SMU associate head coach Ben Johnson is leaving The Hilltop to become Yale men’s tennis head coach after nine seasons with the Mustangs.
SMU men’s tennis is losing one of the key architects behind its recent rise.
Ben Johnson, the Mustangs’ associate head coach, was named Yale men’s tennis head coach on Friday, ending a nine-year run on The Hilltop that helped push SMU into a different competitive tier.
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Johnson arrived at SMU in 2017 as an assistant coach under Carl Neufeld, then quickly climbed into a bigger role.
He was promoted to associate head coach before the 2018-19 season and spent the past eight years working alongside head coach Grant Chen.
He helped build the culture, recruit talent, develop players and keep SMU moving forward through a major transition into the Atlantic Coast Conference.
With Johnson serving as the program’s No. 2 voice, SMU won two conference championships and made five NCAA Tournament appearances.
That’s the kind of stretch that turns a respected program into one that expects to play deep into spring.
Chen made it clear how much Johnson meant to the Mustangs, praising both his impact on the program and his friendship during nearly a decade together.
He said SMU is excited to follow Johnson’s next chapter at Yale and wished success to the Johnson family in New Haven.
For Yale, this is a strong swing. The Bulldogs are getting a coach with championship experience, NCAA Tournament experience and years of work inside a program that had to keep raising its standard.
For SMU, it’s a loss — but also a sign of growth. Good programs develop players. Great ones also develop coaches other schools want to hire.
Johnson now gets his own program, his own locker room and his own chance to set the tone.
SMU helped launch him. Yale is betting he’s ready to lead.
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