Parsa caught up with Oklahoma’s assistant coach Nate Feldman to discuss Nate’s many experiences in coaching, and his opinions on all things college tennis. Enjoy!

Interview between Parsa Nemati and coach Nate Feldman:

Parsa: You’ve had to deal with many health issues this year and have had numerous surgeries. Sources say the doctor actually took the boot off your foot a couple days ago. How are you feeling and when are you expected to be back on court again?

Coach Feldman: Haha yeah I got my cast off a couple days ago and I’m just hanging out, recuperating, and actually feeling a lot better this go around than July which was pretty tough. Was in for a long recovery with that hip surgery and just trying to stay positive and move forward and getting ready to get back out there in January.

Recruiting

Parsa: You were down in Mexico recently recruiting. When you’re at these tournaments, what are you looking to accomplish and how much more beneficial is it for you to see a bunch of prospects all in one place?

Coach Feldman: It was actually really interesting to go to the Yucatán because there weren’t a lot of college coaches there. But it was a good opportunity just to see a lot of the kids up close and personal without a lot of coaches there. I think a lot of times when people go recruiting it can be a little distracting because you get to see all your colleagues and peers and catch up. So, I think it gave me an opportunity to have 100% focus and see a lot of the best players without distraction.

It was actually a really good draw and I felt like – it’s always good to get out there and kind of size people up and gauge where they’re at, especially compared to the players on our team. It was also a good chance to take another look at a few kids high on our radar — two local kids that are performing really well, that I know that coach Crowell is super interested in having on the team.

I don’t know if there’s anything in particular when I go out there that I’m looking for. It seems like the recruiting has expanded now and everyone is just constantly out there on the road. So, just watching how guys compete and just getting a lay of the land is important. I think it’s good when you constantly are able to see the same kids week in and week out. It gives you a better perspective of who they are and their identity as a player, as opposed to critiquing them from one event. I’ve actually seen a lot of those kids that I saw in Yucatán play a number of times before, but it was just a good venue to do it up close and personal this time around.

Parsa: You make a good point about sometimes when your colleagues are all there, it might not be the best place for some to recruit. I won’t mention him by name but there was a top men’s coach — he actually went down all the way to Australia while Orange Bowl and Eddie Herr were concurrent with the 18 and under national championships. And there was maybe only literally a couple of college coaches there and that’s a huge tournament. Australia is becoming a big source of college players and I found that really interesting and I liked how the coach took a unique path and went all the way down there. And there’s basically no college coaches to compete with so you could be there all on your own and you’re a lot more special and you’re one of the few guys there. And I think you know which one I’m talking about –

Coach Feldman: Sure.

Parsa: Because you probably received the same snapchat that I did haha.

Coach Feldman: Haha.

Parsa: And I really liked that the coach made an effort to go all the way down under.

Coach Feldman: Haha. I do in fact know who was over in Australia. I don’t think there’s too many surprises anymore with players. Tennis is just so globalized and now recruiting through – whether it be social media – everything has just really shrunk. I don’t think there’s any secrets, so I guess maybe it’s a good idea to start to try and think outside the box. Develop new strategies like your so called top coach who was over in Australia. I think those are all great ideas.

And at a lot of the big tournaments like the Orange Bowl, I think it’s important to have a presence there and if you’re a top program – obviously most of the top programs are consistently there. But at the end of the day it’s really hard to watch a couple kids when there are 35 or 40 people just sitting there next to a few courts.

Parsa: Exactly. You’re not just the one guy sitting there. There’s 15 of your colleagues sitting right there, you’re not exactly standing out. And especially for some of these foreigners. They can’t really tell the difference between a top-50 school and a top-5 school. It’s just “ooo college coaches are watching me.”

Coach Feldman: Yeah absolutely. I think it helps if you’re a little bit more dynamic and able to travel. Obviously going to Mexico for me is a little bit easier because I speak Spanish and grew up speaking Spanish. So, that’s something that helps out. It’s not a prerequisite, but I think it definitely helps, say for example, if you’re European and you’re going into the Balkans and could speak Serbian or Croatian. Those types of small advantages can be helpful.

But, yeah, I think as recruiting gets more competitive and people are just traveling so much more, maybe it is a good idea to start finding different unique approaches to seeing these kids. I personally like to watch tennis without a lot of distractions. I don’t like to talk to a ton of people. So, I think it’s always hard when your peers and colleagues that you haven’t seen in awhile are around and you want to catch up with them and talk about the recruits as well as your respective programs. That’s always fun, but I’ve always been one who just wants to be intently focused and concentrated and not really have a lot of distraction when I’m watching.

