanding performances from his team academically. Goebel's program has earned two C-USA Sport Academic Awards, 2010-11 and 2005-06. The C-USA Sport Academic Award honors each team in a conference-sponsored sport that posts the highest-team GPA. The Tigers have earned ITA All-Academic Team honors in each of Goebel's last six seasons. In fact, the only season that the Goebel-led Tigers have not received the ITA All-Academic Team award was in 2005, Goebel's first season as head coach.

Since Goebel assumed the helm of the men's tennis team, the squad has recorded the highest-cumulative GPA of all Memphis men's teams every season.

A native of Hendersonville, N.C., Goebel came to Memphis after a stellar career at Middle Tennessee, where he was part of the school's first All-America doubles team which earned him a place in the MTSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008. Goebel became the second men's tennis player to be inducted into the Middle Tennessee Hall of Fame. A member of the MTSU team from 1990-1994, Goebel served as the team's captain from 1992-1994 and was a four-time, all-conference player. He was also named the student-athlete of the year in 1994.

Following his collegiate playing career, Goebel served as a student assistant coach in 1995 at Middle Tennessee, while also playing professionally. He graduated from MTSU in 1995.

Goebel moved to Memphis and became a tennis professional at The Racquet Club of Memphis beginning in 1996. At The Racquet Club, Goebel has taught top national and southern-ranked juniors and has coached in a variety of area training centers, zonals and national team events. In 1999, Goebel was ranked No. 1 in the nation in the "Men's 25 and Over" age group.

Goebel and his wife, Shelly, have three sons and a daughter.