This article originally appeared on January 16, 2014 on The Arkansas Traveler website, uatrav.com.
Three Southeastern Conference Championships, three SEC Coach of the Year awards and 22 consecutive NCAA Tournament berths are among the many accolades that make up first-year head coach Andy Jackson’s resume.
Jackson is also the only coach to win a conference title at two different schools in SEC history. Arkansas is the third SEC program he has taken over and, like at Mississippi State and Florida, he has a challenge in front of him.
The Razorbacks went 0-12 in conference play last season and have lost 24-consecutive matches against conference opponents.
Head coach Colby Hale was tasked with a similar challenge when he took over the women’s soccer program at Arkansas, but in two years, he took the Razorbacks to the Sweet 16.
Jackson said he has reached out to Hale for some advice, but he mostly relies on his own experience in taking over struggling programs.
“I talked to Coach Hale and some of the other coaches to get an idea of what the template is for recruiting and coaching at Arkansas, but I do have the experience at Mississippi State and Florida of taking over from down positions,” Jackson said.
When he took the Florida job in 2001, the Gators were coming off of a 9-17 season, but Jackson turned it around and they went 18-7 and finished ranked No. 11 in the country.
Jackson said fans should be weary of that type of turnaround at Arkansas, though.
“At Florida, they were ranked No. 50, but probably had at least a top 25 team,” Jackson said. “I think it’s a little bit longer process here. We’re ranked around No. 50 or No. 60, and that’s probably a good representation of where we are.”
However, he does see potential in this year’s team. Despite not winning a lot during the fall season, Jackson said he saw a lot of improvement in the “intangibles.”
The three freshmen on the team are a solid foundation for years to come, while seniors Manfred Jeske and Mike Nott, who made the NCAA Tournament as a doubles team, could develop into good singles players with some work, Jackson said.
“I learned that all of the guys are willing to sacrifice and work hard to turn around the results the last couple of years,” Jackson said. “It was a very positive fall.”
Jeske and Nott advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Doubles Championships last season, but because Jeske is injured and will miss the first part of the season, the two won’t be doubles partners to begin with.
Jackson said he will decide if they will play together again this season when Jeske returns from injury.
Including Jeske and Nott, there are five seniors on the team, which means half of the roster will graduate after this season.
The seniors give Jackson a core of experienced athletes, but he said he wishes they were juniors so they could have more time in his program.
“Some coaches would say that’s good because you can turn them over (after the season),” Jackson said, “but I like to make the turnaround with the guys you have, and I think you can make more than double an improvement in two years than one.”
The Razorbacks kick off their regular season Friday with a nonconference match against Mercer, before traveling to No. 20 Texas Sunday.
Arkansas also has nonconference matches at No. 25 Tulsa, No. 34 Minnesota and at home against No. 69 Purdue.
Jackson said that he wants his team to understand that they could lose to or beat anyone they play, no matter their ranking.
“We want discipline and quality effort all the time, winning or losing,” Jackson said. “We’re better than Mercer, knock on wood. We’re probably not as good as Texas, but we want the same effort.”
The tough nonconference schedule will prepare the Razorbacks for SEC play, Jackson said. The SEC has 10 teams ranked in the top 25, including No. 3 Georgia, No. 6 Tennessee and No. 9 Kentucky.
Auburn and Alabama come in at No. 28 and No. 33, respectively, while Arkansas is preseason No. 58, rounding out the 13 SEC teams that play men’s tennis.
“My philosophy has always been, if you’re going to play in a tough conference, you’re not going to prepare for it by playing bad teams all the time,” Jackson said.
In tennis, teams are not penalized for losing to higher quality opponents. To make the NCAA Tournament, teams need to be .500 or better and ranked around the top 45.
Jackson said in order to accomplish the goal of making the tournament, Arkansas needs to beat everyone they’re supposed to and a couple of the better teams.
The Razorbacks’ match against Mercer begins at 1 p.m. Friday in Fayetteville.
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