Parsa: Haha I learned that at Fountain Valley from first-hand experience.

Coach Feldman: Hahaha yeah. Yeah I get pretty into it when I watch it…got that laser focus going. Have to make sure to try to always see what’s unfolding on the courts to the best of my ability. I think that’s been one of my strong suits — to be able to dissect tennis from outside of the court.

NCAA championship

Parsa: You were part of the program’s first individual national championship this past May in Athens as Andrew Harris and Spencer Papa won the NCAA doubles title. Certainly a moment you will all remember forever. How special was that?

Coach Feldman: I would say there’s two — well it’s hard to pick. There’s are a lot of really special moments that I’ve experienced on a tennis court. I would say obviously that is at the top of the ladder, followed closely by Alex Ghilea making the quarterfinals of that tournament. So, I think it was just all-around a super special experience. Especially because the NCAA tournament is not going to be back in Athens for so long and it’s just a venue where I’ve had so many great memories.

I was on staff at North Carolina with the women’s team and we made the semifinals… a lot of really quality memories at that venue – and yeah I mean winning that national title, I think for me, because I probably had a unique and unorthodox path into the upper echelon of collegiate men’s tennis coaching and that was just kind of the culmination of a lot of, I guess, sacrifice in a very roundabout way to get to the highest level of college tennis. I think for me that was just so special, personally. But, probably more so, just to see those guys win. Spencer, firstly, because he’s a local kid and I think that’s so special to be an American kid to win a national title when you live twenty minutes down the road. And then Andrew, who had so many injury issues and lost just an absolute heartbreaker in the team tournament, to come back and graduate and go out on top. That was really cool to see those guys to do that. I was just so happy for them.

Parsa: That national championship may have not been possible had Andrew not returned to Norman for his senior season. The Aussie turned pro after his junior season but due to some injuries as you mentioned, he returned and you guys really grew close during the season. How cool was it for you to see him overcome so many obstacles and end up winning a natty to end his illustrious college career?

Coach Feldman: Yeah, so Andrew and I – I think have a really good relationship. We talk quite a bit, even now after he’s left the US and that he’s playing professionally on the other side of the world. He’s someone that I just automatically clicked with and just had an instant rapport with on the court. So, I think for me it was really just special to be able to be with him his senior year. And just – he’s had a rough go. Some guys are born with Indy Car tires and some guys just have bad luck. He’s been one of those guys who was chronically hurt during his college career and always did his best to rehabilitate and get back. I think hopefully now he’s putting a lot of that past him. He’s gotten a lot stronger now that he’s playing out on tour. He knows how to manage his body. But, I think watching him of overcome a lot of those injuries and being with him for that last year was a really special thing for me. He’s a phenomenal talent. I think he has all the ability in the world. If he can continue to manage his body and continue to just grind it out on tour for a while, I think he’s got a great prospect of making it in singles and doubles. He’s a super good guy, great personality, just fun to be around. And yeah, I was really privileged to have that time with him.

Pro Tour

Parsa: You mentioned the pro tour. In addition to coaching in college, you have also spent time traveling on tour with players such as Sesil Karatantcheva who achieved a career-high singles ranking of 35 and also reached the Roland Garros quarterfinals in 2005. What did you like and dislike regarding your stint on the professional tour?

Coach Feldman: It was very interesting. Sesil actually came to stay in my home state of Minnesota. Her coach at the time was the Bulgarian Fed Cup coach and he had played for my college coach David Geatz. So she ended up coming to my hometown, Minneapolis, for about two months. I got to spend a lot of time with her and work out with her. Then, from from that experience and also from working in college tennis, I was able to develop enough contacts to go out there with some good guys and girls. Both at the top junior and tour levels.

I don’t know – there’s always pluses and minuses to everything. I think the college experience is really great because there’s something to be said about playing for a team. I think I’ve always been one to appreciate having a group of people around and having that camaraderie. I guess on the same note though, it’s always really cool to see tennis at the absolute highest level. Going out there on tour and seeing the top guys and girls, seeing how amazing they are, and just the depth of the sport was so fun. That was a great experience. So I don’t know if for me there is really a huge negative or positive. But, it’s just another experience. It’s just another lived experience and something to add to your bag and arsenal of coaching tricks that you can help people out with.

Parsa: You played four years at the University of Minnesota and were able to stay close to home. Did that make the transition a lot smoother for you, and when did you start envisioning yourself staying in the tennis world as a coach?

Coach Feldman: Did it make it smoother staying at home in terms of going to school there or what do you mean?

Parsa: Like for a lot of kids, I don’t know if you stayed at home, I know you were close to home. For a lot of kids – especially for foreigner kids leaving home – it’s a complete culture shock. But you got to stay in a place where you had known for most of your life.

