Eric Rodgers
Head Coach

Eric Rodgers came to Coe in the fall of 1989 as the director of the Clark Racquet Center and head tennis coach of both the men's and women's teams. He has led Coe to all 14 of its conference titles, earning the honor of Regional Coach of the Year in 1993, 2001, and 2008. He was also named Iowa Conference Coach of the Year in 2003, 2004, and 2005 for the men's team and was the coach of the year in 2006, 2007 and 2008 for the women's team.

Previously, Rodgers led the tennis program at the University of Evansville, an NCAA Division I school. His teams captured two Midwestern Collegiate Conference titles and he was twice named Coach of the Year.

Still an active player in tennis and squash, Rodgers is a 1979 graduate of Kalamazoo College in Michigan. At Kalamazoo, he was a four-year letterman, captain and played on two NCAA championship squads for legendary coach George Acker.

Rodgers is very active in both NCAA and USTA tennis, having served on the NCAA ranking committee and the NCAA awards committee. He served many years as the Iowa representive on the Missouri Valley Junior Competition Committee. He just concluded a 4 year stint on the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis National Operating Committee, which culminated with him serving as the National Chair for Division III Men's Tennis during the 2009-2010 academic year.

In a combined 33 years of prep and college playing and coaching, Rodgers has been involved in 23 conference championship teams. He has also had 11 Academic All-Americans and seven tennis All-Americans play on his teams.

Kris Diehl
Assistant Coach

Diehl joined the Kohawk coaching staff in the Spring of 2010, serving as the Assistant Tennis Coach under Coe's current and winningest Head Coach, Eric Rodgers.

An Iowa City native, her on-court achievements earned her a full athletic scholarship to Northern Illinois University. At NIU, Diehl was named NIU's Most Valuable Player her sophomore season.  As a junior, Diehl posted a team-best 17 doubles wins, and team-best 15 singles victories, earning her the annual Coaches Award due to her work ethic and dedication.  As a Huskie, Diehl also donned a soccer jersey her senior year, making her one of an elite group of individuals to have competed and earned a varsity letter in two sports at the Division I level.  Based on her athletic success and numerous academic awards, Diehl has been deemed "one of the most versatile and active student-athletes" in NIU history.

As a coach, Diehl emphasizes the importance of well-rounded student-athletes. Diehl graduated Magna Cum Laude from NIU with a major in Finance, minor in Communications and an emphasis in Accounting.  Diehl then attended graduate school at the University of Iowa, obtaining her law degree in 2005 and Masters in Business Administration, with distinction, in 2006.  Diehl is currently an inactive licensed attorney in the State of Iowa.  Having once served as a volunteer firefighter, Diehl also has a FF1 license (250 hours of training).  She still competes in tennis, ultimate frisbee and triathlons.

Diehl played two 30's National Tournaments in 2010 and finished the year ranked #9, with a win over both #2 and #3.  She also finished the year with both the #3 (partnered with Trish Riddell) and #12 (partnered with Ioulia Bolotova) ranking for team doubles, whilst obtaining the #7 ranking for doubles individually.  Diehl holds 3 Silver Balls and 1 Bronze Ball.

Diehl resides in Coralville, IA with her husband Phil, whom is also a former student-athlete (soccer) at NIU.  The couple has a daughter, Emmie, who was born in 2008, and two dogs.

Robert Rye
Assistant Coach

A Long Beach, CA native, Rye joined the Coe coaching staff in the fall of 2010.  Prior to joining the Kohawks, he spent the past two seasons as a Volunteer Assistant Coach with the Chapman University men's and women's teams.  During his time there, the women's team was ranked as high as #10 in the nation in Division III and individuals on both the men's and women's teams qualified for the National Championships.

Rye earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Rhetoric and Film Studies from Whitman College (Wash.) in 2008.  He played all four years at Whitman on a team that was consistently ranked in the top 25 of Division III (high of #12 in 2007).  During that time, Rye was twice named to the ITA All-Academic team.  On the court, Rye compiled a 51-16 record, one of the highest winning percentages (minimum 50 matches) of any player in school history.  In 2008, Rye was voted a team captain by his teammates. He was also voted Most Improved in 2006 and 2008, and earned ITA Scholar Athlete honors as a senior.

Rye is a USPTA certified P2 level tennis pro.  He has taught lessons for UC Irvine's campus recreation department, as well as spending the past five summers teaching at the UC Irvine junior tennis camp, acting as director of the program in 2009.