Bio

In three seasons in charge of the Gulf Coast tennis, Sam Blackburn has produced consistently winning programs and in 2023 the former MACCC champion led his alma mater’s men’s team to its second NJCAA Region 23 title in those three seasons.

Blackburn’s men’s team has won more than 94 percent of its conference matches and nearly 90 percent of all matches. The women have finished as MACCC and Region 23 runners-up for two of his first three seasons.

The men won the Region 23 title on Jones’ homecourt in 2023, avenging its only MACCC loss from the regular season. The Bulldogs went to McKinney, Texas, and finished 15^th at the NJCAA Tournament.

After conference and region runner-up finishes, the women’s team was 12^th at the NJCAA Tourney, tied with Jones for best among MACCC teams in Tyler, Texas.

In 2022, the men’s team finished as MACCC and Region 23 runners-up. The Bulldogs were 14^th at the national championship in Tyler, Texas. The women’s team was third in the conference and regions, finishing 18^th at the national tournament in Tucson, Ariz.

Blackburn was hired in December 2020 and he led the MGCCC men’s team to its first MACCC title since 2013. The Bulldogs were undefeated against conference opponents in regular-season play, then cruised through the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament for another crown. The men finished 16^th in the NJCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championship in Plano, Texas.

The women finished as MACCC runners-up after going 11-3 in the regular season, and they also were Region 23 runners-up. At the NJCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championship in Mesa, Ariz., the Bulldogs were the top MACCC team by finishing 12^th. 

Blackburn has represented the Bulldogs as a player, an assistant coach and the head coach. He was an assistant at Gulf Coast in the 2019-20 season before spending the first half of the 2020-21 season as an assistant coach at Clemson University.

Blackburn won state singles and doubles championships as a freshman at Gulf Coast in 2015 and won the backdraw championship at the NJCAA Division I Championship as a sophomore in 2016.

Blackburn, who is originally from Enterprise, Ala., went on to play at Point University in West Point, Ga. He graduated there with a bachelor’s in psychology and a minor in biblical studies while winning ITA All-Academic honors. He was team captain at both his collegiate stops and earned conference All-Academic honors at Gulf Coast. 

He also worked as a professional tennis instructor at The Meadow Club in Southampton, N.Y., where he taught private lessons and clinics and acted as tournament director. He has his Professional Tennis Registry certification and completed his master’s in athletic administration at William Carey in 2020.