University of Tennessee Athletics
Brennan Webb Introductory Press Conference
July 13, 2018 | Men's Golf
Press Conference Begins At 4:42 Mark In Video Player
Phillip Fulmer, Director of Athletics
"I appreciate everyone being here today. It's obviously an exciting time for UT and the men's golf program. In the process of meeting Brennan and spending time with him, there were so many positive things that kept coming out of the visits, and so many people around the state and nationally that have tremendous respect for Brennan Webb. It became obvious that he was going to be the best choice pretty early.
"During our conversations and meetings, Brennan consistently talked about recruiting on a national level, bringing in the young men playing at the highest level of golf in the country and competing on a conference, national and international level. I loved how that went. One of our goals here is to be a team and university that competes on the all-sports level, and certainly golf is very important to us from that standpoint.
"It became obvious that Brennan is a great evaluator of talent and a tireless worker. He relies on his network of contacts to be informed on recruiting, and he's an outstanding coach on a day-to-day basis with his young men. I've found that he's a great communicator, as you'll see shortly if you don't know him already. He is very honest in his expectations with prospects and current players on how he approaches their success and improvement, and I know that he'll develop leadership opportunities to help his players grow and give them opportunities, not only while they're in college but after school as well.
"I'd like to think that he also believes in a high level of competition and scheduling to prepare his team for postseason, and again, recruiting becomes really important from that standpoint. As I got to know him better and found out a lot more about him, I really found that the best players in the state seem to migrate to him, and I like that very much.
"I also want to say I appreciate Jim Kelson and his efforts in his long-time stay here at Tennessee and the job that he did, but we are looking forward to moving forward."
Angie Boyd-Keck, Associate Athletics Director for Finance & Sport Administration
"Thank you, Coach Fulmer. Thank you for your guidance through this search process. I also want to thank Reid Sigmon, Donna Thomas and Tara Brooks and their roles, as well as our staff, through this search process and the transition as we hired Brennan. When you hire a new coach it's truly a team effort, and I'm blessed to work with great people who helped us do that."Thank you to our team for your patience and trust through this process; Brayden (Garrison) and Spencer (Cross) are here with us today. This is a great university and a great athletic department, so we attracted and had overwhelming interest from great candidates to be our next men's golf coach. During the search process, our committee talked to countless people we know and trust in the golf world. We had so many people reach out to us, including several former players who are totally invested and passionate about Tennessee golf. We look forward to competing for, and winning, championships in this great conference again, so thank you for your calls, texts and emails.
"We approached our search seeking the coach that was the best fit and the right person to lead our program back to championship contention, operating with integrity, warmth and genuine caring. It ultimately led us to Brennan Webb.
"Obviously, the success of every program starts with recruiting and building relationships with prospects and parents, and this is one of Brennan's greatest strengths. Our job is not only to develop them in the game of golf but also as outstanding young men. The more time I spend with Brennan, the more confident I am that our golf program is in the right hands.
"Brennan spent the last three seasons as the head coach at Middle Tennessee State University. The 2018 Conference USA Coach of the Year, Webb led the Blue Raiders to the 2018 conference championship and back-to-back NCAA regionals each of the last two years. His teams have captured four tournament titles and posted 14 top-five finishes over the last three seasons. He is an elite recruiter, his players develop and improve throughout their careers, and his players also have a history of excellence in the classroom, which is very important to all of us.
"Prior to becoming a head coach and after a successful professional playing career, Brennan rose through the ranks at South Florida and Georgia Tech. Success has followed him at every turn, and I believe he will continue to achieve at a championship level here at Tennessee. I'm thrilled to welcome Brennan's wife, Carrie, and daughters, Nalla and Skye, to the Tennessee family. It is with great excitement that I welcome our next men's golf coach, Brennan Webb."
Brennan Webb, Tennessee Men's Golf Head Coach
Opening Statement:"Last night my wife asked me if I was going to be nervous, and I lied and said no, apparently. I just wanted to tell everybody how extremely honored and excited I am to be named only the sixth head coach in the history of the University of Tennessee golf program. It was a pleasure to meet Mrs. Walls earlier. She told me about her husband, Jimmy, who was the very first golf coach at UT, and we'll be sure to continue his legacy the best we can.
"East Tennessee has been a part of my life for the last 25 years. To be able to come back and raise my family and let them understand what a special place it is and the special people that live here is a great thrill. I can't thank Coach Fulmer, Angie, Reid, Tara, Donna and the rest of administration for giving me this great opportunity. It's something that I do not take lightly, and I understand the importance of the golf program here amongst the great story of the athletic department.
"Two things I've known about coach (Fulmer), that have only been reiterated since I got here, but he loves the University of Tennessee, and rightfully so. And he really, really loves to win. And, so, we're going make sure we get started on that as quick as possible.
"I'd be remiss if I didn't thank some of the coaches that have been involved along my path and have gotten me to where I am today. Coach Chris Malloy, who is now the golf coach at the University of Mississippi, hired me at South Florida after I begged and begged and begged him to hire me for $20,000 dollars. He thought, 'this guy's crazy, but okay.', and then I was lucky enough to go work at Georgia Tech for someone who I think may be the greatest coach in the history of our sport, Bruce Heppler. The things that I've learned from the two of them have allowed me to have the success that we had at Middle Tennessee and will continue to have here at the University of Tennessee. I'd also like to thank Mr. Chris Massaro, who is the athletic director at Middle Tennessee, for giving me the opportunity to lead my own program and to prove to people like Coach Fulmer that I was ready for this opportunity. Chris gave me a tremendous amount of freedom and support and allowed us to have that success there at Middle, and I'll always be grateful for that.