Coach Feldman: Yeah, so for me I’m born and raised in Minneapolis, and it’s a place that’s always going to be close to my heart. I absolutely love the city and every time I go back there I appreciate it even that much more. So I think it was a privilege to be able to play for my hometown university, but I don’t think – it wasn’t easy or hard in that regard, staying home.

I have a ton of respect for the kids who come internationally because yeah, there is a huge amount of culture shock, especially for a lot of the players who are going into the smaller college towns. So, I think whether or not I stayed home or left, I think I would have been prepared because ever since I was a little kid, we traveled so much. And I’ve lived with my family in several different countries overseas.

My dad had a sabbatical and was a teacher in Spain and we also lived in England for a little bit. We just traveled so much when I was a little kid that I don’t think that there would have been a problem with transitioning, staying home, or going far away. I think I would have been just as comfortable. But I think there is something to be said for staying home and representing a great university that you grew up right near. For me, it (Minnesota) was only about 10 minutes away. For a guy like Spencer Papa who grew up in Edmond and was able to represent the University of Oklahoma — I think that’s a pretty cool thing.

Learning from Coach Brian Kalbas at UNC

Parsa: You mentioned earlier you had a stop as a volunteer assistant coach for the North Carolina women who have consistently been one of the top programs every year. And some of your other stops include being the women’s assistant coach at both Harvard and Virginia Tech. What do you see as the major differences between coaching the men and women, and what was it like getting to learn from coach Kalbas who is one of the top head coaches in the country.

Coach Feldman: Yeah, Brian is absolutely amazing. He’s someone who has just elevated that program to such an elite status, where they’re constantly in position to win a national title every single year. And they’ve been so close, and I hope that he gets over the hump. And he’s won a National Indoor title already.

Working under Brian was an amazing experience. I actually went to back to North Carolina after going out there for two years, doing the ITF, ATP, and WTA stuff. He ended up calling me, and I was kind of itching to get back into it. He said hey, I think we might have a pretty decent team and we would love to have you. And I ended up going there and within about six weeks the team went from the mid-20’s to number one team in the country after making the final of the National Indoor. It was just a really kind of epic record setting year that I think started to put the program at the top of the women’s game. And it was just a tremendous privilege to be a part of that.

He’s someone who I would call on today for advice and mentorship and I know that all the players who’ve gone through that program just have an incredible relationship with Brian and his staff. So, kudos to UNC and I hope that shortly they can cap off all their other success by winning a team national title in the spring.

As far as differences between men and women, I think that’s a question that kind of gets asked ad nauseum. Obviously, there are some pretty fundamental differences in some aspects of the game…with the serve and stuff like that. But, people are people, and at the end of the day my job is to mentor people and to connect with them. And I don’t think there is that stark of a contrast between coaching guys and girls.

Again, my role is basically to find the best route to motivate people, to help develop their tennis game, to develop a rapport with them and a relationship where they can trust me to help – so I can help them and be a guide in their process to continue to get better as a person and a player. Yeah I don’t know – that’s always a tough question. I think it’s one that people ask me often, but I have had such good experiences on both sides.

Coaching at Norfolk State

Parsa: You have actually already had experience as a head coach, albeit it was at a smaller program. You were not only the men’s head coach at Norfolk State but also the women’s program, and along the way were named the men’s tennis conference coach of the year during one of your seasons there. How were you able to balance being in charge of TWO different programs?

Coach Feldman: Well, first of all, I had – well I like to say “we.” We had, I like to phrase it that way. We had an amazing assistant coach who was actually promoted to associate head coach. Torrie Browning who is now at George Washington as the head women’s coach, was an absolute life saver. Huge part of the program’s success and turnaround at Norfolk State and someone who I consider a very close and dear friend. These programs don’t run without the help of other people and with the support of assistants, volunteers, administrators, equipment managers, and everyone down the line. And when you have a great support staff, that is a huge difference maker for the success of a program. So, Torrie was a huge fundamental component of our success there.

Balancing time between two teams is really, really hard and we kept about eight to ten kids on each program. So. you’re dealing with 20 people as a head coach, with one assistant, and no volunteer. It’s just an exercise in patience and planning. I think there are a lot of mid-major coaches out there who are phenomenal coaches. They have a tremendous impact on players, are amazing mentors, and they don’t get the credit that they deserve. They work with far less resources and they have to juggle situations sometimes where they’re in charge of the men’s and women’s programs. But, a good experience nonetheless and something that I think was really critical for me in my development as a coach, something which has helped me understand what my strengths and weaknesses are, and an experience to make me feel confident I can really to lead any program.

