The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Denton changes colors from burnt orange to maroon
04.17.2013 | Longhorn Foundation
Catching up with former Texas Tennis All-American Steve Denton.
Lauren Giudice, Texas Media Relations
Former Texas Tennis All-American Steve Denton was raised a Longhorn and upon graduating from high school, he became one. And a successful one at that.
Denton won the Southwestern Conference 1979 doubles title with teammate Kevin Curren, and three years later they won the U.S. Open doubles title on the professional circuit.
Though the Driscoll, Texas, native considers himself a lifetime Longhorn, he is in the middle of his seventh season as Texas A&M's head tennis coach. It wasn't a simple task for Denton to transition from his alma mater to its biggest rival.
"I had been a Longhorn my whole life, but I felt like it was a great opportunity for me professionally," Denton said. "I felt like it was the opportunity for me to have a greater impact on the state of Texas and its tennis."
After his successful professional career, ranked as high as No. 11 in singles and No. 2 in doubles, Denton came full circle and returned to where he began his tennis career: the H-E-B Tennis Center in Corpus Christi. He learned to play tennis at the center and became a teaching pro there. He coached several state and national junior champions and was later promoted to the Director of Tennis.
Texas A&M Corpus Christi noticed his success and offered him the head coaching position. Denton grew up near the university and played with many of the Islander players. He believes the experience of playing with and against those college athletes helped his career drastically. He coached at A&M Corpus Christi for five years.
Though the first two steps of his coaching career followed his playing career, his next step went a very different. He was offered the head coaching job at Texas A&M. As someone who bleeds burnt orange, changing his allegiance to the Aggies was a challenge. But, his time at A&M Corpus Christi helped him change his perspective on one of the biggest rivalries in Texas.
"The transition for me was when we played Texas a few times when I was at A&M-Corpus Christi," Denton said. "It was certainly a bit of a unique situation early on. As a competitor, you want your team and your players to do well. It was not hard for me when it came to tennis. The other sports were more difficult for me because I was a lifelong Texas football, basketball and baseball fan."
He donned maroon for his tennis program with ease, but beyond his team was a more complicated situation. But the opportunity at Texas A&M could not be passed up. The previous coach, Tim Cass, left the university to become Athletic Director at New Mexico. Denton said Cass put the Aggies on the map and the season before Denton's arrival, the university hosted the NCAA Championships.
Denton has led the Aggies to the NCAA tournament every year during his time as head coach, finishing as high as the Elite Eight. He uses his ample tennis experience to lead his players.
"In playing your focus is completely on yourself, when you eat, when you sleep, how you train," Denton said. "When you coach, it's totally about everybody else. It's totally about trying to convey things and experiences you've had to your players in a way that they can kind of grasp and then use. That experience that I've had as a player has helped me. I've been in their shoes, I've done what they're trying to do and I know what they're feeling."