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Page 24 • UGA: An Independent Look • May 1990
Tennis legend Dan Magill
JacfcM«/The Red and Blech
By Randy Walker
At about 2 p.m. every afternoon at Henry
Feild Stadium, Dan Magill used to assemble
his men before tennis practice.
Ten or so players would quickly conclude
their games of mini-tennis or lefty doubles
and settle down along the bleachers parallel
to the stadium's court No. 1 and listen to
their mentor, the Georgia men's tennis
coach, give his daily pre-practice pep talk.
Sporting a jacket and tie with a dignified
pair of slacks with crossed tennis racquets
and the word "love" decorating the pant legs,
topped off with his ever-present panama hat
to protect his head from the burning Georgia
sun, Magill would pull up a chair and face his
players, sucking a Coca-Cola with a
vociferous sound.
These daily talks were one of the many
trademarks of the man, not because he held
them, but for what he said during them.
"I believed in getting together for a
meeting before practice to get the lay of the
land and see how everyone was feeling," says
Magill, who is now Georgia Director of
Tennis. 'That's nothing too unusual."
But while team meetings aren't anything
extraordinary, Magill's personal interest in
his players, and his ability to relax and pump
up his men are unique.
"He was really personal with you.
Everyday he'd ask you how you are doing
and what's going on in your life. That was
really cool," says Mike Morrison, who played
on Magill's last teams in 1987-88. "He was
more than just a coach, but a friend as well."
"A lot of coaches get caught up in
seriousness too much, where the players are
almost burned out. Coach Magill made it
fun," says Jim Childs, who played under
Magill for two years.
In between slurps of his Coke, Magill
would not only go over matches, rankings of
practice but pep up his teams with jokes,
stories, or even excerpts of the speeches he
gave as Secretary of the Georgia Bulldog
Club.
"I'd tell a few anecdotes and just entertain
them," Magill said. "It gets pretty dull
practicing tennis every day, year round. I
just would try and liven it up with a few
jokes."
Magill began his tradition of talking with
his men when the Athens native served as a
lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps during
World War II.
"A platoon leader has really got to know
his men. As a lieutenant, I always had a
meeting with my platoon and assembled to
go over what the plans were.
"I was no hero or anything. That's not me
over there," Magill concedes as he points to a
picture of the Iwo Jima landing, placed in his
office in the Butts-Mehre building. He never
In his 34 years coaching the men’s varsity
tennis team Dan Magill had 706 dual match
saw any action while he was stationed in the
Pacific.
But to the Georgia players lucky enough to
play under him, Magill was a hero; a bom
leader like a George Patton or a Stonewall
Jackson who, with the enthusiasm of his
voice, could stir his men like a 'Win one for
the Gipper" speech.
"He's a great motivator, maybe the
greatest motivator ever," says 1983 Georgia
captain Ola Malmqvist.
"Coach Magill is as competitive as
anybody I've ever met," says Manuel Diaz,
wins, two NCAA team titles, 13 SEC team
titles and two Coach of the Year Awards.
tennis letterman from 1972-75 and current
head coach. "He's as experienced as anybody
in any sport when it comes to the quest for
the championship."
Players remember Magill's pep talks
before Georgia's 1985 and 1987 national
championship matches for their emotion, not
their words.
"He never said too much, but what he said
was always right," Malmqvist said.
"I think the players could see how much 1
wanted to win the match," says
Magill. "They could maybe sense