The Coach Behind a Dynasty
For 38 years, Dick Gould built the winningest program in college tennis history. This site is the home for the film series telling that story — and the achievements and contributions Coach Gould has made to the sport of tennis above and beyond all the NCAA Championships.
Built by the people he coached
Dick Gould spent 38 years turning Stanford into the winningest program college tennis has ever seen. This project is a group of his former players and colleagues making sure that story gets told right — in film, and in one place everyone can find it.
Over the decades, his players kept climbing to the top of the sport or whatever career they pursued, long after they'd left Palo Alto. This is our way of saying thank you.
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- 03Have a story or photo of Coach Gould? We'd love to include it — reach out.
Wimbledon, By the Numbers
This series collects short films about the Stanford Tennis dynasty Dick Gould built, told by the players, announcers, and colleagues who lived it. New films post here as they're finished — starting with the run that started it all: eight Gould players reaching the Round of 32 at Wimbledon in 1982.
See all films →Films, released as they're finished
Nothing is stockpiled — each film goes up the week it's ready, in whatever order makes sense for what's happening in tennis that month. Everything here also posts across the social accounts.
Seven trips to No. 1
Of the 14 Gould-coached players who reached the ATP's top 10 in doubles, seven went all the way to the world No. 1 ranking.
John McEnroe
Reached No. 1 in ATP doubles, alongside his Hall of Fame singles career.
Jim Grabb
Reached No. 1 in the ATP doubles rankings.
Jonathan Stark
Reached No. 1 in the ATP doubles rankings.
Alex O'Brien
Reached No. 1 in the ATP doubles rankings.
Jared Palmer
Reached No. 1 in the ATP doubles rankings.
Bob Bryan
With twin brother Mike, part of the winningest doubles team in tennis history.
Mike Bryan
With twin brother Bob, part of the winningest doubles team in tennis history.
38 years, by the numbers
Career highlights from Gould's time as Stanford's head coach (1966–2004) and Director of Tennis.
- Coached 5 Top-10 ATP players — John McEnroe, Roscoe Tanner, Alex & Gene Mayer, Tim Mayotte1970s–80s
- 1982 Wimbledon: 8 former Stanford players reached at least the Round of 321982
- ITA-Wilson “Coach of the Decade” — twice, for the 1980s and the 1990s1989 / 1999
- Stanford University Athletic Hall of Fame1994
- U.S. Olympic Committee Coach of the Year1998
- Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame2006
- Bay Area & San Jose Sports Halls of Fame2006 / 2008
- ITA Chairman's Award, for lifelong service to the sport2023
Sources: Stanford Athletics, ITA, Wikipedia.
More than a trophy case
Seventeen championships are the headline. They were never the whole story.
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Innovation
Gould treated the sport itself as something to keep building, not just win at. His program installed the first electronic scoreboard and the first video board college tennis had ever seen, and turned dual matches into an actual event — moving Friday nights indoors to Maples Pavilion, where two-day tournaments drew more than 15,000 fans, still among the largest crowds in the sport's college history. In 1986, Stanford tennis became one of the first programs in any college sport to help fund itself through a Personal Seat License program. Gould also created and incorporated data analytics into tennis coaching before anyone else did.
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Coaching the Coaches
Gould's influence runs through the coaches who trained under him, not just the players. John Whitlinger spent 18 seasons as his associate head coach before succeeding him in 2005, and was named the ITA's first-ever National Assistant Coach of the Year. Gould also wrote "Tennis Anyone?," one of the sport's most widely used instructional books. Beyond his own staff, he taught and mentored hundreds of aspiring coaches over the years and gave talks at countless tennis conferences and clinics — work that helped earn him induction into the USPTA Hall of Fame in 2019.
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Beyond Tennis
In 1975, the same year Title IX began reshaping college athletics, Gould merged Stanford's men's and women's tennis programs — years ahead of most schools. He hired Anne Hill, who later became his wife, as Stanford's first women's head coach; she led the 1978 team to the university's first NCAA championship in any women's sport. Since 1988, Gould has served on the board of EPATT, a free East Palo Alto program that pairs tennis with academic tutoring for local kids. He's also Vice Chair of TeachAids, a Stanford-born nonprofit building health-education technology used around the world.
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The Gould Effect
Gould has said he knew he wanted to be a teacher at 11 years old, and that's the thread running through everything else here — the trophies were never really the point. "No matter what you're teaching, in any field, you have to transmit your passion," he's said of his approach. That care extended to every player, not just the stars: only a handful of his recruits ever turned pro, and dozens more went on to lead companies and teams of their own in business, medicine, and fields far from a tennis court. In 2022, Gould published "Anatomy of a Champion," pulling lessons on success from 166 CEOs, entrepreneurs, coaches, and world champions. He coached all of his players the same way — as people he was there to develop, not just athletes he needed to win with.
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The GOAT
No college tennis coach has ever put up numbers like this. Seventeen national championships in 28 years is a record nobody else has come close to. Thirteen of his players combined to win 63 Grand Slam titles, seven reached No. 1 in the ATP doubles rankings, sixteen played Davis Cup for their countries, and sixteen became Olympians. In 2018, Inside Tennis compared him to UCLA basketball legend John Wooden, calling him "the Prince of Palo Alto" — and it's hard to argue: this is what the greatest of all time looks like in college tennis.
Testimonials from the interview series
Pulled from on-camera interviews as the film series comes together. More are added as new interviews are finished and cleared.
“Think of the successes of the Stanford dynasty in the '70s and '80s, and how many of Dick's players went on to play professional tennis — that's what Dick achieved, and what he built, and what has been sustained.”Ted Robinson
“Dick Gould built a culture in our men's tennis program that valued the human being, valued the individual, valued teamwork.”Condoleezza Rice, 66th U.S. Secretary of State
Dick Gould, surrounded by the hardware
Head coach, Stanford Men's Tennis, 1966–2004
Dick Gould spent 38 years building Stanford into college tennis's defining program, winning 17 NCAA team championships and coaching 50 All-Americans, including future major-tournament finalists and Hall of Famers like John McEnroe, Roscoe Tanner, and the Bryan brothers.
What set the program apart wasn't just the winning — it was how far it reached. Gould's players kept showing up at the biggest stages in the sport for decades, from Centre Court at Wimbledon to Arthur Ashe Stadium, long after they'd left Palo Alto. He later served as Stanford's Director of Tennis, spearheading the Taube Family Tennis Center and endowing the program for generations to come.
What's new
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JUL 2026
Site is live
The hub for the film series is up, and the first film is released.
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NEW
Nine films live, including Rice and Billie Jean King
New additions include testimonials from Secretary Condoleezza Rice and tennis legend Billie Jean King, a look at the Bryan brothers, and Coach Gould's work with East Palo Alto Tennis & Tutoring.
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TBD
U.S. Open tribute
A suite honoring Dick Gould is planned for the Saturday of Labor Day weekend at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
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