University of North Carolina Athletics
Men's Tennis
Paul, Sam
Sam Paul
- Title:
- Head Coach
• The 2025-26 season will be his 33rd as UNC's head men's tennis coach.
• Inducted into the North Carolina Tennis Foundation's Hall of Fame in September 2022.
• Paul has a 587-252 record. He is the winningest coach in program history and has more wins than any active ACC coach.
• Paul was the 2017 Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year.
• He has led Carolina to two ITA Indoor National championships and two NCAA final fours since 2016.
• Carolina has made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances in the last 11 seasons (including nine Sweet 16 trips during that span). UNC has made the NCAA field 29 times in 32 years under Paul.
Head coach Sam Paul is the winningest active coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference with nearly 600 victories, and he continues to lead the Tar Heel program as one of the nation's top coaches.
Entering his 33rd season as the Tar Heels’ head coach in 2025-26, Paul has led UNC to rare air in recent years, with the team’s first indoor national championship and first No. 1 ranking coming in 2016, the program’s first NCAA finals appearance in 2017, another NCAA semifinal berth in 2019 and a second indoor national title in 2021.
Paul was inducted into the North Carolina Tennis Foundation's Hall of Fame in September of 2022.
In 2024, Carolina made its 10th consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship, posting a 14-10 overall record and tying for fifth place in the competitive ACC regular season.
In 2023, UNC went 19-9 and tied for third in the ACC regular season standings while making its ninth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament round of 16.
In 2022, Brian Cernoch earned All-America honors in singles and was named the 2022 ACC Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
In 2021, Carolina won the ITA National Team Indoor championship for a second time (joining 2016), reached the finals of the ACC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Round of 16. The Tar Heels finished sixth in the nation, ranking among the nation's top seven teams in the final ITA poll for the sixth year in a row and the seventh time in eight years.
William Blumberg became the first 10-time All-America in ITA history by winning the honor in both singles and doubles for the fifth consecutive year. He also won the Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award from the ITA.
Paul won his 500th match on February 16, 2020.
In 2019, Carolina posted a 22-7 season that saw the team reach the NCAA final four for the second time in three years and post its sixth consecutive 20-win season.
The 2017 Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year, Paul is also a six-time ACC Coach of the Year, most recently in 2014.
Carolina’s tradition of excellence in men’s tennis dating back to the early stages of the 20th century has only continued under Paul. The native of Lancaster, S.C., has strengthened the winning reputation of Tar Heel men’s tennis through his skill as a coach and recruiter since UNC athletic director John Swofford named him as head coach in April 1993.
Paul’s players at Carolina have achieved at every level of play. Since he became an assistant coach at UNC in 1989, the Tar Heels have had players earn first-team All-America honors 41 times. In both 2016 and 2020, UNC led the nation with five All-America selections. In 2020, Blumberg won the ITA Senior Player of the Year award.
Many players under Paul’s tutelage have gone on to tremendous success on the professional level. Six players tutored by Paul have ascended to the Top 500 of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles rankings. Don Johnson, captain of the 1990 ACC championship team and a former UNC assistant coach under Paul, won the 2001 Wimbledon doubles championship and is the former No. 1-ranked doubles player in the world. Rinky Hijikata won the 2023 Australian Open doubles championship in just his second year as a professional and reached the singles round of 16 at the 2023 US Open as a wild-card entry. Paul’s former players have reached the semifinals of every Grand Slam event.
During his tenure as the head and assistant coach at North Carolina, the Tar Heels have won seven ACC championships, including the 1990, 1992 and 2002 tournament titles and the 1991, 1992, 1996 and 2004 regular-season championships.
The Tar Heels have earned NCAA Tournament bids in 28 of 30 possible years under Paul as head coach (the NCAA Tournament was canceled in 2020 due to Covid-19). UNC has hosted NCAA matches in 10 of the past 12 NCAA Tournaments.
Paul has guided a host of Tar Heel players to conference, regional and national accolades. UNC players have earned All-ACC accolades 78 times since 1994.
Three times since the 2000 season, Paul has mentored student-athletes who have won the Patterson Medal as Carolina’s outstanding senior student-athlete — Tripp Phillips in 2000, Nick Monroe in 2004 and William Blumberg in 2021. Prior to those three selections, no Carolina tennis player had won the award in half a century.
