Brian Kalbas (born 1966) is an American college

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

coach. He has been the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels women's tennis team since 2003. He played college tennis and started his coaching career at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

before becoming the head women's tennis coach at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

in 1992. He is a three-time

Intercollegiate Tennis Association The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is the governing body and coaches' association of United States college tennis, both an advocate and authority, overseeing men's and women's varsity tennis at all levels – NCAA Division I, NCAA Divi ...

(ITA) Coach of the Year and the winningest women's tennis coach in

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC) history.

College career

Kalbas attended the

Notre Dame, Indiana Notre Dame is a census-designated place and unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend in St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. It includes the campuses of three colleges: the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary's Co ...

, where he played for the Fighting Irish tennis team. He compiled a singles record of 85 wins, 54 losses, playing mostly in the team's or spot. A strong counterpuncher, he made up for his size with good court awareness, grit, and a willingness to play through injury. Another citation for this height: Teammates considered him an informal leader by his junior year. As the team captain in his senior year in 1988–89, he missed half of the season due to a sore shoulder and other injuries and fell to No. 3; he had helped recruit the player, freshman David DiLucia, who replaced him in the top spot. Before the end of his senior year, he was hired as an assistant coach for the next season.

Coaching career

Kalbas remained an assistant coach at Notre Dame for three years. In his last year, Notre Dame reached the final of the 1992 NCAA Championships. Kalbas served as the head coach of the William & Mary Tribe women's team from 1992 to 2003. The team, under Kalbas, won the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA; now

Coastal Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...

) league title nine times. The

(ITA) named him Coach of the Year in 1998, the year of William & Mary's second consecutive quarterfinal finish in the NCAA Championships. Kalbas became the head coach of the University of North Carolina women's team in the summer of 2003. Since its breakthrough 2009–10 season, the team has consistently held a place in the top 5 of the ITA rankings, and they have won the ACC Championships six times and the ITA National Team Indoor Championships seven times. In Kalbas's twentieth season, North Carolina won its first NCAA team title at the 2023 Championships; he had led the program to five previous appearances in the NCAA semifinals, including one final appearance in 2014. One of his North Carolina players has won an NCAA singles title ( Jamie Loeb in 2015), and three North Carolina teams have won the NCAA doubles title ( Jenna Long/ Sara Anundsen in 2007, Makenna Jones/ Elizabeth Scotty in 2021, and Fiona Crawley/ Carson Tanguilig in 2023). Kalbas was named the national Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2023. The active leader in NCAA dual match wins as a coach, he has signed a contract extension with North Carolina through 2027.

Personal life

Kalbas has two children with his wife, Suzanne. His brother, Tim Kalbas, was a fellow member of the Notre Dame tennis team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalbas, Brian Living people 1966 births People from Carmel, Indiana Sports coaches from Indiana Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's tennis players Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's tennis coaches William & Mary Tribe women's tennis coaches North Carolina Tar Heels women's tennis coaches American tennis coaches