Robert Oertel, who owns over 670 career victories and 29 years of coaching experience at the NCAA level, is in his first season as head coach of the Green Bay men's and women's tennis programs.
"Coach Rob Oertel is a phenomenal addition to our athletic department and has been incredibly successful as both a men's and women's tennis head coach at the NCAA Division I level," said Guthrie. "We're confident he's going to do great things for our programs and look forward to his leadership in the years ahead."
A native of Milwaukee, Oertel comes to Green Bay by way of nearby Ripon College, where he spent just one season after spending 17 years at Eastern Kentucky. During his time with the Colonels, Oertel made eight NCAA Tournament appearances and earned Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year honors seven times. In his last season at EKU, Oertel led the women's team to the 2018 NCAA Tournament, finishing 16-9 overall and 9-0 in the OVC. He coached five OVC All-League performers in that season, and was named OVC Coach of the Year as well.
"I would like to thank AD Guthrie, Assistant ADÂ
Joey Daniels and the entire search committee for entrusting me to lead the Green Bay men's and women's tennis programs," said Oertel. "I am very humbled and honored to be provided this opportunity. I look forward to building another NCAA Division I program into a consistent championship contender within the Horizon League."Â
Prior to his time at Eastern Kentucky, Oertel spent four and a half years as the Head Tennis Coach at the University of Denver, coaching both the men and women's programs for two of those years. He also served as the Head Men's Tennis Coach at Indiana State University for seven years, building up a Sycamore program that had never been nationally ranked into one that reached high national rankings in both the team and individual categories. While at Indiana State, Oertel was named Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Men's Coach of the Year in 1995, as the team won two rounds in the NCAA Tournament.
Oertel earned his Bachelors degree in Business Administration from UW-Stout in 1986, where he was named to the Division-III All-America team in both singles and doubles as a Senior. He was inducted into the UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996, and was selected to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Centennial Celebration All-Time Tennis Team in 2013.
An NCAA Regional Site Rep and NCAA Region V Advisory Committee Member, Oertel earned his Master's in Sports Administration (Physical Education) from Indiana State in 1991.
Oertel replaces Brian Nelson, who returned to his home state of Oklahoma after spending one season with Green Bay. Nelson took over as head coach at NCAA Division II Southeastern Oklahoma State in July.
