West Virginia University Athletics

Jacob Eddins joined the Mountaineer tennis staff as assistant coach in 2019 and was promoted to associate head coach in July 2022.

In his first season as associate head coach, Eddins helped lead the Mountaineers to a historic season, including the program’s highest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national ranking at No. 51, an impressive 11-4 start during the 2023 spring slate and the program’s first-ever victory over Kansas State, which also marked the squad’s first Big 12 victory since 2018.
 
In his first two seasons with the team, Eddins has helped WVU tennis improve in several aspects of the program. In 2019-20, he was a part of a West Virginia team who produced the best start to a women’s tennis season since 1986. Eddins also aided in recruiting the highest-rated signing class in program history in 2020, which came in at No. 29 nationally in Tennis Recruiting Network’s (TRN) annual list.
 
A native of Huntington, West Virginia, Eddins came to Morgantown after serving as the assistant coach at Auburn for one year. During his only season with the Tigers, Eddins helped guide the team to a 14-win season, in which they held a team-high national ranking of 25 and upset then-No. 13 Georgia Tech during the 2019 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Kickoff Weekend. Eddins also helped Auburn secure the 15th-best recruiting class in the nation during the Fall of 2018.
 
Eddins coached Auburn’s Jaeda Daniel and Alannah Griffin to individual singles rankings of No. 48 and No. 114, respectively, in the country during the 2018-19 season. He also helped two doubles pairs to secure top-70 rankings in the nation for Auburn – No. 14 Taylor Russo/Sophie Graver; No. 64 Jaeda Daniel/Maddie Meredith.
 
Prior to the 2018-19 season, he served as the associate head coach at Western Carolina, where he helped oversee one of the most successful stretches in WCU history that included a school-record win total in 2016.
 
Eddins’ coaching career also includes stops at Pittsburgh, Cornell and Marshall.
 
He helped steadily improve the WCU women's tennis program over his five seasons with the Catamounts, including setting a record for most wins in a season in 2016 with 12. Eddins helped rewrite the WCU record book with five of his student-athletes holding top-10 single-season victories in Western Carolina history. Four of the top five spots on the career singles victories chart at WCU are held by players Eddins coached, including career leader Stacia Kissell with 37 victories at WCU in just three seasons. WCU’s 12-11 record in 2016 marked the first winning season for the Catamounts since 1997.
 
Eddins’ WCU tenure began after one year as the assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to his time at Pitt, Eddins spent one year as a volunteer assistant at Cornell University. He also served two years in the same position at Marshall for the women's tennis program while completing his undergraduate degree. While at Marshall, he helped the Thundering Herd win its fourth consecutive Mid-American Conference championship. As the assistant coach at Marshall in 2010, he helped guide the team to a national ranking as high as No. 28 and a second-place finish in the Conference USA Tournament.
 
Eddins has also coached in junior development programs over the past 10-plus years and currently holds an Elite Professional USPTA certification. He spent two years as the head tennis pro at Guyan Golf and Country Club in Huntington and was also the assistant director at the Allegheny Country Club in Pittsburgh, prior to coaching at Pitt.
 
Before his time at Marshall, he was a two-time West Virginia high school state singles champion, as well as the doubles state champion his senior year.
 
Eddins graduated from Marshall University in 2008 with a degree in business management and a minor in marketing.
 
He and his wife, Michaela Kissell-Eddins, have four children, Kylie, Gavin, Jayce and Carter.