Among the awards won by Paul’s players have been ITA National Senior Player of the Year, Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award, ITA National Player to Watch, ITA National Rookie of the Year, ITA Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award, ITA Team Sportsmanship Award and ITA Scholar-Athlete Award as well as a host of regional ITA accolades.
Paul has mentored 21 first-team All-Americas in his tenure as head coach since 1993-94 to a total of 29 All-America awards.
Carolina teams under Paul’s tutelage have been distinguished by their sportsmanship and leadership. Paul’s 2005 North Carolina team received the inaugural ITA National Team Sportsmanship Award.
While UNC has experienced tremendous success on the court, Tar Heel tennis teams under Paul also excel in the classroom. In 2019, Blaine Boyden was named to the All-ACC Academic Team for the third year in a row, and Brian Cernoch and Josh Peck also did so. Additioally, Peck and Simon Soendergaard were named ITA Scholar-Athletes and UNC was named an ITA Academic Team. Boyden won an ACC Weaver-James Postgraduate Scholarship.
In 2024, senior Peter Murphy won an ACC Senior Scholar-Athlete Award for having the top grade point average among male student-athletes at Carolina.
Paul has tutored four players at North Carolina who have been ranked in the Top 500 in the world in men’s singles — Don Johnson (UNC class of ’90), David Caldwell (UNC Class of ’96), Tripp Phillips (UNC Class of ’00) and Nick Monroe (UNC Class of ’04).
Paul became the only ACC coach to coach a player ranked No. 1 in the world in the ATP men’s doubles rankings when he acted as personal coach for UNC alumnus Don Johnson during his magnificent runs in doubles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Paul coached Johnson to a pair of Grand Slam titles and an appearance on the U.S. Davis Cup Team.
After serving as the Director of Tennis and the head men’s and women’s tennis coach at the University of Richmond for two years from 1987-89, Paul came to Chapel Hill in September 1989. At the University of Richmond, he won honors as the Colonial Athletic Association’s (CAA) Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year in both 1988 and 1989.
During Paul’s four years as the Carolina assistant, UNC was 82-29 overall in dual matches, 26-3 in ACC regular-season dual matches and 10-2 in ACC Tournament dual matches. In those four years, UNC won ACC Tournament titles in 1990 and 1992, was the ACC Tournament runner-up in 1991 and 1993 while winning the conference’s regular-season championships in 1991 and 1992.
A 1983 graduate of Presbyterian College with a B.S. in applied psychology, Paul also played tennis for the Blue Hose for two years. He has a 1981 Associate of Arts degree with a concentration in business from Anderson (S.C.) College, where he played tennis as a freshman and sophomore. In 2008, Paul received Presbyterian’s Bob Waters Award, given to distinguished alumni of the institution.
Paul married Rebecca Dirksen, a Dartmouth College alumna, on September 12, 2009. Dirksen works in the real estate field and was an assistant women’s tennis coach at UNC for two years in the early 2000s. They have a daughter, Madeline, and a son, Colton.
The Paul File
• 587-252 head coaching record at North Carolina
• 37th overall season at UNC, 33rd season as head coach
Education: Presbyterian College, 1983 (B.S. in Applied Psychology)
College Coaching:
• University of North Carolina, Assistant Coach, 1989-93; Head Coach, 1993-present
• University of Richmond, Director of Tennis, Head Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach, 1987-89
• Trinity University, Assistant Coach, 1986-87
• University of South Carolina, Assistant Coach, 1983-85
Awards:
• North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame (2022 inductee)
• 1996 ACC Coach of the Year
• 1996 ITA Mideast Region Coach of the Year
• 1996 ITA National Coach of the Year Finalist
• 2000 ACC Coach of the Year
• 2000 ITA Mideast Region Coach of the Year
• 2000 ITA National Coach of the Year Finalist
• 2002 ACC Coach of the Year
• 2004 ACC Coach of the Year
• 2004 ITA Mideast Region Coach of the Year
• 2004 ITA National Coach of the Year Finalist
• 2007 ACC Coach of the Year
• 2007 ITA Mideast Region Coach of the Year
• 2007 ITA National Coach of the Year Finalist
• 2014 ACC Coach of the Year
• 2017 ITA National Coach of the Year
Championships:
• ITA National Team Indoor Championships: 2016, 2021
• ACC Tournament Championships: 1990, 1992, 2002
• ACC Regular Season Championships: 1991, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2018
• Inducted into the North Carolina Tennis Foundation's Hall of Fame in September 2022.
• Paul has a 587-252 record. He is the winningest coach in program history and has more wins than any active ACC coach.
• Paul was the 2017 Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year.
• He has led Carolina to two ITA Indoor National championships and two NCAA final fours since 2016.
• Carolina has made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances in the last 11 seasons (including nine Sweet 16 trips during that span). UNC has made the NCAA field 29 times in 32 years under Paul.
Head coach Sam Paul is the winningest active coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference with nearly 600 victories, and he continues to lead the Tar Heel program as one of the nation's top coaches.
Entering his 33rd season as the Tar Heels’ head coach in 2025-26, Paul has led UNC to rare air in recent years, with the team’s first indoor national championship and first No. 1 ranking coming in 2016, the program’s first NCAA finals appearance in 2017, another NCAA semifinal berth in 2019 and a second indoor national title in 2021.
Paul was inducted into the North Carolina Tennis Foundation's Hall of Fame in September of 2022.
In 2024, Carolina made its 10th consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship, posting a 14-10 overall record and tying for fifth place in the competitive ACC regular season.
In 2023, UNC went 19-9 and tied for third in the ACC regular season standings while making its ninth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament round of 16.
In 2022, Brian Cernoch earned All-America honors in singles and was named the 2022 ACC Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
In 2021, Carolina won the ITA National Team Indoor championship for a second time (joining 2016), reached the finals of the ACC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Round of 16. The Tar Heels finished sixth in the nation, ranking among the nation's top seven teams in the final ITA poll for the sixth year in a row and the seventh time in eight years.
William Blumberg became the first 10-time All-America in ITA history by winning the honor in both singles and doubles for the fifth consecutive year. He also won the Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award from the ITA.
Paul won his 500th match on February 16, 2020.
In 2019, Carolina posted a 22-7 season that saw the team reach the NCAA final four for the second time in three years and post its sixth consecutive 20-win season.
The 2017 Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year, Paul is also a six-time ACC Coach of the Year, most recently in 2014.
Carolina’s tradition of excellence in men’s tennis dating back to the early stages of the 20th century has only continued under Paul. The native of Lancaster, S.C., has strengthened the winning reputation of Tar Heel men’s tennis through his skill as a coach and recruiter since UNC athletic director John Swofford named him as head coach in April 1993.
Paul’s players at Carolina have achieved at every level of play. Since he became an assistant coach at UNC in 1989, the Tar Heels have had players earn first-team All-America honors 41 times. In both 2016 and 2020, UNC led the nation with five All-America selections. In 2020, Blumberg won the ITA Senior Player of the Year award.
Many players under Paul’s tutelage have gone on to tremendous success on the professional level. Six players tutored by Paul have ascended to the Top 500 of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles rankings. Don Johnson, captain of the 1990 ACC championship team and a former UNC assistant coach under Paul, won the 2001 Wimbledon doubles championship and is the former No. 1-ranked doubles player in the world. Rinky Hijikata won the 2023 Australian Open doubles championship in just his second year as a professional and reached the singles round of 16 at the 2023 US Open as a wild-card entry. Paul’s former players have reached the semifinals of every Grand Slam event.
During his tenure as the head and assistant coach at North Carolina, the Tar Heels have won seven ACC championships, including the 1990, 1992 and 2002 tournament titles and the 1991, 1992, 1996 and 2004 regular-season championships.
The Tar Heels have earned NCAA Tournament bids in 28 of 30 possible years under Paul as head coach (the NCAA Tournament was canceled in 2020 due to Covid-19). UNC has hosted NCAA matches in 10 of the past 12 NCAA Tournaments.
Paul has guided a host of Tar Heel players to conference, regional and national accolades. UNC players have earned All-ACC accolades 78 times since 1994.
Three times since the 2000 season, Paul has mentored student-athletes who have won the Patterson Medal as Carolina’s outstanding senior student-athlete — Tripp Phillips in 2000, Nick Monroe in 2004 and William Blumberg in 2021. Prior to those three selections, no Carolina tennis player had won the award in half a century.
