When Sacramento State needed a new women’s tennis head coach in the summer of 1998, Bill Campbell was hoping the university would find the right person for the job.

He just never expected it to be him.

Wife Margie Campbell had other ideas about what her husband ought to be doing with his time. Unbeknownst to Bill, she recommended him for the job.

“She knows me and what I like better than I do,” Campbell said. “I was excited, although I really hadn’t considered it at all.”

Seven years later and ready to begin his eighth season at the helm of the women’s team, Campbell and his girls have been riding high in the Big Sky.

They’ve brought home four-consecutive Big Sky Conference championships as a team, culminating in back-to-back 23-victory seasons, including a record six wins over nationally-ranked opponents in 2005. Not coincidentally, Campbell has been named Big Sky Coach of the Year four years running.

Of course, it hasn’t all been roses for Campbell. He had an idea of what he was up against in 1999, but wasn’t quite aware of how tough the road ahead would be. He found out at his first team meeting.

“We had a team meeting, and I’m all excited – so I asked if anybody had played tennis over the summer.

“Not one hand went up. I thought maybe they hadn’t understood the question, so I asked again … nothing.”

“That first year, we lost 15 matches in a row and then won the last one. I figured we were the second-worst team in the country,” Campbell said.

But by the third season, the team’s record was a respectable at 11-10, his first over the .500 mark. According to Campbell, “That’s when we started attracting talent.”

Talent is a luxury any coach covets. The girls now come from all over the world ?” Russia, Sweden, Ukraine ?” to take part in this highly successful program that Campbell and his coaches have developed. In fact, at this point his teams mostly consist of foreign-born players

“To put it in perspective, that first year I had five scholarships requests. This year, I had 480.”

Coach Campbell has four main keys to his coaching philosophy, and you may be surprised to hear them and the order they fall in.

“First is that they have to keep in touch with their families. Secondly is schoolwork … I think our cumulative GPA is around 3.30. The third priority is to work hard on their tennis games. The fourth is to have a social life, but they tend to anyways. It’s part of college,” Campbell said.

The team’s success could be attributed to the coach, but he credits the players for their hard work and dedication.

“It speaks well for the girls, the hard work and their willingness to come here,” Campbell added.

There is more to Campbell than coaching alone. In addition, Bill and his wife run Spare Time, Inc., which operates 11 tennis clubs in the area.

And, well, business has been good as of late. Bill and Margie were recently able to make a donation of $1,320,000 to the school.

“$600,000 of that will go towards the new rec center or field house, and the other $720,000 will go into upgrading the tennis area-new offices, locker rooms, and bleachers. When it’s time to build, we’ll turn the courts themselves into a much nicer facility.”

The Hornets open their season Jan. 13 at a tournament in Hawaii.

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Josh Terrell can be reached at [email protected]