In just 21 years of serving as head coach for the men's tennis program, Dave Morin created a team culture of pursuing excellence. Morin has racked up 19 total Mid- American Conference championships, with eight regular season championships and 11 MAC Tournament Championships leading to 11 appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Of the 19 titles Morin has experienced, he recalls some of his fondest memories.
"1999 was my first one and it was special and 2001 was another special one because they both came down to the wire," Morin said. "Winning a title ever year from 2006 to 2010, and seeing local kids like Billy Heckman and Matt Hamilton grow and take advantage of the opportunity."
Morin believes that building a good team begins by closely looking at their academics in high school.
"You can't meet with every recruit one on one so I just look at a snap shot," Morin said. "If this kid is pursuing excellence in the classroom, then they'll probably be a hard worker for me on and off of the court."
Morin's legacy not only includes medals for performances on the tennis court, in 14 of the last 15 seasons his squad was named an Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Academic team.
In a generation obsessed with social media, Morin prefers face-to-face interactions to connect with his guys.
"It's a two-way street where we take their input and we give them input," Morin said. "We don't have all of the answers so we tell them, look tell us what you feel like works for you and we'll tell you what we think you need to do to get better."
Stephen Payne, a former player of Morin, serves on the other side as an assistant coach currently. Payne is most impressed with his constant evolution as a coach over the years.
"I've known him for five years now and he's always trying new things," Payne said. "He's always thinking about the team, his love and passion for it hasn't gone away at all."
Morin has a unique sense of humor and although serious about winning, manages to make things fun for his team as well. According to Payne you never know what to expect.
"He's pretty goofy whether we are driving around to different schools and he's joking on someone or we are doing team skits," Payne said. "He just likes to be goofy."
Throughout the years Morin encountered some challenges with individual players and had some years where he felt like the team under performed. Morin's awareness of not resting on his laurels and finding new ways to win are what has caused him to be a 10-time MAC Coach of the Year.
"In my profession you want to try to be as good as you possibly can by competing against the person in the mirror and living up to your own standards," Morin said. "It's much easier to get to where you want to go than to stay at the top."
In 2012 surrounded by his siblings, wife, daughters, mother and several former players, Morin was inducted into the WMU Athletics Hall of Fame. Bud Donnelly, Hall of Fame Committee Chair and longtime friend of Morin gave him the inside scoop that it would finally be happening.
"It was pretty humbling to walk around and see people who played in the NFL and NHL and coaches who coached for the Tigers and the Twins," Morin said. "It was just special because much of what I do is on the road and a solo thing with my team so it was a special moment to share with my family."
More special than his abundance of championships are the three special ladies in Morin's life. His wife Gretchen and two daughters, Kayla a senior playing volleyball at Northwestern University and Sophie a freshman attending Michigan State. When Morin is not engulfed with tennis he stays involved as much as possible with his daughters extracurricular and academic activities.
Morin loves the Kalamazoo area and the communities' love for tennis. Being in a group of five conference allows Morin the luxury of having a life outside of tennis. Professionally, Morin enjoys being able to pursue his dreams, and personally still having the ability to do things with his family.
Overall the season can be tiring. In fact, in the last two weeks, the team traveled over 3,000 miles. During the season there is not a lot of downtime, but surprisingly enough Morin finds time for his numerous hobbies. Including, running, cross country skiing and playing golf. Recently, Morin started taking guitar lessons to take his mind off of tennis 24/7.
As far as retirement, at age 55 Morin still enjoys what he does and does not see the end in sight, but does not see his self coaching anywhere else.
"I'm here at Western for the long haul," Morin said.
One thing is for sure, whenever Morin does decide to retire his legacy as the winningest coach in Western Michigan University history is set in stone.
