Twenty-five years after first coming to UB as the men's tennis assistant coach, head coach Russ Crispell has decided to hang up his whistle.
Crispell, who has been the men's tennis head coach since 1993, will be retiring after this season to concentrate on his roles as president of the National Outdoor Association, as well as the assistant recreation director for Outdoor Pursuits at UB.
"In order for our tennis program to go forward, our new athletic director (Warde Manuel) doesn't want coaches doing anything but coaching," Crispell said. "I don't blame him. I would do the same thing. I was given an option but I've done coaching for 25 years. I'm now president of an Outdoor Association of Educators from colleges all over the United States and it's time for me to make a new change."
Crispell has had three tours of duty in the Buffalo tennis department. In 1981, he was hired as the men's assistant coach. After leaving for a couple of years, he was brought back in 1987 as the head women's coach, a position he held for three years. After working with UB as a chairman for the World University Games in 1992, he was offered the job of head coach of the men's team in 1993.
"In 1989, Nelson Townsend appointed me as the chairman for the World University Games as a volunteer chair," Crispell said. "I did that for three years and when the job opened up to actually serve as the venue coordinator for three different sports at the World Games, it was a full-time job. It was a chance and I absolutely took it. Out of it came this job at UB and I've been here ever since, and loving it."
During Crispell's tenure, he has guided the program from a lowly Division III team to a competitive team in the Mid-American Conference.
"I've taken this program from what was really nothing, to being a competitive program in the Mid-American Conference," Crispell said. "We came in third place last year, we came in fourth this year, and we beat teams that we're not supposed to be beating. These are teams that are established, that are fully funded. I'm half-funded. MAC schools, other than myself, are all fully funded. We should be in sixth place."
Crispell's coaching philosophy has always been unorthodox, and it is not uncommon for his team to go on a canoe trip or to sleep in tents instead of hotels to ensure team bonding.
"Several years ago, I had a team that challenged me," Crispell said. "It was a team of talented athletes, but I'm coaching a sport of individuals, and tennis is not a sport where people are used to playing on teams. I looked at it and said 'How can I drive home the importance of teamwork? How can I drive home the importance of learning to cooperate and work together?' "
Mike Zappone, senior captain on the men's tennis team, said that Crispell's style of coaching ensures that every player is responsible for himself, while also for the team.
"Coach puts a lot of responsibility on us," Zappone said. "He's not going to baby-sit us. He's not going to hold your hand and make sure you're doing things you're supposed to do. He believes in being responsible and teaching us not to rely on other people but to take the initiative and handle things yourself."
Every college coach's goal is to one day be a national champion, and though Crispell will leave the game without meeting his ultimate goal, it was not for lack of effort.
"I came here with every motivational desire to take this program and take it to win the national championships for the University at Buffalo, and I wholeheartedly had that desire," Crispell said. "But I was told by staff at that time that was just a dream. I regret not having been able to go to that highest level. I know if you don't set a goal then you're never going to get to that next level. I didn't reach my goal, but I strived towards obtaining that goal. I think that makes it so that I can walk away feeling good about it."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