Parsa: Although your experience as a head coach was a little bit more difficult since you were in charge of two programs as you mentioned, what do you see as the biggest differences in responsibilities between a head coach and an assistant coach?

Coach Feldman: I think that’s a really good question. I think the lines are blurred. There’s a lot of shared responsibility. And me personally, I always think it’s about not replicating services, finding without any ego what your strengths and weaknesses are and how they can blend in with a head coach, or with an assistant. Whatever it is. I’ve obviously been on both sides of the coin.

I think fundamentally the head coach just has inherently a little bit more responsibility and ownership. At the end of the day it is their program and they’ve got to kind of answer for the performance of the program.

I can use a great example with Nick, who I currently work with. He has an incredible amount of things that he has to deal with. Whether it’s boosters or just general team management stuff, there are so many things that people might not understand from the outside on how these top programs run and what it takes for them to run successful. Nick, as a head coach, has a tremendous amount of responsibility.

Coaching at Oklahoma State Under Coach Jay Udwadia

Parsa: Prior to your time at Oklahoma, you spent two years as the assistant coach at Oklahoma State in nearby Stillwater. What was that experience in Stillwater like and what did you take away from your time with coach Udwadia?

Coach Feldman: Yeah, so I think I learned a ton from Jay, just in terms of the work ethic required to be at the top level of men’s college tennis. It’s just so competitive and it just seems like every year it’s getting more and more competitive and everyone is putting in so much time and effort. And so I think that was something that I really took away in those two years there, was the commitment and investment that it takes to be good.

I think one of the best things that he does – he’s an amazing recruiter and he was able to turn around the program when it was in a period where it was unranked and put it back in the top-25 after really only like a year and a half to two years which is just phenomenal so —

Parsa: Especially in Stillwater —

Coach Feldman: Yeah exactly —

Parsa: Where it’s not the easiest place to recruit.

Coach Feldman: No, no. Stillwater is definitely not an easy place to recruit. There’s no surprises there, but both the men’s and women’s teams have showed an incredible measure of success. The facilities are amazing and the support for non-revenue sports like men’s and women’s tennis there are really good. So, yeah, I think I learned a lot there.

I had worked at a really high level on the women’s side and that was kind of my first foray into working on the top level of men’s college tennis. So, I think that in itself was just a good learning experience — to get the lay of the land and just see how much time commitment goes into maintaining a program that’s consistently in the – whatever it might be, top-20 or top-10 in the country.

Facilities at Oklahoma

Parsa: You guys at Oklahoma have some of the nicest athletic facilities in the country which is extremely beneficial for your players. How essential is it to have top-notch facilities in today’s college athletics world where a player’s off court gameplan and the way they treat their bodies is just as vital as the on-court tennis development?

Coach Feldman: Everything is getting more professionalized and that’s the trend now – it seems like a lot of programs are starting to have their players playing Futures and Challengers, and that becomes a big selling point. We want to mirror the training regimen that you’re going to experience as a tennis professional, so that when you graduate you’re essentially going to already have understood and gone through those routines, learned them, and started to kind of master your craft a little bit more so within those parameters.

The best way to be able to mirror that professional training regimen is to have the most professional training facilities and amenities at your disposable. And I think that is – it’s really becoming important. Programs are starting to put in more and more money, and whether it’s football or soccer or whatever arbitrary sport you want to talk about, there is kind of this whole facility warfare race where people are constantly looking to make improvements — whether it’s with outside technologies like PlaySight, or new locker rooms, or certain athletic medicine modalities to help out players.

Everything is becoming more professionalized and definitely at Oklahoma that is a huge privilege that we have – is that we have an amazing amount of resources for athletics and we really have top-notch facilities. We just added on a huge new wing to the football stadium which has an incredible weight room that’s at our players’ disposal. It has an incredible athletic medicine facility. Everything is literally brand new, and the paint’s just drying. And it’s quite honestly amazing to see the level of commitment with our facilities.

Parsa: You mentioned that recently revamped wing of the football stadium. You guys recently had a women’s ITF tournament and a lot of the players there, they were like wow, I should have maybe come to Oklahoma. Like damn these facilities are amazing, like you mentioned the weight room and then you have those nice jacuzzi’s —

Coach Feldman: Hahaha.

Parsa: That are world class. You think you’re in a spa!

Coach Feldman: Yeah it’s just silly. I was able to show around a couple of the girls who have turned pro and gave them a good look at the interior and exterior of the working operations at OU! They were blown away — these were girls who played at amazing programs, huge big brand-name schools where the resources are also huge for athletics, tennis and football, and all the sports are really well-funded. They came in and they were just absolutely blown away by what we have with the new football addition and the Switzer Center.

