The Yellow Jacket men’s tennis team will have a new Head Coach for the upcoming spring season.
Ryan Pulliam, 32 of Charleston, has been announced as the new coach for the Yellow Jackets, taking over for long time head coach John Simms. Pulliam had previously served as the Head Coach at Fairmont State.
“While working with the men’s and women’s team for the last three and a half years, it had always been a goal of mine to be back in a full time head coaching position,” Pulliam said. “Athletic Director Burton approached me with the opportunity and I knew I had too run with it, as it comes at a perfect time for myself and the men on the team.”
Despite only having 18 days before the first competition, a dual men’s and women’s match with Salem International, Pulliam is optimistic for the upcoming season.
“I’m fortunate to step into a situation where we have adequate indoor court time to combat the wild W.Va. weather in the early months of the year, and to combine that with a hungry group of young men that want too compete and improve, it seems that we have a perfect recipe for success.”
Pulliam also understands that he is coming into a situation where most, if not all, of the players are on completely different schedules.
“Open communication is always step one. With so many on the team juggling classes, part-time jobs, and extracurriculars on top of practices and matches, it’s so important too know where we stand, and where we want too go moving forward.”
Pulliam is a 2005 graduate of Charleston Catholic High School where he played Tennis and Basketball, and graduated from W.V.U. in 2009 with a degree in Exercise Physiology before becoming a full-time manager at the West View Tennis Center in Fairmont, as well as being the Head Coach of the Fairmont State men’s tennis team from 2011-2015.
Pulliam is currently the Adult Tennis Director of the Kanawha Valley YMCA, and resides with his fiancé, Danielle, and year-old daughter, Nina.
