Legendary UGA Tennis Coach Manuel Diaz Announces Retirement
Major news broke on Thursday in the University of Georgia athletic world as legendary tennis coach Manuel Diaz announced that he will retire at the current season's end. He has spent the last 36 years serving as the men's tennis coach and has racked up a litany of accolades over that time.
As of when the news was announced, Diaz held an overall record of 762-192, four NCAA championships, two ITA indoor tennis championships and 29 SEC championships. He is also the SEC's all-time winningest coach and has been named coach of the year on seven different occasions and ITA national coach of the year three times. The men's tennis program won back-to-back national titles in 2007 and 2008 as they lost just three matches over the span of 62.
"It's a difficult decision to step away from something that has been such a huge part of my life and that I've loved for so long," Diaz said. "Georgia tennis has given me so much, and I want to thank all our fans from all over the world."
His success on the tennis court at the University of Georgia reaches back to his playing days at the school from 1972-1975. He was a two-time all-American. Shortly after his playing career, Diaz was named assistant coach in 1982, promoted to associate head coach in 1985 and head coach during the 1988-89 season.
Winning quickly became a tradition at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex under Diaz as the program went on to have its second-longest winning streak in program history after winning 71 straight matches at home from April 23, 2005, to March 19, 2010. Following that feat, the Bulldogs would also win five straight SEC championships from 2013-17 for the first time since 1971-75, when Diaz was playing for the program.
Diaz will end his career as one of the greatest coaches, not only in the first of athletics at the University of Georgia, but one of the greatest in all of men's tennis.
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