A knee injury ended Damon Coupe’s stint on the Sacramento State men’s tennis team as a singles player in 1996.
His time with tennis did not end there, though. In order to keep his athletic scholarship as a student, Coupe volunteered to help coach the women’s tennis team. At first, Coupe said it was weird because he was coaching women he hung out with from time to time, but the gig became his passion.
“All of a sudden, it was in my blood,” Coupe said. “I loved it.”
Coupe, known for coaching three different programs to the NCAA Championships, will continue his dream as the newly appointed head coach of the Cal Poly women’s tennis team.
At Cal Poly, he said he hopes being a head coach will allow him “to be able to put (his) footprint on the program.”
Coupe said he plans to help Cal Poly move forward with its level of intensity and level of practice in order to make it to the NCAA Championships, like the team did last season.
“I’m a high-energy coach who demands discipline,” he said. “I don’t expect 100 percent all the time, but I expect 100 percent for that particular day.”
Coupe said he wants the team to act as professionals who are always prepared to give each match their all.
“It’s all about being proactive and taking ownership in the team,” he said.
Coupe is also a big proponent of excellence in academics, he said. He often keeps in contact with the academic affairs offices to make sure the team is succeeding off the court as well.
“My job is to make them the best person possible to put in the best position possible,” he said.
To do this, Coupe will make sure they receive any academic help needed.
Athletics director Don Oberhelman said Coupe’s commitment to both academic excellence and fostering athletic talent shined when he was interviewed for the position by the search committee.
“Damon was above the rest in the interview process,” Oberhelman said. “He blew us away.”
Coupe said he knows how to work with high-achieving student athletes, since he coached at both California and Santa Clara, two universities known for great students just like Cal Poly’s students, Oberhelman said.
“He knows what it takes to be a Cal Poly athlete,” Oberhelman said.
Oberhelman also said Coupe encourages players to blend intelligence and athletic prowess.
“He knows how to make smarter athletes,” he said. “For him, it’s all about creating strategies. He teaches them how to be smarter in the game.”
Coupe said the women on the team will primarily focus on strengthening their legs this upcoming season.
“That’s where tennis has gone — you have to have horse legs,” he said. “You have to be so strong.”
Stronger legs will be beneficial for the team, he said.
“I told them I’m going to give them an excuse to go shopping,” he said. “They’ll need new jeans.”
In addition to strengthening legs, the team will have individualized workouts once a week in order to assess its strengths and weaknesses. Coupe also held voluntary practices and training for the team during summer.
Junior Alexa Lee said she wanted to attend the voluntary practice and training sessions.
Although Lee hasn’t trained with Coupe for long, she said he’s “very hands-on, very intense and very motivated.”
“He’s young so I think he has a lot of potential to take the team to the next level,” Lee said.
With Coupe, the team’s main goals are to make the NCAA Championships, retain its top-40 ranking — possibly break into the top-30s — put 100 percent into each day of playing, she said.
Lee said she recognizes one key similarity between Coupe and former head coach Hugh Bream — their motivation.
“They both want Cal Poly to advance and become more recognizable as a sport,” she said.
Bream decided to retire in order to spend more time with his family, but he said he still plans to be a part of the team as a volunteer a few days a week.
The Cal Poly women’s tennis team officially began practice for the season at a five-day bootcamp the week before school started.
“We will go hard and we will be competitive,” Coupe said. “We will have fun … I always tell the girls I’m going to push them harder than they’ve ever been pushed, but I’m also going to be their biggest fan.”