U hires Chuck Merzbacher as next women's tennis coach

The Gophers have hired Chuck Merzbacher as their next head women's tennis coach, athletics director Norwood Teague announced Friday.

A Minnesota alum, Merzbacher was Ohio State's head coach for 16 years, leading the Buckeyes to nine NCAA tournament appearances while becoming the winningest coach in program history with 209 wins.

“We are certainly excited to welcome back Chuck Merzbacher to the Golden Gopher family,” Teague said in a release. “Not only will he come to Minneapolis with a working knowledge of the program, having competed against Minnesota for many years, but also the understanding of what it means to be a Gopher. His resume speaks for itself and I am confident that he will continue to build the Gopher Tennis brand.”

Merzbacher replaces Tyler Thomson, who moved to William and Mary after 11 seasons leading the Gophers.

Merzbacher was an accomplished singles player at Minnesota, winning a program-high 137 matches.