Parsa: Hahaha. Shoutout to DiLo (Francesca Di Lorenzo) and Ro (Ronit Yurovsky).

Coach Feldman: Haha yep, shoutout to DiLo and Ro! Good girls, really nice people, and it was nice to see a lot of those girls at that 25K in Norman who played college tennis, transitioning on and getting out there full-time on the women’s tour. So, best of luck to them.

Coaching at Oklahoma

Parsa: Football is the biggest revenue sport in college athletics. How much of a positive impact does it have when your school’s program has the type of success they have had this year under new head coach Lincoln Riley, as well as the electric Baker Mayfield winning the Heisman Trophy?

Coach Feldman: Haha yeah well the football team just – not only this year, but usually every year has a pretty high measure of success. Yeah, with Baker winning and last year, with a lot of those top players going to the NFL draft, and this year obviously being in contention to win a national title and being ranked really one of the top five programs for the vast majority of the year. Yeah, it’s a huge help. There’s no secret, football can be a double-edged sword and it can take resources away, but it can also give resources back. And, fortunately in the case of the University of Oklahoma, they have a football team that’s a winning team.

And it’s not only a winning team at a good level, it’s a winning team at an elite level. And that just helps out and there’s just no question that, that program is able to bring in revenue for the university and the athletic department. And that as a byproduct is just able to filter down and help out the department as a whole.

Parsa: Both you and coach Nick came into a program that was coming off of an incredible stretch of reaching three straight finals at the NCAA’s under coach John Roddick who left for Central Florida. How has it been for you guys to create your own team culture and build your own program while at the same time taking things that worked under the previous regime and applying it now?

Coach Feldman: Yeah, well, first of all, what John did at Oklahoma was unprecedented and I think he’s an amazing tennis coach. Really good tennis mind, I’ve always had great conversations with him. So a huge amount of respect and credit for what he was able to accomplish. I think walking in the door – a lot of the people on the outside were kind of in two camps. Some people were like you got left with these four great players, and at the time Andrew had gone pro, so then really three players. And then other people were like, oh, well you guys don’t really have any players, so it’ll be tough for you to continue that level of success.

So, I think from the outside it’s really easy to be critical and judge and I think we walked into a tough situation. We only had three players and Andrew was kind of on the fence and wondering what he was going to do with his body. So if you look at our roster when we walked in the door it was a pretty —

Parsa: That was a rough fall hahaha. Wouldn’t have had enough guys for a dual match!

Coach Feldman: Haha yeah, we didn’t have enough players for a dual match. And Nick was very upfront and very candid about what was left in the cupboard. So, I think you could look at it from a lot of different fronts. But, it wasn’t an easy situation and I think for one – I’m really proud of the work that we did last year with the team and how we were able to come in and put kind of our own stamp on things and continue to build on what had been the groundwork that had been laid there. And then, proud that we were able to bring in a lot of guys on a very, very short time-period.

So creating our own culture – that’s something that Nick really talks about. I think it’s a huge focus point for a lot of the athletic programs now. Culture is now – it’s this key word. And it can be used as a trite or generalized word, but I think it is so important, especially when discussed openly, honestly and in the right context. Nick has tried to build a culture which is centered around players first and just really doing anything he can to help them out on their journey. And that’s really something that really drew me to working with him – is he’s a players coach. He’s a guy who is there for his players and who is willing to invest all his time and energy into helping them out, helping them move forward in their journey, and I think that’s something that’s really neat to see.

Parsa: Culture culture culture. Whenever I hear that in college tennis I think of it as synonymous with coach Peter Smith and coach Brian Boland.

Coach Feldman: Yeah no question. Peter has been someone who I’ve looked to – as both a friend and a mentor and Kris (Kwinta) is obviously one of my closest friends in the profession. What SC has accomplished is amazing – when you’re responsible for over fifty percent of the last nine national titles. With those two coaches — actually a hundred percent if you put both of them in the equation. They’ve won the last nine national titles. You can see that they’re doing something right!

Parsa: Hahaha.

Coach Feldman: I think Peter has had a unique way to connect to his players and motivate them. Obviously, I haven’t worked at SC or Virginia, but I’ve had a decent chance to spend a significant amount of time around both of those coaches. Brian’s from Minnesota. I had known who he was when he was getting started up in Saint Cloud and then at Indiana State. So, those are guys who I’ve relied on their advice, and mentorship and council over the past couple of years. With Brian, I’ve known him for a long time – incredible what they’ve both been able to accomplish.

