Jeff Brown Season 2023-24

1998 SEC Co-Coach of the Year

1998 ITA Region III Coach of the Year

1998 Louisiana Coach of the Year

1999 College Tennis Magazine National Coach of the Year
1999 Louisiana Coach of the Year
2001 Louisiana Coach of the Year
2002 Louisiana Coach of the Year
2005 Louisiana Coach of the Year
2007 Louisiana Coach of the Year
2013 Louisiana Coach of the Year

Jeff Brown capped his career at LSU as the school’s winningest coach, posting a 312-205 overall mark, which includes a 116-116 record in Southeastern Conference, before stepping down as head coach in May 2017.

Brown left a significant mark on the program, one that he had been a part of for more than half of his life as he was both a player, an assistant coach and the head coach for 20 seasons (1998-2017). He played a major role in nearly all of the most successful teams in the program’s history.

Brown first joined LSU as a player in 1985, earning All-SEC honors three times as well as serving as the captain of the Tigers’ only team to reach the NCAA Championship Match in 1988. Brown played on the pro tennis circuit for several years before returning to LSU as an assistant coach from 1994-97

Brown took the reins of the program in 1998 after serving as an assistant to Jerry Simmons for three seasons. He was an All-American doubles player for LSU in 1988 and spent five years on the professional circuit.

Brown led the Tigers to back-to-back SEC Championships in 1998 and 1999, becoming the first person in league history to do so in his first two seasons as head coach. The Tigers also won the SEC Tournament both years.

Brown took his teams to the NCAA Tournament in 17 out of 20 years and earned Louisiana Coach of the Year honors in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2013.
He coached 24 All-Americans in his tenure, and after young teams fell out of the top 20 in 2002 and 2003, he brought the team back to the national spotlight in 2004. In 2005, Brown helped the Tigers return to the top-10 for the first time since 1998 with a 21-9 overall record and a tie for third place in the SEC.

With Brown at the helm, the Tigers finished in the top-10 three times during his tenure.

Brown coached Michal Chemla and Michael Venus, SEC Players of the Year in 1998 and 2009, and his players earned 36 All-SEC honors.

In 2016, Brown’s doubles duo Boris Arias and Jordan Daigle earned back-to-back ITA All-America honors after reaching the second round of the NCAA Doubles Championships for the second consecutive season. The pair became the first doubles duo in LSU tennis history to earn All-America honors as a doubles pair for two seasons.

During Brown’s LSU tenure, the Tigers had 4 SEC Scholar Athlete’s of the Year, 28 Academic All-Americans and 101 SEC Honor Roll members.

The Tigers were honored by the NCAA in 2008 for their Academic Progress Rate score. The Tigers scored a perfect APR of 1000 in the report by the NCAA. The NCAA recognized college sports teams from around the country that achieved an APR score in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. The LSU men’s tennis team is one of only 10 sports teams out of 236 squads in the entire Southeastern Conference that were recognized for academic achievement by the NCAA, and it was the only men’s tennis team in
the SEC to achieve the honor.

In 2014, the Tigers received their fourth NCAA Public Recognition Award for their exceptional work in the classroom as part of the NCAA’s Academic Performance Program. They also earned the highest team GPA at LSU for the 2015 season.

When Brown took over the program in 1998, he was already well acquainted with the demands
of being successful in college tennis. He enjoyed tremendous success as a player at LSU from 1985-88, as evidenced by his two All-SEC awards. He joined the Tiger tennis elite in his senior season when he eclipsed the 100-career victory mark. That same year he captained LSU’s only NCAA finals team. He still has the fifth-most wins of any player in LSU history. Brown helped lead the Tigers to an 85-35 record as an assistant coach from 1994-97. LSU finished in the top-10 three of those four years.

He earned his degree at LSU in 1989 while serving as an assistant coach and then left Baton Rouge for the ATP tour. He won the doubles title at the Volvo International in 1990 and advanced to the round of 16 at the U.S. Open by beating the team of Pete Sampras and Jim Courier in the first round. Brown also advanced to the round of 16 at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon. His No. 47 international ranking in doubles is the third highest ranking ever for a former LSU player, behind only former Tiger Ken Skupski who was ranked No. 44 and Michael Venus who was ranked No. 42 in doubles.

Brown married the former Deborah Schaeffer of Colorado Springs, Colo., on Nov. 19, 1999. They have two sons, Connor and Cameron. 

The Jeff Brown File
Years at LSU: 20 
Birthdate: Nov. 15, 1966
Birthplace: Dubuque, Iowa

PLAYING EXPERIENCE
LSU’s Fourth All-Time Winningest Singles Player (100 Career Wins)
1988 Team Captain
1985 All-SEC Singles
1985 SEC No. 4 Singles Champion
1986 SEC No. 3 Doubles Champion
1988 SEC All-SEC Singles and Doubles
1988 NCAA Singles and Doubles Participant
1988 Doubles All-American
Four-year Letterman (1985-88)

PROFESSIONAL CAREER
1990 Volvo International Doubles Champion
1990 U.S. Open Doubles Round of 16
1991 Volvo International Doubles Finalist
1991 Australian Open Doubles Round of 16
1991 Wimbledon Doubles Round of 16

COACHING HONORS
1998 SEC Co-Coach of the Year
1998 ITA Region III Coach of the Year
1998 Louisiana Coach of the Year
1999 College Tennis Magazine National Coach of the Year 
1999 Louisiana Coach of the Year
2001 Louisiana Coach of the Year
2002 Louisiana Coach of the Year
2005 Louisiana Coach of the Year
2007 Louisiana Coach of the Year
2013 Louisiana Coach of the Year

Brown’s Year-by-Year Head Coaching Results