Stanford announces hiring of new women's tennis coach

Dylan Grausz | Sep 13, 2024

Feb 10, 2024; Stanford, California, USA; The Stanford Cardinal logo on the video board before the game between the Stanford Cardinal and the USC Trojans at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images / Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

On August 24, Stanford women’s tennis saw the end of an era, with longtime head coach Lele Forood announcing that she was stepping down. However, it did not take long for the Cardinal to find their new leader, promoting longtime associate head coach Frankie Brennan to be the new Peter Helen Bing Director of Women’s Tennis.

Having been involved in college coaching for 29 years, and a part of 12 out of Stanford’s 20 NCAA championships, Brennan has earned the reputation of being of one of the most respected assistants in all of college tennis, being a third generation coach who has spent time on the staffs of both his father, Frank Brennan, and Forood. His career accolades as a coach include being named the 2003 National Assistant Coach of the Year and being an eight-time ITA Northwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year.

“Stanford University and its women’s tennis program has been a major part of my life since I was 10 years old and it is an honor and a privilege to be chosen to lead the program into its next chapter,” Brennan said in a statement via GoStanford.com. “I’d like to thank Lele Forood, who has played such an important role in my career, for her mentorship, guidance and friendship. She has been like a sister to me since the day I was born, and it has been an incredible journey to spend the last 24 years working alongside her. I’d also like to thank Bernard Muir for entrusting me with the leadership of Stanford women’s tennis and acknowledge our sport administrator Angie Jabir for all her unconditional support through the process.”

Brennan first joined the staff in 1996, and since then, the Cardinal have evolved into being one of the best teams in the country, with the team having a 700-71 record and 12 NCAA championships as well as over 20 conference regular season titles and six conference tournament titles. Since he has been associate head coach, he has seen Stanford win four individual national championships, with former Cardinal legend Nicole Gibbs winning the singles title in 2012 and 2013, as well as winning a doubles title in 2012 as well with Mallory Burdette as her partner.

Brennan’s best season as a coach arguably came in 2018, when the Cardinal not only won the NCAA championship to take home their 19th title in program history, but they also won it in the same way that they did in 2016; by being the lowest seeded team to win at all, going into the tournament as the No. 15 seed. 

A former player himself, Brennan played collegiately at the University of Redlands where he was a two-time all-conference selection. Helping the team to an appearance in the Final Four in 1993 and a fifth place finish in 1994, Brennan then became the head coach of the women’s team in 1995 before joining his father’s staff at Stanford in 1996.