Dave McCain

Head Men's Tennis Coach

Most recently in 2022-23, McCain led the Quakers to an 8-10 record while going 5-4 in conference play. Guilford fell in the ODAC Semifinals as freshman, Andres Mercedes was named Rookie of the Year.

McCain's overall men's coaching record is 145-189 in 19 years. His overall women's coaching record is 69-118. In his time at Guilford, McCain has led the men to an 112-93 overall record while guiding the women to a 44-86 mark. In 2018, he won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Award for the second time in four seasons.

Veteran instructor and coach Dave McCain became Guilford’s men’s and women’s tennis coach in May 2010 after spending the previous five years coaching both tennis teams at neighboring Greensboro College. He also serves as director of tennis at the Precision Golf School and Tennis Academy in Greensboro.

McCain guided Greensboro’s women’s team to a 38-50 overall mark in five seasons and left the school ranked third among the school’s all-time coaching wins leaders. He coached Carrie Pacifico, a two-time College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American®. Four Pride students combined to win seven all-conference honors in his five seasons, including Michelle Lemmons, also a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American.

As a men’s coach, McCain has coached 19 seasons, which includes two years as mentor of Sangamon State (Ill.) College from 1980-82. His 21 coaching victories at Greensboro stood second in school history at the time of his departure. He directed the Pride’s David Sutton, the 2007 USA South Player of the Year and a two-time First Team CoSIDA Academic All-American®. McCain made his coaching debut at Sangamon State (now the University of Illinois-Springfield) where he coached the school’s first two men’s tennis teams and garnered NAIA District 20 Coach of the Year recognition both seasons.

The bulk of McCain’s 50 years of coaching experience has come through personal instruction of both juniors and adults on the national and international levels. His students have won 12 United States Tennis Association (USTA) gold balls, earned over $6 million in college tennis scholarships, and captured USTA national junior indoor and clay-court titles.

One of McCain’s top students, his daughter, Kelly, was the top-ranked NCAA Division I player and a two-time All-American for Duke University. She later embarked on a two-year stint on the WTA Tour and reached a #119 world ranking. McCain was an assistant coach for Duke’s 2009 NCAA championship team and now works with her father at Precision. Dave McCain also coached Mary Lou Piatek-Daniels, who achieved a #15 ranking on the WTA Tour and captured two singles and 11 doubles crowns as a professional.

McCain’s son, Daniel, played collegiately for the University of Michigan where he was ranked as high as 36th in the nation. Daniel served as the head women’s tennis coach at California State University Bakersfield before taking a position as a manager of player development for the Northern California section on the U.S. Tennis Association. He remains a USTA award-winning coach in Virginia.

Before moving to Greensboro, Dave McCain worked with aspiring tour professionals at the IFPA Tennis & Fitness Academy in Tampa, Florida. He served three years as the Academy Managing Director for the Saddlebrook International Tennis program in Wesley Chapel, Florida, where he designed personalized tennis training, fitness, and tournament preparation for developing players. McCain also ran the McCain International Tennis Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida, home to 30 sectionally and nationally ranked juniors.

McCain, who started playing tennis when he was eight, lives in Greensboro. Sue, his late wife, played college tennis at Southern Illinois University and coached the women’s team at Sangamon State.