Penny Dean didn’t expect to become a college tennis coach.
Once she received a taste of it, she quickly fell in love with it.
And her women’s tennis teams at Bowling Green State University thrived, on and off the court.
Now, Dean is ready for retirement after 24 seasons as Bowling Green’s women’s tennis coach.
The 68-year-old recently announced her retirement as the Falcons’ head coach.
Her final day at BGSU is Monday. She also was the University of Toledo’s head coach from 1985-88.
"I loved winning as much as anyone and I loved winning from the standpoint of the team and seeing
the student-athletes succeed and accomplish things," Dean said. "But I felt like I had my
priorities in the right order and I was always proud of them."
Last month, the team had a perfect score of 1,000 in the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate for the ninth
straight year.
It also twice had the department’s highest grade-point average for all women’s teams, posting a mark of
3.69 in 2012 and 3.75 in 201.
"It was always extremely important to me they did well academically and they realize at the end of
college they were going to be on the job market and that it wasn’t all about tennis," she said.
"I’m proud of what the girls were able to accomplish academically."
Dean also allowed her players to miss practices and matches to attend job interviews.
"When I was recruited, it was academics first and tennis second, and she stayed true to her
word," said Nikki Chiricosta, who recently finished her career as the winningest player in Falcon
history.
Chiricosta was a third-team academic All-American this season with a 3.97 grade-point average in
communications.
Her sister, Christine, also played for the Falcons. She held BG’s win records when she graduated in 2011.

Christine graduated in four years, instead of five, because Dean let her do her student teaching during
the tennis season.
"It shows she’s just not all about tennis and she focuses on everything," Nikki Chiricosta
said. "Academics were important, too, and she let us miss practices as long as we worked out on own
and made sure those practices were worthwhile."
Dean’s teams also fared well because she related well to her players, on and off the court.
"She gets to know you on a personal level," Nikki Chiricosta said. "She knows how to coach
everyone individually. She doesn’t have a philosophy that will work for everyone. She talks to people in
a way that she knows how to get them to respond well. It’s through words and actions … when I would go
into her office for end our end of the year meetings, we talked about 80 percent personal life and 20
percent tennis.
"Some people want help working through situations and strategies," Nikki Chiricosta added.
"Some people don’t need to hear much. They just want a few words of encouragement. The fact she’s
able to connect with her players outside of tennis, she really cares, and that goes a long way."

The Falcons were 276-231 in 24 seasons under Dean, who was 322-275 as a head coach overall.
She also helped oversee the building of the team’s new courts located between BG’s baseball and softball
fields.
"Relationships are what I enjoyed about the job," Dean said. "You really are a family,
you’re 8-10 people, almost living together, practicing every day, riding in 15-passenger vans to matches
and tournaments, competing together.
"Building relationships during the recruiting process was something I enjoyed, too. You’re building
relationships with the student-athletes, their parents, their coach, the people who are going to help
them make the their college choice. I enjoyed getting to know them."
Dean was a teaching pro in Toledo when she was asked by a couple of the Rocket players to become their
head coach.
She accepted the job and spent four seasons at UT before leaving to spend more time with her family. She
returned to coaching at BG two years later.
Dean finished her career as the third-longest tenured coach at BG, behind baseball coach Warren Steller’s
31 seasons and volleyball coach Denise Van De Walle’s 29 seasons.
"What I liked was doing a variety of things, recruiting, doing a little bit of work in the office
coaching and the level of play is really good," said Dean, who, as a teaching pro, was working with
players from beginners to "really good juniors."
Now, she’s ready to retire.
The season has grown from two to nine matches in the fall, and 25 matches total. Teams previously were
limited to four matches before March 1 to start the season, now they’re playing every weekend and can
play the total of 25 matches.
The amount of time spent in the office and recruiting have doubled.
"I still love coaching and being on the court," Dean said. "But all of the extra stuff
pushed me over the top. The daily grind was making me more tired and I had to give up my whole personal
life. I just didn’t want to see all of the extra paperwork come ground again."
Dean and her husband, Bill, will spend more time with their two children and two grandchildren in
Virginia. She enjoys playing tennis, bridge and pickleball. She’ll also coach the BGHS girls tennis team
this fall.