AUBURN, Ala. – New women's tennis head coach Jordan Szabo got a taste of Auburn spirit on his interview, when his campus visit coincided with men's golf's rolling of Toomer's Corner after winning the 2024 SEC Championship.
"I'm so excited to be a part of the Auburn family," Szabo said. "Auburn's a special and magical place. I'm so lucky to be here."
Athletics director John Cohen formally introduced Szabo Tuesday at the Woltosz Center, six weeks after his hiring on May 3, Szabo's opening press conference delayed by multiple international recruiting trips, and the completion of his season as an assistant coach at Texas A&M.
"I'm going to bring great passion to the job," said Szabo, who's departing campus this week for another overseas recruiting jaunt. "High standards. I know what it takes to win and that's what I'm going to do here. I'm going to recruit the best players that I can and work tirelessly."
Attracted to Auburn by its famous family atmosphere, SEC membership and all-important proximity to the Atlanta airport, Szabo referenced men's golf's national championship and men's track and field's national runner-up performance in a nine-day span.
"I know you can win here," he said. "If you can do it in those sports, you can do it in all sports."
A native Australian, Szabo spent seven seasons with the women's program at Texas A&M, his alma mater, the past two as associate head coach, going out on top with a 2024 national championship.
"It reinforced that if you stick at it and do the right things day in and day out, good things will happen," said Szabo, whose A&M team fell out of the top 20 with a 5-5 record after a preseason No. 2 ranking. "This was the toughest year of my coaching career by far. We got back to making sure we were doing the right thing day in and day out, not worrying about the results so much, and trusting what we do.
"We always preached that this adversity will help us as long as we stick to the same process that we've always been doing. What we preached worked. Good things will happen if you have the right student-athletes and the right culture. That was the biggest thing I learned."
Szabo inherits a program that has reached the second round of the NCAA Championship in four consecutive seasons.
"The tennis team has had a lot of success over recent years," he said. "That's something I want to build on. I want to get us in the hunt every single year to win championships and bring titles back to Auburn.
"We have some tremendous players who are coming back, some of the best players in the country. We're on the road, recruiting hard. We're looking for the right players all around the country, all around the world. We're going to be relentless trying to find good players who can compete straight away, but also with vision in mind of the future, making sure we're getting kids who are going to give us great success year in and year out."
Szabo did not shy away from high expectations. On the contrary, he proclaimed them.
"I predict we're going to be one of the top teams in the SEC straight away and give ourselves a chance to be in the hunt," he said. "That's what we want to do every year."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer