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Adam Steinberg: Coach of Tennis Champions
Adam Steinberg started small. As a first-time head coach, he trained a collegiate tennis program on a meager $13,000 budget and courts alongside a major highway in Queens, New York. From those humble beginnings, Steinberg has become the voice, wisdom, and spirit behind the first-ever NCAA Division 1 Men’s Tennis Champions at Pepperdine University.
The native New Yorker first discovered his favorite sport at eight years old. Steinberg’s elder brother began playing tennis at their summer swim and tennis club, and the eager sibling soon followed. He learned quickly and excelled, and later, joined the tennis team at Penn State University. He served as team captain during his senior year.
A marketing major, Steinberg intended to enter the business world and interviewed for jobs with large companies on Wall Street. He found that he was poorly-suited to this career path, and deeply missed athletics. He pursued coaching opportunities, and accepted a place as the assistant coach at St. John’s University in New York. During his first year with the program, the head coach retired, and Steinberg was promoted to the top position only two years removed from college play, and at a young 23 years old.
Steinberg spent five successful years at St. John’s. Under his tutelage, the team claimed the Big East title in 1991, and earned second placed finishes in 1993, 1994, and 1995. But the program was small and Steinberg wanted to join one that could achieve bigger results. He left St. John’s and became assistant coach for a stronger team at Northwestern University. During the next two years, the Wildcats won the regional championship and advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1997, finishing in the top 20. There, Steinberg observes, “I really started to learn what college was about on a national scale.” Returning to the head coach position, Steinberg helped the University of Alabama tennis team place in the top 20 for four out of his five years at the school.
In 2002, his “dream came true: the men’s head coach position here at Pepperdine opened up. I applied and here I am!” Steinberg always wanted to lead a program that could win the national title, and saw outstanding potential among the Waves. Though the team had few players at the time, Steinberg worked tirelessly to build the program, improve performance quality, increase University enthusiasm as well as game attendance, and most importantly, instill in his players a team attitude. “It’s not about having the best talent; it’s about having the best people. Tennis is highly individual, but I try to make it a team sport. My coaching philosophy is pretty simple: it’s all about the team. And we were the ultimate team; that’s why we won.”
As the 2006-07 season approaches, Steinberg looks forward to working with a winning team, and coaching Pepperdine players of talent and character. “I’ve been coaching for 17 years,” Steinberg notes, “and I’ve never had players like this. On the court, off the court, in the classrooms, and with their families, they’re just amazing. And they love this university. When they put on the Pepperdine uniform, it means the world to them.”
Named Pepperdine's 2005-06 Coach of the Year and Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Coach of the Year, he also recognizes the importance of a great coaching staff. He treasures working with assistant coach Per Nilsson, who came to Pepperdine with him in 2002, and volunteer assistant Nick Carless. Both, Steinberg stresses, “deserve a lot of credit. They are incredible and a huge reason why we were successful. I couldn’t do this without them.”
When not on the courts with his team or busy recruiting new players, Steinberg enjoys the quality of life Malibu offers, including scenic ocean views and his on-campus accommodations. He also devotes seven weeks of the summer to coaching at the immensely-popular Malibu Summer Camp, which attracts local youths as well as players from other states and nations. Recently engaged to be married, Steinberg expects to see the whole Pepperdine team at his wedding.
These days, Steinberg often reflects on his team and the moment they achieved the top spot in collegiate tennis. When Pepperdine beat Georgia in the final match of the 2006 NCAA Championship, he recalls the two things that immediately came to his mind: first, how far he’d come from those modest beginnings at St. John’s, and second, how much his father, who passed away in 1990, would have loved to see Pepperdine win. Then, he thought of his players, and how “far they’ve come, and their lives are forever changed. They will always remember this victory. And so will I.”
By Megan Huard
