Pick up Family pic with pretty blonde wife. Replace last year’s action shot with new one.
Stefan Naughton returns for his 7th year as the assistant coach for the Cardinals. The former
University of Louisville men’s tennis stand-out, returned to U of L after two years as an assistant women’s
tennis coach at Michigan State.
“We were extremely excited to bring back one of our former players. He knows how I like things done
and what to expect. He has one of the best young tennis minds in NCAA tennis,” said Beckham.
At MSU, Naughton conducted practices, assisted with on-court coaching, travel arrangements,
international recruiting, booster groups and served as video coordinator. He coached MSU’s first-ever ranked
doubles pair and singles player.
During his collegiate career at U of L, the men’s team made NCAA Tournament team appearances in
2004, 2005 and 2006, and won the 2006 Big East Tournament championship. The Cardinals were NCAA
Regional finalists in 2005 and 2006 and were ranked a program-high No. 12 in the nation. Highlights included
posting a 10-6 singles record and a 5-5 doubles mark in 2006.
In 2005, Naughton was named the Mark Beckham Team Player of the Year for the Cardinals and
award named after his current boss. The Wellington, New Zealand, native was selected as a member of the
New Zealand Tennis Team to compete at the World University Games in 2005.
Stefan and his wife, Natalie reside in Louisville. The have a son, Axel Christian.
The Naughton Philosophy
I believe that the difference between a junior tennis player and college tennis player is that the junior tennis player
is just a great tennis player, where as a college tennis player is not only a great tennis player, but is also a great
competitor. My goal is to focus on each player and their needs in order to make them the best they can be. There
will be days when each player feels that they are not playing their best tennis, but by competing hard and by
incorporating certain elements mentioned below, they will be able to beat players that may be more talented.
On the tennis court, I will take each player’s greatest strengths and work with them to develop a game plan
that best suits them. With that said, I will also work on each player’s weaknesses and develop them into an all
court player so that the player will be ready for anything on the tennis court. I feel that my players should be
dictating points from the start by using their strengths. We train each player by incorporating pressure situations
into everything we do, so when they feel pressure in a match, they will be able to use situations that we have
practiced to overcome the pressure in order to win.
Physically, we will challenge each player to discover their true potential and try to get everything we can out of
each player. Everyday, each player will be pushed, as at the University of Louisville we believe that there is no
substitute for HARD WORK. I believe that the mind cannot conceive what the body can endure.
Finally, discipline is a very important component. By being disciplined in everything you do, you will be
able to accomplish unexpectable goals. To be successful you need discipline, but at the same time, you also need
to have fun doing what you are doing to accomplish the greatest things in tennis and in life.