Parsa: With three freshmen and two transfers, more than half of your team this year are new additions but the guys for the most part have all adjusted well and become close with each other this semester. How key is chemistry between the guys and the coaches to a team’s success?

Coach Feldman: That’s an interesting question. Because I think historically the better the chemistry and the better the vibe in the locker room, the more positive it weighs on the success and outcome of the program. Having said that, I’ve seen some teams just from an outside perspective, not necessarily that I was involved in that team so I can’t 100% concretely say, but I’ve seen teams that have actually not liked each other at all. But, in a weird way, that kind of competitiveness within the team seems to funnel them to want to compete hard and beat each other out.

Parsa: There’s definitely a program in my mind. Especially with this coming season.

Coach Feldman: No I don’t really have any particular program that I can think of off the top of my head. But, I just think that maybe there’s always two ways to look at that question. But I would say in general, the better the team chemistry, the better the environment in the locker room, the higher the chance for success.

And I think that’s one thing – like you mentioned — we’ve got a completely different team. We’ve got literally one player who played on those national finals teams right now that’s left. And that’s Spencer. And we’ve got just a completely different group of players.

One thing that has been really positive and really good to see is that throughout the last two years of working at OU, the guys have been gotten along great. I think we’ve had really good team chemistry. The team this year seems incredibly close. And I think that will only help us as we go on, because in some regards we do relatively have an inexperienced team this year. We’re not short on talent by any measure but a lot of these guys are going to be potentially playing in their first dual match ever and that’s always a daunting experience.

More on Recruiting

Parsa: What are attributes you look for in recruits?

Coach Feldman: That’s such a tough question. Because I think, how well can you really know someone? You can’t really intimately know someone in the recruiting process. But, I think just good people. Looking for people who are positive, who I think it’s going to be a mutual relationship with, people that I want to spend four years of my time around and they want to spend four years around me. People who are excited to come and play for me and people that I’m really excited to invest my energy and entire being in for their journey in their four to five year path. So, I don’t think there’s any like one key word or attribute that I can really grasp at.

But, I think just people who love to compete. People who love tennis. I love tennis, so I think that’s important. And if you don’t love tennis, maybe I feel like I could help reignite that spark. But, I think just people who love to compete, people who are just generally positive, who have a really positive outlook on life. and who are appreciative and competitive. I don’t really have any one cliché key word that I can grab that strikes me immediately.

Parsa: And you make a valid point with all these foreigners, you don’t really get to know them as well and sometimes you don’t really get to see them in person. Sometimes it might just be some Skype. You might not get to have an in-person visit.

Coach Feldman: Yeah Adrian Oetzbach who came in January last year. We weren’t able to —

Parsa: Oatsssssss.

Coach Feldman: Haha yep Oats! We weren’t able to see him at all. We didn’t see him hit a ball. We never met the guy. We literally had a twenty minute phone conversation with the guy and he said, look I’m coming. I think he was originally going to go to Arizona State and had verbally committed there, but I’m not sure if he could get into school. And it was really a 25th hour thing and he ended up signing. Basically, we had very limited knowledge of each other, other than what he had accomplished results wise that we could see on paper, but —

Parsa: That turned out really well. Oats is the man.

Coach Feldman: Yeah, turned out great. He’s a super nice guy and I think he’s kind of coming into his own, and coming out of his shell. He played I think like 40 matches this summer, which is insane. And he picked up 4 or 5 ATP points – obviously you saw him out in Fountain Valley. But the kid loves tennis. That to me right off the bat strikes me as the first thing about him. He loves tennis. He plays every day – he’s on the ball machine, he’s hitting serves, and he asks for individuals every single day. I mean it’s crazy to see how hard the kid works and hopefully he could put it all together. I think he’s still searching for that and hopefully he can believe in himself and it will come soon. But, yeah we really knew nothing about him other than some very basic details and I guess it worked out haha. It could have gone the other way haha.

No-Ad Scoring & Developing Players

Parsa: Haha. What are your thoughts on no-ad in college tennis?

Coach Feldman: That’s a good one. I’m not really into the whole political debates and going into the room and screaming and yelling. I think just whatever format is presented, let’s play it and let’s get as good as we can at it. I think the doubles is hard, indoors with no-ad, it can turn into a little bit of a coin flip sometimes in my opinion. But, in general I like it, I think it’s fine. I don’t have any issue with it. As long as the powers that be think that it is a good avenue to continuing to grow and market our sport and create an exciting environment. I mean I’m all for it. I think a lot of our guys to be quite honest have felt like that in their transition to playing the tour, like Andrew, that those deuce points provide a lot of pressure and I think it helps them moving forward. I think there’s a lot of arguments on both sides of the coin. There are some people who are super passionate about playing the traditional scoring format, and then there’s people who are really passionate on the other side with the no-ad. So I don’t think I’m – I don’t lean towards one side of the fence. I just think it’s what’s been presented to us and instead of arguing about it I guess, let’s just play it and play it to the best of our ability.

