Coaching at Chattanooga
Chuck Merzbacher will enter his 10th season at Chattanooga heading into the 2026-27 season. The 2023 and 2019 Southern Conference Coach of the Year has made a tremendous impact on the program and earned his 100th victory as the Mocs' leader on March 17, 2026.
During the 2025 season, Merzbacher led the Chattanooga program to its first postseason tournament championship in 25 years (the 2000 SoCon Tournament) after claiming the 2025 National Invitational Tournament (NIT) title. The Mocs defeated N.C. Central (W, 4-3) in the semifinals before downing Saint Mary's (CA) (W, 5-2) in the championship match on May 9, 2025, at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Ga.
The 2025 edition of the Mocs finished 15-11 overall and 4-3 inside SoCon play, marking the team's fifth double-digit victory season and fourth winning SoCon regular season under Merzbacher. Chattanooga finished 12-13 overall in 2026 and made its second straight appearance in the NIT event, reaching the semifinal stage before bowing out to top-seeded Virginia Tech.
The team has posted 10-plus wins in each of the past four seasons, its longest such streak since a stretch from 2005-2008. Over the past four seasons, UTC's 55 total victories are the most over a four-season span since the program collected 64 during those same 2005-2008 campaigns.
Merzbacher, the 2023 Southern Conference Coach of the Year, led the team to a historic 2023 season, concluding 18-7 overall and 6-1 in Southern Conference action. Behind the 6-1 league record, he notched the program's first-ever Southern Conference Regular Season title and led the team to its first appearance in the SoCon Tournament title match since 2006 as the event's top seed.
The team's 18 wins marked the most for the program since 2005, with six student-athletes earning All-SoCon honors along the way. On March 19, 2023, Chattanooga defeated The Citadel 6-1 to capture Merzbacher's 500th career collegiate victory as a head coach at the NCAA Division I level.
In just his second year in 2019, he guided Chattanooga to a 14-11 overall record, the most wins for the program since 2012. UTC finished third in the SoCon race, its highest regular-season finish since 1999, and its 4-3 league tally was the most conference wins in a season since 2013. That earned him league Coach of the Year honors, the first for a Moc since Tommy Bartlett in 1989.
Chattanooga was poised for another strong season in 2020. The Mocs were 12-6 overall when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the season. During the 2020-21 season, the squad finished 9-11 overall and 3-4 inside conference play.
During the 2021-22 fall season, Merzbacher helped lead the doubles team of Tomas Rodriguez and Peyton Gatti to program history when the tandem finished runner-up at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships, earning an at-large berth into the ITA Fall National Championships in San Diego, California. Both accomplishments were uncharted territory for the program.
Academically, the program was recognized by the NCAA for a perfect APR score for the second year in a row. Following the Fall 2021 semester, the program posted a 3.468 team GPA, the second-highest on record, falling just shy of the 3.650 mark set in the spring of 2020. Ten of the 11 on the roster made the A.D. Honor Roll, continuing a run of five straight terms with 10-plus posting a 3.0 GPA or better.
A program-record eight individuals made the 2020 ITA All-Academic team, and UTC posted a program-record 3.65 team GPA in the spring of 2020.
Before Chattanooga
A 31-year veteran of NCAA Division I tennis coaching, Merzbacher has led men's and women's programs at three other schools before coming to UTC.
Prior to UTC, Merzbacher served most recently as the head women's tennis coach at the University of Minnesota, posting a 70-58 record during a five-year tenure from 2013-17. He was also the head women's coach at Ohio State (1997-2012) and Kansas (1993-96) and the men's head coach at Northern Illinois (1990-92).
Merzbacher owns a career record of 532-413 (.563) and has eight conference titles on his résumé. He coached six individual All-Americans, and his teams made 12 NCAA postseason appearances.
A native of Findlay, Ohio, Merzbacher took over at Minnesota after 16 successful seasons at Ohio State. During his tenure with the Buckeyes, they reached the NCAA Tournament nine times and posted 209 victories, making him the winningest coach in program history.
Merzbacher launched his head coaching career with the men's program at Northern Illinois University in 1989. He led the Huskies for three seasons, earning back-to-back Mid-Continent Coach of the Year honors in 1991 and 1992.
He then moved to the women's side at the University of Kansas from 1992 to 1996, gathering four consecutive Big Eight Conference championships, two Big Eight Coach of the Year titles (1993, 1994), and one Central Region Coach of the Year award (1994). Under his guidance, the Jayhawks posted an impressive 39-1 conference record (83-29 overall).
Playing Career
A 1987 graduate of the University of Minnesota, Merzbacher is the Gophers' all-time career wins leader with 137 singles victories. He also holds the No. 3 and No. 11 spots for wins in a single season.
He finished his Gopher career as a three-time All-Big Ten selection and two-time NCAA national qualifier. As a freshman in 1984, he established his collegiate credibility with a Big Ten Conference No. 4 singles title. Minnesota won Big Ten titles in 1984 and 1986 and amassed a record of 42-7 in conference play.
After a brief stint as Minnesota's assistant coach in 1987, Merzbacher tried his hand on the professional circuit. He was ranked as high as No. 354 in singles and No. 335 in doubles, making international showings in both the Australian Open and the Wimbledon qualifier in 1989.
