Loring a coaching constant for Hoosiers

Loring a coaching constant for HoosiersAthletics has a few businesses. \nJust imagine having your best year with a company or leading your organization from near ruin to success only to be fired shortly thereafter. \nThe only constant in coaching is that there isn't one. Logos, players, colors and coaches come and go. But there are exceptions.\nOne of those is IU women's tennis coach Lin Loring. In his 25th year at IU, Loring joins an elite group. Only two other active coaches have been at IU for more than a quarter of century. Besides longevity, these coaches have one thing in common -- winning.\nJerry Yeagley, the men's soccer coach of 28 years, has five NCAA national championships to his credit. Bob Morgan, IU men's baseball head coach for 26 years, has recorded 25 winning seasons. So why has IU kept Lin Loring around for 25 years? He is the winningest college coach in the country in women's tennis with over 600 career wins.\nTo leave it there would be to shortchange the skipper that guided his crew to an NCAA championship and 15 Big Ten championships. He was also Big Ten Coach of the Year four times and Midwest Coach of the Year six times. \nIf those statistics aren't enough, maybe winning the ITA/Rolex Meritorious Service Award is. An award given only 11 times in its history, Loring won it for his work as the chairman of the National Team Indoor Championships in tennis along with other distinguished services.\nStill, there is more to Loring than can be found in the box scores. Each year, the women's tennis team receives higher marks in academics than any of IU's 24 varsity programs. Aside from leading the IU athletics department in average GPA with a 3.3 over the last decade and a half, Loring also graduates each one of his athletes. \nNo one who has played under Loring for four years has left without a degree. No one. \nAnd only five of his players have taken more than four years to do so. \nThe goal-oriented Loring has a chalkboard at the Tennis Center on which he and those on the team write down team objectives before each practice. The focus is on improving individual play -- becoming a more dimensional player -- for example, and not necessarily winning a certain number of individual or team matches. \nSuccessful as he is, Loring is grounded. Don't look for any flying chairs anytime soon. As a coach who believes in the importance of intensity and hard work, he also believes in balance.\n"Academics is something we've always made a priority," Loring said. "Tennis is second." \nLoring, who credits his supporting staff, including assistant coach Ramiro Ascui (a two-time winner of the Midwest Assistant Coach of the Year award), takes his role as a coach and mentor seriously.\nAsked what he wanted for each of his players he answered without hesitation. \n"Leave with a degree," he said. "Enjoy their time here." \nLoring, who cites the fact that less than one percent of college athletes make it in the professional sports realm, runs his program in a way that allows his athletes to enjoy other aspects of college life.\n"They (the coaches) are very concerned about how we do with our school work and future careers," said senior Amanda Field, who plays the No. 1 singles spot and who has already landed a job as a business analyst in marketing for Target.\nAt 6-0 thus far in his 25th season at IU, Loring is back in the saddle making waves as a coach who has two things that are hard to come by in athletics -- consistency and constancy.