Dave Porter was named BYU director of tennis and head coach of the men’s tennis program on May 20, 2020.

Porter came to BYU from BYU-Hawaii in Laie, where he led the Seasiders tennis teams to 11 NCAA DII or NAIA national championships (nine women’s and two men’s). During his 33-year BYU-Hawaii career, Porter compiled a combined record of 1,410-188 to achieve a remarkable .882 winning percentage. With 1,410 career victories, he is the winningest coach in collegiate tennis history. 

He began his coaching career at BYU-Hawaii as an assistant basketball coach from 1982-84 and also helped coach the Seasiders women’s volleyball team for a season. In 1984, Porter started the BYU-Hawaii men’s tennis program and later took over the women’s program in 1992. He continued to coach both teams until the university discontinued its athletics program in 2017.

Over the course of his distinguished BYU-Hawaii career, Porter was named ITA National Coach of the Year six times and was honored as district, regional or conference coach of the year more than 30 times. His teams made more than 40 NCAA DII and NAIA national tournament appearances. He coached 13 first-team NAIA All-Americans, 44 NCAA Division II All-Americans, and produced five NAIA scholar-athletes. Porter is also the first coach in NCAA history to coach both men’s and women’s teams to National Championships in consecutive years (2002 and 2003).

Porter has also been actively involved with tennis on a national and international level. He served as president of the 15,000-member United States Professional Tennis Association and was the Chairman of International Testing and the Player Development Committees. In 2012, he was presented the USPTA Alex Gordon Professional of the Year award. He has also been named a Master Professional by the USPTA and an International Master Professional by the Registry of Professional Tennis in Spain.

In addition to collegiate coaching, Porter worked closely with the Chinese national women’s doubles team that won the gold medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. That same year, he was awarded the United States Olympic Committee’s Doc Counsilman Award for tennis, given to the individual who best combines coaching and sports science. He also coached the 2006 Australian and Wimbledon doubles champions. 

Porter is a popular speaker and has traveled the world. His international experience is an essential part of his work as a coach, as his teams have included players from many countries.

A native of Provo, Porter attended BYU where he competed in both basketball and tennis while earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education. He later earned a Master of Science degree from BYU in Exercise Physiology. In 1982, he accepted a position in the Exercise & Sports Science Department at BYU-Hawaii and later completed a Doctoral Degree from the University of Hawaii in Curriculum & Instruction in Physical Education. 

Porter was also a full professor at BYU-Hawaii where he received multiple exemplary faculty teaching and service awards. He served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New England. He is married to Lorrie Porter. They have four children and 13 grandchildren.