Jeff Zinn, who has led Wake Forest into the most successful period in program history, enters his 16th season as the head men's tennis coach.
Zinn has transformed the Demon Deacon program from a top-75 team to a top-25 team and made Wake Forest a consistent top tier club at the ACC and NCAA levels. Under his guidance, Zinn has guided Wake Forest to ten straight NCAA Tournaments and 11 overall appearances.
While Zinn credits his players for the success of the program, it is worth noting how the accomplishments those he recruited and tutored to Wake Forest have piled up.
In November 2008, Zinn set a new Demon Deacon precedent, guiding Steven Forman and Cory Parr to the program's first-ever individual national championship. The doubles team won the ITA's Indoor Championship and acquired the nation's No. 1 ranking. Forman and Parr became the third and fourth student-athletes to reach All-American status under the leadership of Zinn.
Deacon individuals have earned All-ACC honors 23 times in Zinn's 15 years at Wake. In contrast, only 12 Deacons had earned all-conference honors in the 42 years prior to his arrival.
All 12 of the program's NCAA Tournament appearances have come under Zinn's watch, including the last 11 in a row. Seven times in the last 11 years, Wake Forest has finished among the top four of the ACC. The Demon Deacons reached at least the semifinals of the ACC Championships for four consecutive years from 2007-10, by far the longest stretch in program history.
Battling illnesses and other issues through the 2010-11 season, Zinn kept the Demon Deacons on track, guiding them to a 14-12 record and their 11th-straight NCAA Tournament bid. Wake Forest shutout VCU 4-0 in the first round of NCAAs and put a serious scare into top-seeded Virginia in the second round before succumbing 4-1. Jonathan Wolff earned All-ACC honors, giving Zinn an All-ACC player in each of the past 11 seasons.
In 2009-10, Zinn continued his run of unprecedented success as the Demon Deacons reached the semifinals of the ACC Championship for the fourth consecutive year. The doubles team of Steven Forman and Iain Atkinson advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championships, giving Wake Forest a representative in the quarterfinals of the event for the fourth consecutive year. Both players were named All-Americans by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, with Forman becoming the first player in program history to recieve All-America recognition in three different seasons. In addition, Tripper Carleton became first ever Wake Forest freshman to to be selected to the NCAA Singles Championships.
Wake Forest's top seven career leaders in singles wins, including all-time leader Cory Parr (2004-2008), and the top seven career leaders in doubles victories all played under Zinn.
In 2006, Zinn coached his first All-American, junior Todd Paul. Paul finished the year ranked in the top 20 and reached the second round of the NCAA Championships. After taking over leadership of the squad in 1997, Zinn led the Demon Deacons to a 14-12 record and the school's first ever NCAA Regional appearance in 1998.
Prior to his tenure at Wake Forest, Jeff Zinn was the head men's and women's coach at Arkansas-Little Rock, where he was named the 1994 Sun Belt Coach of the Year after his team finished second in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. He duplicated that mark and more in both 1995 and 1996 when the Trojans qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Zinn tutored Thomas Andersson, a standout at UALR who was the school's first NCAA singles qualifier when he participated in the 1996 NCAA Championships and later became a Deacon assistant coach.
Named 1992 Sun Belt Coach of the Year for his work with the Trojan women's program, Zinn finished his six-year stint at UALR with a combined men's and women's record of 133-88, including a 79-48 record with the men's program.
Zinn's teams were also successful in the classroom. His program maintained the highest grade point average among the school's 16 varsity teams for four consecutive years. In 1996, the team was awarded with ITA Academic All-American Tennis Team honors.
Prior to his stint at UALR, Zinn was the head coach at Northern Kentucky in 1990. He led the team to a first-place finish in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and tutored one player, Jeff Euwema, as he advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships. He was also named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Coach of the Year that season.
Before his time at NKU, Zinn spent seven years as the Director of Tennis at the West Side Racquet Club in Cincinnati where he personally coached three different high school state champions.
In college, Zinn played number one singles and doubles at Eastern Kentucky and at Cincinnati. Serving as team captain for the Bearcats, Zinn was named the team's MVP as both a junior and senior. He received a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Cincinnati in 1984.
Zinn earned a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Arkansas-Little Rock in 1994 and also worked as an adjunct professor in the Sociology Department, teaching a course titled the Sociology of Sports. Zinn is certified by both the USPTA and the USPTR.
Zinn has twin 22-year old daughters, Kaitlyn and Jaclyn. An avid sports fan, he enjoys watching all Wake Forest sporting events.