Parsa: For some college coaches today the goal isn’t necessarily to develop these players over four years as student-athletes on and off the court, but to just use their on-court abilities to win. They’ll do anything they can to win and some may argue what they’re doing is hurting college tennis. What are your thoughts on the matter?

Coach Feldman: Yeah that’s something that for me really strikes a chord. Because I think I’ve come from a different background. Obviously you know that I have a ton of different interests and passions in different avenues. So for me winning – yes it is exciting and it’s fun. But, at the end of the day to me, winning to me is not the ultimate goal. And I know that probably comes off as really cliché or very easy to look at that statement and say like oh surely you care about winning. Of course, everyone is competitive.

I think winning now has really taken the driver’s seat to certain things that are 100% more fundamentally important like sportsmanship and good character…and just having general camaraderie and healthy rivalry between programs, and coaches, and players. Our goal at the end of the day – yes it is to win tennis matches. They are putting in more money into these positions and more resources, and there are expectations. But at the end of the day for me it is something that will never be as important as the relationships that I develop with the players and how our players conduct themselves.

Yeah, it is something that I think is hurting college athletics in general. I’m probably more outspoken about it and could go on a tangent about it. But, yeah, I think a lot of people have lost sight and track of what’s really important within college tennis, and that’s mentorship. That’s the number one key goal for us — is mentorship. And yeah player development too, these are kids who have entrusted us in helping them maximize their tennis games. So, being quote on quote a developmental coach and being a good mentor to me are inherently more important to me than winning tennis matches.

Ideal Tennis Atmosphere

Parsa: There are some intense places for dual matches such as at Baylor in Waco where an all-out brawl almost broke out between you guys. Overall, what do you see as an ideal college tennis atmosphere?

Coach Feldman: For me, I think it would be really cool to have different innovative ideas. And I’ve talked about it with certain coaches that I’m close with, that I really trust and respect. But I would love something where we would play a dual match and then maybe after we can all have dinner together. I think something just as basic as that. We all are playing for the same reasons, hopefully. We’re all playing because we love tennis. That’s hopefully the bottom line. We love competing, we love representing our respective schools. But, certain initiatives to help us get together and to be collaborative, not to basically be standoffish, and not want to work together for the betterment of our sport and our programs — I think that’s something to me that’s absolutely ridiculous.

I’d love to see certain initiatives where you can get to know other teams and coaches better on a less superficial level. And that’s always hard. People are competitive. Guys are super competitive especially. But I think that’s kind of the beauty about being competitive is that you can want to – just like boxing or whatever, mixed martial arts, football — label it for any sport. You want to knock each other’s heads off but at the end of the day after competition, that’s where you guys can go back and be men about things. Hopefully try to learn something about each other and use it for the betterment of your own game and potentially for the betterment of the sport as a whole. So, I think there’s lots of ideas like that, lots of initiatives. I just hope that as we move along that, stuff like sportsmanship and working cooperatively will continue to be on the table as viable options.

Fast Questions

Parsa: Some fast questions. What’s your favorite ITF juniors tournament to recruit at?

Coach Feldman: Oh that’s a tough one haha. Gosh oh man. I like the US Open. I think it’s really hard because it’s such a big event and they play the qualies on the outside and then the main draw on the inside, and you’re always walking around to find where you’re going. The viewing is not super optimal on the practice court for the qualies. But I think it’s just such a neat event and being there while the pros are there at the same time, being in New York City which has its own vibes and ambience. It’s just a cool event. And my family has come out the last two years to meet me there and my stepdad’s actually from Brooklyn. So I think that’s been a really cool event to be at.

Parsa: You’ve got to come over to Wimbledon. Have those strawberries and cream while watching them play some grass court tennis.

Coach Feldman: Yeah, so I was actually super fortunate, I coached the daughter of the Chairman of the All-England Lawn Tennis Club, Vicky Brook, who ended up playing at Yale and had an outstanding college career. And ended up coaching her sister Lizzie at Harvard and so I got invited over, I got a private tour of the club. That was just when they were building the retractable roof. I got to hit on the grass and it was all an amazing experience. Vicky ended up playing in the main draw of Wimbledon and Roehampton juniors. So I’m familiar with Wimby, and it’s such a historic venue. I think it’s just – you walk in there and it’s just nostalgic haha. It’s such a cool place to be and there’s so much history and tradition. So, yeah, I haven’t been recruiting ever at Junior Wimbledon, but in terms of going over there and checking it out, I think I’ve got that one checked.