"My three beautiful girls, sitting right here in the front row, who are my everything. Without the love and the support that they have given me over the last seven years in coaching, we wouldn't be here where we are. That's the most important thing that has allowed me to be here standing in front of you. I think Carrie thought when I quit playing golf that coaching life will be a whole lot easier. Coach's wife sounds a whole lot better than a struggling professional golfer. And I think she's found out that there's a lot of difficulties in that, too, but she's been great throughout that. I think the one advantage is that guaranteed paycheck, and when I putted 'guaranteed' and 'paycheck' were never in the same sentence, so we're excited to be here and I can't thank them enough.
"To the former coaches and the alums, many of whom are here today, I can't thank you enough for how welcoming and supportive you've been in my time here already. I look forward to all of you being a huge, huge part of this program, and I've told a few of you before that we're not going to let you down. This is something that you're going to be proud of, and I look forward to you being a huge part of it.
"Thank you so very much, and Go Big Orange!"
On what it is about Tennessee that connects with him:
"The people, first and foremost. I think it's beautiful geographically. There's a lot of great areas. It wasn't very soon after I got to Johnson City that I found out how special the people were in this area, and I look forward to being a part of that community again."
On how he's been able to take advantage of his relationships and connections in the Canadian golf community:
"I've been very fortunate that I've been in the golf world for a long, long time. Longer than I want to admit, but I've met a tremendous amount of people along the way who have helped me in my career. Recruiting is the people you know, the connections that you're able to make and who they can connect you to. And certainly, the people I've met in Canada have been a huge part of that as well."
On whether it's an honor to accept a job like this that doesn't come open very often:
"Absolutely. I think it's part of the reason why I'm so excited, and for the thrill that I got when Coach Fulmer called me and asked me to become the next head coach of the University of Tennessee. It just goes to show you what a special place it is. To have only six coaches in the history of the program, you know people don't want to leave here, and I don't ever want to leave here either."
On how much the completion of the team's practice facility will benefit recruiting has gone into his decision:
"I loved my time at Middle Tennessee, and it was a great place to live, great people and we had a lot of success. They're going to have a lot of success after me. If I was going to leave there, it was going to be a place that had everything. With the completion of that practice facility and the building there are no excuses. There is nothing else that we need. There's nothing else that any young man needs that wants to be a professional golfer or successful business man or whatever his passion may be. I'm going to make sure my guys know we're ready to go and that building will be the final step."
On how his first few weeks have been since he's been on the job:
"It's been great, a lot of my friends and parents commenting on my orange shirt and orange shoes for sure. Yeah, I've been familiar with the state and had a friend that one time ran into some money and everyone was congratulating him, and he said, 'it just means I can hold for gin a little bit longer', and I think being the head coach at the University of Tennessee means I can hold off just a little bit longer and don't have to take as many risks with the in-state kids. Most of them have panned out, but every now and then they don't. But kids grow up wanting to play at the University of Tennessee, and they're going to have ample time to prove to me and the rest of our staff that they deserve that opportunity"
On the steps he plans to take to recruit talent and keep it going for years to come:
"I've recruited the state of Tennessee very hard for three years now. It's a tremendously talent-rich environment, and I think if you look at the rankings for junior golf from last year, Tennessee was fifth or sixth in the entire country. Some of those other states that are ahead of that ranking have six, seven, eight, nine big schools, and right here we're the flagship school, and those kids grow up wanting to play here. So, I'm going to make sure that they know the opportunity is there if they prove that they can play at the national level."
On if he ever saw himself coaching at UT:
"There were jobs I'd look at and say 'boy, it'd sure be great if I could be the head coach at that program.' I'm going to lie if I say that the University of Tennessee wasn't at the top of the list. It's a place where I knew how special it was 25 years ago coming to my first football game, driving down from Johnson City. I know what East Tennessee means to me, and I think what a great place that my family can grow up in. Also, like I said, there are no excuses. I like to win almost as much as Coach Fulmer does. I'm glad to be at a place where I can do that."
On how his assistant coaching experience at South Florida and Georgia Tech has prepared him for the job at Tennessee:
"Being an assistant gives you a little more insight to what the kids are really, really thinking. They kind of shy away from telling the head coach some stuff. That's helped me along the way to connect with the younger kids and find out what it is they're looking for, and what makes them tick a little bit. I think that experience is very valuable as opposed to my first job being a head coach and thinking I was just going to fix their putting because that's all there is to it. There's a lot more to it, and that time there certainly helped."
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Tuesday, September 02
MGolf | Brennan Webb Media Availability (9.3.24)
Tuesday, September 03
MGolf | Brennan Webb Post-Round Interview - SEC Championship: Round Three (4.26.24)
Friday, April 26
MGolf | Jake Hall Post-Round Interview - SEC Championship: Round Two (4.25.24)
Thursday, April 25
