Robin Goodman Introduced as Women's Tennis Head Coach
5/21/2026 4:51:00 PM | General, Tennis
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Athletics welcomed Robin Goodman as the new head coach of the women's tennis program on Thursday, May 21. The following is a transcript of the welcome event held in the Multipli Club at Memorial Stadium.
University of Missouri Director of Athletics Laird Veatch
On the coaching search…
"Finding somebody that really wants to be here and is a proven builder of programs and has seized the opportunity of what can be done here at Mizzou was really important, and I'm certainly excited about where we've landed. If you think about what you would look for, we kind of made our checklist."
"When we hired and introduced Kellie (Harper) in our women's basketball program recently, it was a very similar thought process of if you went through and said, OK, what are the boxes you want to check? If you would say, you'd say proven head coach, somebody that has turned around a program and really built a program, someone who has SEC experience, being someone familiar with the Midwest, but also has a real proven recruiting network, all those kinds of things you would look for early on when we sat down and made our list. We had a great pool, and we were really impressed with the level of interest. When you go into a hire like this, you've had some struggles competitively in a sport, you kind of wonder about that, right? And what that showed us was just the power of our institution, our brand being in the SEC, and the opportunity that this presents."
On Robin Goodman and what he brings to the program…
"Robin comes to us from Tennessee as the associate head coach, where they just went to the NCAA tournament second round. I think having that SEC experience, while fairly brief, was really important, and really gives Robin an insight into our world and recruiting into this space these days. He was the head coach at Pacific, where he truly turned around a program, took them from a place similar to ours with rankings, and took them to the postseason and actually got himself to the point where he was conference coach of the year with a 19-6 record. He had time at New Mexico and Baylor. He was a student-athlete at Drake, where he was not only a two-time all-conference player, but also, very important to me, he was a team captain. Proven leadership from a young age."
"I think it's really interesting to learn about his network in this profession, but he's also extremely intentional and strategic about what he wants to do here and how he'll build a program. His level of thoughtfulness and detailed strategy in this process has been super impressive, and I think you'll just find it extremely engaging. Very committed to not only developing student athletes, but also our tennis community. I think he recognizes that and has absolutely the skill set to build on that opportunity."
Mizzou Women's Tennis Head Coach Robin Goodman
Opening statement…
"First, thank you all so much for being here. Really, it is incredible. I have all these familiar faces now that I've seen for the last few days, who are able to support this program. I'm really excited to be here, and I'm so excited to get going. As you can probably tell, I'm from England through Tennessee, I left the southern twang down there, and I'm keeping my English accent as long as I can. First, I'd like to thank President Choi, Laird, Nick and Marcy for trusting me to lead this program. I'm very grateful for this opportunity. To the coaches and support staff that I met with on my visit here, thank you very much. Your thoughtful questions showed me you had a tremendous amount of passion for this university, and you really cared about this search, and that meant a lot to me. My parents back in England, and my sister Katie in New Zealand, I want to thank you for your unwavering support since day one. None of this would have been possible without you."
On the program and position…
"We have everything we need here to be successful at the highest level. We have a community, we have leadership, we have facilities, we have resources, and more than anything, we have the right people. When I first took the position here, you could not believe how many people reached out to me, like coaches, alumni, donors, just all sorts of different people, sending texts and phone calls. Not only did it make me feel incredibly welcome here, but it really showed me that there's no place like this when it comes to passion, and the amount of pure appreciation for this program and for this university is second to none. I really felt that from day one."
To his vision for the program…
"Our vision is to build a program that is competitive nationally, respected and relevant in the SEC, and known for the way that we compete. If you come out and watch our girls, you can expect them to fight incredibly hard for one another, for the program, for the university and for everyone here who came today to support them. It means a lot to me that you came here, and we're going to show that on the court every single day that we're competing."
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