A native of Hatfield, Pennsylvania, Doebler brings a wealth of coaching experience to Amherst and previously served as the associate head coach of the men’s tennis team at Texas Christian since February 2014. He will replace Chris Garner, who recently accepted the head coaching position at Navy.
While at TCU, Doebler was responsible for assisting the head coach with all aspects of the tennis program. The Horned Frogs faced 13 top-35 Division I programs and finished 12-12 overall before falling to the eventual national runner-up Oklahoma in the Big 12 Conference tournament.
Prior to his tenure at TCU, Doebler served two and a half years as the director of men’s and women’s tennis as well as the fitness center coordinator at Colorado College and spent the previous five seasons at the helm of the Penn State men’s tennis program.
Doebler notched four consecutive winning seasons while at Penn State and led the Nittany Lions to 21 wins against ranked opponents from 2006 to '11. In his five seasons at Penn State, he amassed 71 career wins to rank fourth on Penn State’s all-time list.
He enjoyed immediate success with the Lions as they reached the NCAA championship in his first two seasons with the program. In 2007, Penn State finished with a program-best record of 6-4 in the Big Ten Conference and tied that record a year later. That same season, just his second with the Lions, Doebler guided the team to its first NCAA tournament win in the modern era as they finished the season ranked 38th in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll, a program best. The team also strived in the classroom under Doebler and twice finished with the highest cumulative team GPA for men’s sports at the university.
Doebler joined Penn State after four years as an assistant coach at Notre Dame. He was named associate head coach prior to the 2005-06 season and garnered 2004 and '06 ITA Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year laurels.
While at Notre Dame, Doebler helped the Irish move into the elite ranks of Division I men's intercollegiate tennis. Upon his arrival, Notre Dame had ranked No. 54 in the ITA poll but jumped up to No. 17 by his final season. The Irish advanced to the Big East Conference championship match all four years during his tenure and won the title twice in 2004 and '05.
During the 2006 season, his final year at Notre Dame, the Irish defeated 14 ranked teams to finish 17th in the poll. Doebler also helped develop the talent of Sheeva Parbhu, who was an ITA All-American and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2007 NCAA Singles Championship. Doebler served as recruiting coordinator, as well as a liaison to the strength and conditioning coaches while at Notre Dame.
Prior to his stint with the Irish, he served as an assistant men’s tennis coach at Pepperdine during the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons, where he helped the Waves achieve national prominence both years. During his time at Pepperdine, the Waves compiled a 43-14 (.754) mark. In 2001, the Waves won the West Coast Conference title, advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 and finished 18th in the nation. The following year, Pepperdine went 25-6, reached the NCAA quarterfinals and finished No. 5 in the polls. Doebler coached three All-Americans while at Pepperdine including Al Garland, who was ranked No. 1 in the nation during the 2002 season.
Doebler is no stranger to the NESCAC, either, and served as head coach at Connecticut College for men's and women's tennis for two seasons prior to his stint at Pepperdine. He was also the men’s and women’s squash coach during those two years. In the summer of 1997, a year before heading to Connecticut College, Doebler began his coaching career at Trinity (Conn.) as an assistant for the men’s and women’s tennis programs. Both squads ranked within the top 25 in Division III that year.
In addition to his collegiate experience, Doebler served as an assistant coach to the World Team Tennis' Hartford Foxforce in the summer of 2000, which featured players such as Monica Seles, James Blake and Murphy Jensen. His responsibilities included on-court coaching, conducting promotional clinics and pro-ams, and overseeing community involvement.
He served as the head tennis professional at Lehigh Country Club in Pennsylvania during the summers of 1993 and '94 and as the assistant tennis pro at the Farmington Field Club in Connecticut in the summers of 1997 and '98. He is a graduate of the USA High Performance Coaching Program and holds certifications from the Professional Level One United States Professional Tennis Association and the USTA Sports Science Level One.
Doebler graduated from Bloomsburg with a degree in psychology in 1996 and also excelled on the court during his playing career. He won the conference doubles and team championships in 1994, as well as the conference singles, doubles and team championship titles in '95. Following his undergraduate studies, Doebler went on to complete his master's degree in psychology in 1998 from Hartford.
Related:
• Garner leaves Amherst for Navy
