At the age of 88, Dave Snyder, the renowned head coach of the Texas Men’s Tennis team for thirty years and a former letterwinner for the Longhorns, passed away in Austin on Saturday.

After leaving the Longhorns in July 2000, Snyder was the most successful active collegiate tennis coach in NCAA Division I. He had coached both Texas and Arizona to a 697-226 (.755) dual-match record in 42 seasons as a head coach. The 697 wins ranked second all-time as well.

From 1973 to 2000, Snyder oversaw 28 seasons as the head coach of the Texas Men’s Tennis team, leading the Longhorns to an overall dual-match record of 536-178 (.751). Along with producing 27 All-Americans, he produced two NCAA singles winners in Kevin Curren (1979) and Steve Bryan (1990). Remarkably, ninety-eight percent of his teammates at Texas finished their degrees.

His son and UT tennis letterwinner Doug Snyder remarked, “From his arrival at the University of Texas as a student-athlete in 1952, throughout his long coaching tenure, and until his death, he was a Longhorn.”

“He greatly enjoyed the friendships and fellowship he shared with his former players and was so proud of their accomplishments, both while at UT and throughout their lives. He believed in the Texas Cowboy motto, ‘Give the best you have to Texas and the best will come back to you.’ He did just that and felt blessed in the resulting outcome.”

During his career, Snyder led the Longhorns to nine conference titles, including the first three Big 12 championships (1997–99). During his leadership, twenty-eight (28) student-athletes went on to have prosperous careers as professional tennis players. Arthur Ashe, the legendary tennis player, captained the 1960 U.S. Junior Davis Cup team, which Snyder also coached.

In addition to his grandchildren Rider Dailey and Burke Dailey, Snyder is survived by his wife Nancy, son Doug and daughter Allison, Doug’s wife Lori, granddaughter Bailey Snyder Abrams and her husband Brad Abrams, grandson Reed Snyder and his husband Preben Kristiansen, and great-grandsons Ford and Beau Abrams and Vilhelm Kristiansen Snyder.