Among the awards won by Paul’s players have been ITA National Senior Player of the Year, Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award, ITA National Player to Watch, ITA National Rookie of the Year, ITA Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award, ITA Team Sportsmanship Award and ITA Scholar-Athlete Award as well as a host of regional ITA accolades.
Paul has mentored 21 first-team All-Americas in his tenure as head coach since 1993-94 to a total of 29 All-America awards.
Carolina teams under Paul’s tutelage have been distinguished by their sportsmanship and leadership. Paul’s 2005 North Carolina team received the inaugural ITA National Team Sportsmanship Award.
While UNC has experienced tremendous success on the court, Tar Heel tennis teams under Paul also excel in the classroom. In 2019, Blaine Boyden was named to the All-ACC Academic Team for the third year in a row, and Brian Cernoch and Josh Peck also did so. Additioally, Peck and Simon Soendergaard were named ITA Scholar-Athletes and UNC was named an ITA Academic Team. Boyden won an ACC Weaver-James Postgraduate Scholarship.
In 2024, senior Peter Murphy won an ACC Senior Scholar-Athlete Award for having the top grade point average among male student-athletes at Carolina.
Paul has tutored four players at North Carolina who have been ranked in the Top 500 in the world in men’s singles — Don Johnson (UNC class of ’90), David Caldwell (UNC Class of ’96), Tripp Phillips (UNC Class of ’00) and Nick Monroe (UNC Class of ’04).
Paul became the only ACC coach to coach a player ranked No. 1 in the world in the ATP men’s doubles rankings when he acted as personal coach for UNC alumnus Don Johnson during his magnificent runs in doubles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Paul coached Johnson to a pair of Grand Slam titles and an appearance on the U.S. Davis Cup Team.
After serving as the Director of Tennis and the head men’s and women’s tennis coach at the University of Richmond for two years from 1987-89, Paul came to Chapel Hill in September 1989. At the University of Richmond, he won honors as the Colonial Athletic Association’s (CAA) Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year in both 1988 and 1989.
During Paul’s four years as the Carolina assistant, UNC was 82-29 overall in dual matches, 26-3 in ACC regular-season dual matches and 10-2 in ACC Tournament dual matches. In those four years, UNC won ACC Tournament titles in 1990 and 1992, was the ACC Tournament runner-up in 1991 and 1993 while winning the conference’s regular-season championships in 1991 and 1992.
A 1983 graduate of Presbyterian College with a B.S. in applied psychology, Paul also played tennis for the Blue Hose for two years. He has a 1981 Associate of Arts degree with a concentration in business from Anderson (S.C.) College, where he played tennis as a freshman and sophomore. In 2008, Paul received Presbyterian’s Bob Waters Award, given to distinguished alumni of the institution.
Paul married Rebecca Dirksen, a Dartmouth College alumna, on September 12, 2009. Dirksen works in the real estate field and was an assistant women’s tennis coach at UNC for two years in the early 2000s. They have a daughter, Madeline, and a son, Colton.
The Paul File
• 587-252 head coaching record at North Carolina
• 37th overall season at UNC, 33rd season as head coach
Education: Presbyterian College, 1983 (B.S. in Applied Psychology)
College Coaching:
• University of North Carolina, Assistant Coach, 1989-93; Head Coach, 1993-present
• University of Richmond, Director of Tennis, Head Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach, 1987-89
• Trinity University, Assistant Coach, 1986-87
• University of South Carolina, Assistant Coach, 1983-85
Awards:
• North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame (2022 inductee)
• 1996 ACC Coach of the Year
• 1996 ITA Mideast Region Coach of the Year
• 1996 ITA National Coach of the Year Finalist
• 2000 ACC Coach of the Year
• 2000 ITA Mideast Region Coach of the Year
• 2000 ITA National Coach of the Year Finalist
• 2002 ACC Coach of the Year
• 2004 ACC Coach of the Year
• 2004 ITA Mideast Region Coach of the Year
• 2004 ITA National Coach of the Year Finalist
• 2007 ACC Coach of the Year
• 2007 ITA Mideast Region Coach of the Year
• 2007 ITA National Coach of the Year Finalist
• 2014 ACC Coach of the Year
• 2017 ITA National Coach of the Year
Championships:
• ITA National Team Indoor Championships: 2016, 2021
• ACC Tournament Championships: 1990, 1992, 2002
• ACC Regular Season Championships: 1991, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2018
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