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If it's possible to make a statement with a women's tennis coaching hire, Debbie Yow managed to do it by hiring Simon Earnshaw, who'll take over the program after 15 incredibly successful seasons at D-II Armstrong Atlantic State University (AASU?)
I mean, it's not every day you can announce the hiring of a guy who has nine national championships under his belt. Nine! These are the year-by-year results of his women's teams at Armstrong while he was the head coach:
| Year | Team Record | Regular Season Conf. Finish | Conference Tourney Finish | NCAA Finish |
| 2014 | 28-2 | 1st (13-0) | 1st | Runner-Up |
| 2013 | 30-1 | 1st (13-0) | 1st | Champions |
| 2012 | 29-0 | 1st (12-0) | 1st | Champions |
| 2011 | 28-3 | 1st (12-0) | 1st | Semifinalist |
| 2010 | 33-0 | 1st (12-0) | 1st | Champions |
| 2009 | 28-1 | 1st (10-0) | 1st | Champions |
| 2008 | 32-1 | 1st (10-0) | 1st | Champions |
| 2007 | 29-1 | 1st (11-0) | 1st | Semifinalist |
| 2006 | 30-1 | 1st (8-0) | 1st | Runner-Up |
| 2005 | 30-0 | 1st (10-0) | 1st | Champions |
| 2004 | 28-1 | 1st (10-0) | 1st | Semifinalist |
| 2003 | 21-7 | 2nd (9-1) | 2nd | Round of 16 |
| 2002 | 26-4 | 1st (10-0) | 1st | Runner-Up |
| 2001 | 22-6 | 2nd (9-1) | 1st | Quarterfinals |
| 2000 | 17-7 | 1st (11-0) | 2nd | Quarterfinals |
| • 411-35 Overall record |
• 13 Regular season Titles • 160-2 Conference record |
• 13 Postseason conference tournament championships |
• 6 National Championships |
That's a .922 overall winning percentage (.965 over the last 11 years, as State's press release helpfully points out), which, you know, that's pretty good and stuff. He was also coaching the men's team, which won three national titles. In keeping with the theme established at the the top of this post, let's go to Bradley Cooper and Gerard Butler for their reactions to this hire:
Whoa whoa, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here, but yeah, this looks like a pretty good move. Or at the very least, a worthwhile gamble.