The integral piece to getting the Crimson Tide men’s tennis program back on track arrived this summer from the sunny shores of Southern California.
George Husack, who helped guide the University of Southern California Trojans to four national titles as an assistant coach, was named head coach for the Crimson Tide in June.
Husack, a native of San Mateo, California, said he wasn’t introduced to the game of tennis until later in his life. But ever since his sophomore year of high school, he has been devoted to life on the tennis court.
“I guess I was more of a late starter,” he said. “I played all sports growing up and so my interest in tennis got me involved in it.”
After walking on at San Diego State University as an undergraduate, Husack helped guide the Aztecs to national prominence as team captain. But upon the completion of his degree, Husack took a brief break from tennis.
“I ended up taking a job in finance,” he said. “I wanted to go play a little bit more but I wanted to get a job and so I worked in finance for about two years.”
But it wasn’t long before he rediscovered his passion for tennis. Husack started to get involved again while in graduate school at The University of San Francisco.
“I started training with a friend who was playing in low-level events and tours,” he said. “From there, it got me back into playing again, so I started playing in minor league tournaments, satellite tours and futures tournaments.”
For a while, Husack played professionally in tournaments across North America, Europe and Asia. But he said while working out with a good friend at Santa Clara University, his passion for tennis took a different direction.
“When I decided I didn’t want to play tennis professionally anymore, I decided I wanted to get into coaching,” he said. “From there on I ended up assisting my friend at Santa Clara.”
Husack spent seven years as an assistant coach and five years as the head coach of the Broncos before taking position as an associate head coach at The University of Illinois and then moving on to USC.
What Husack said he hopes to bring to The University of Alabama men’s tennis program is a sense of discipline that, in the long run, translates into a national title.
“I am bringing structure and vision to the program,” he said. “From my experience so far, myself and coach [Ryler] DeHeart are holding guys accountable. We have a job and our job is to be successful coaches and set goals for our players and makes sure they are the best players they can be.”
Husack said he is not looking too far ahead into the future but hopes to one day bring the Crimson Tide men’s tennis program to national prominence.
“I’m focusing just on right now,” he said. “Here I want to be a championship contender for a national title and a conference title. How long that is going to take? I’m not too sure but I like what I see.”