Parsa: Coach (Matt) Manasse has been starstruck there haha.

Coach Feldman: Haha well he’s always starstruck. He loves it.

Parsa: Who are some coaches you have looked up to in college tennis?

Coach Feldman: Uh on the men’s side, women’s side, or just in general?

Parsa: Just in general.

Coach Feldman: Oh man there’s so many people that I can name —

Parsa: That’s a good problem for college tennis.

Coach Feldman: Yeah, I think there are lot of people that I really look up to. If I name everyone, it could be like the Oscars haha. So, sorry for some people I am leaving out. Obviously, the people that I’ve worked for, who have been huge role models for me. Like, obviously, Brian at UNC is someone that I’ve looked up to for the longest time. I really really like Michael Center at Texas. I think his teams are super classy, and he’s been someone whose just reached out to me ever since I got into the men’s side of things and has always been just such a great friend — a person whose called on me and checked on me when things have been tough. Especially through a lot of these medical issues. Michael’s college coach, Scott Perelman (Currently Florida men’s volunteer assistant coach) has also been like a father to me and has all my bills waiting for counseling sessions with him haha.

Parsa: And they just got a brand new beautiful facility up there, coach Center and coach (Howard) Joffe.

Coach Feldman: Yeah that will be cool to go down there and play the conference tournament. Peter obviously out at USC – there’s so many people who I think that are amazing coaches, who are people that I look up to. Especially assistant coaches too who I think don’t get enough credit. Devin Bowen at TCU is awesome, the guy is so cerebral and so intelligent. Ashley Fisher at South Florida, I think he’s an absolute class act. Just a total stand up guy, obviously super knowledgeable. Had an amazing playing career. I don’t know, there’s tons of people that I can name. I can be here all night haha. All the people that I like to see when I go out recruiting or competing against.

Parsa: Toughest place to play a dual match?

Coach Feldman: Oh man I don’t know. I’ve been to a lot of places, I’m trying to think. Trying to think of that, what the immediate answer is. I think you know the immediate answer that will probably come off the top of my head!

Parsa: Hahaha.

Coach Feldman: Every Big-12 match on the road is arguably the toughest place to play. The conference has just been a joke. Every team in the conference is ranked top-25. I think there was 3 out of 4 teams in Waco were in the semifinals of the team event were from the Big-12. So literally every Big-12 match that you go on the road is the toughest place to play. Baylor is obviously really rough, they’ve got a tradition of bringing out a lot of fans. It gets rowdy obviously. So that’s a hard place to play I think. Every road match in the Big-12 is an absolute blood bath —

Parsa: You got Austin, you got Forth Worth, Lubbock, Stillwater, Norman, and Waco. These are some tough places.

Coach Feldman: There’s no day off and the Big-12 historically draws a lot of fans. We’ve played in front of over a 1000 people at times, and that’s something that’s super special but it also is very difficult.

Parsa: You guys had the Roditi Rule – oh well before you came to Oklahoma.

Coach Feldman: Actually my first year at Oklahoma State —

Parsa: Oh right you were in Stillwater.

Coach Feldman: Yeah I’m trying to think. Yeah it would have been my first spring at Oklahoma State where the policy came into effect. The second year it was modified, then the third year I think it was modified again, and then again for this fourth year. I think they’re continuing to regulate it and refine it – who knows. I think the original intent was good but I think it got really abused and it was really unfortunate to see.

Parsa: Agreed. What do you like to do off the court other than binge-watching on Netflix and mountain climbing?

Coach Feldman: Hahaha. Well, with getting healthy I’ve definitely done my fair share of binge tv watching haha. I ripped through Game of Thrones – I may be in the Guinness World Records for that one, for fastest front and back watching of Game of Thrones haha. What do I like to do? Well obviously, I think for anyone that’s close to me or knows me, or my colleagues, they know that my first passion is a love for the outdoors. Tracking, hiking, biking, and downhill skiing (among other things). Mountaineering has really become a huge passion of mine though. All things that have helped me to keep balanced and grounded. But, definitely climbing has been a huge passion of mine for the last five years. And just outdoor adventure and travel and trail running and trekking. I think those are all things that are very close to me and I’m really passionate about. And I think I’ve got a lot of goals that I want to accomplish with those as I continue to grow and get older.

Want more interviews like this one with Coach Feldman? Check out all of Parsa’s interviews on his CR page. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below. We love hearing who you would like us to interview next!