FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Florida Gulf Coast University men's tennis program enters a new era with the appointment of Davidson Kozlowski as the new head coach. He is the third head coach in the program's  Division I history.

Kozlowski joins the Green & Blue after 11 seasons as head coach of NCAA Division I member Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. He was named Summit League Coach of the Year six times and led his team to seven conference tournament titles and six regular season championships. Kozlowski helped the Bulldogs qualify for eight NCAA Tournament berths.
 
"It is with great pleasure that we welcome Davidson and Jennifer to FGCU, Southwest Florida, and our Eagles' Athletics Family," said FGCU Director of Athletics Ken Kavanagh. "A quality individual, Davidson is a proven winner and brings to FGCU a tremendous wealth of experience and coaching success. In turn, we look forward to his providing energized daily leadership to our wonderful group of student-athletes, quickly getting engaged with our growing fan base and maintaining the tremendous tradition of overall excellence, on and off the court, that has been established by FGCU men's tennis since our inception."
 
Kozlowski had an immediate impact at Drake, making history his first season by leading the team to the program's first NCAA tournament win in school history with a 4-1 win over Texas Christian University. The team also achieved the highest Intercollegiate Tennis Association  (ITA) national ranking of No. 16 in the country during his first season.
 
Kozlowski also led the Bulldogs to a 22-6 record during the 2013-14 campaign en route to Drake's eighth NCAA Tournament appearance on the strength of claiming the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles.
 
During the following season Kozlowski led Drake to its second NCAA Tournament victory in program history with a 4-2 win over No. 32 Louisville. The Bulldogs finished the 2014-15 season ranked 32nd nationally with a 25-6 record, including a 13-4 mark against ranked teams.

For the 2015-16 season, the Bulldogs faced off against 17 nationally ranked teams, including 11 ranked in the top 40. Drake finished the season ranked 49th with a 17-12 record.
 
From the 2016-17 season to the 2022-23 season, Kozlowski brought home the conference title five times. In his final season at Drake, the Bulldogs claimed their seventh tournament title and achieved individual singles wins over the No.1 player in the country and No. 8 and No. 9 doubles teams.   
 
Before his arrival at Drake, Kozlowski was an assistant coach at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) from 2004-12.

Kozlowski is a native of Sarasota, Florida. He played collegiate tennis at Auburn from 1994-96 before he transferred to Florida State University for his final two seasons, 1997-99.
 
"I am honored to be the next head coach for the FGCU men's tennis team," said Kozlowski. "I want to thank the entire search committee and everyone I met during the interview process for making me feel at home and extremely welcome."
 
While competing for the Seminoles Kozlowski regularly played at the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles position. He earned a bachelor's degree in social science from FSU in 1999.

Following graduation, he played on the Futures and Challenger Circuit from 1999-2002.
 
Kozlowski succeeds C.J. Weber, who coached the Eagles for 12 seasons after joining the program in September 2011. Weber most recently led the 2022-23 team to its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance after capturing the ASUN Tournament title.

The Eagles went 15-9 this year and won a share of the 2023 ASUN regular-season title after defeating No. 63 Liberty. FGCU then won the ASUN Tournament championship, defeating host North Florida 4-0 in the title match, before losing a very competitive NCAA Tournament opener at No. 6 Georgia. 

Magnus Johnson won ASUN Player of the Year for the third consecutive season and earned a spot on the ASUN All-Academic Team as well. Marcelo Sepulveda and Randy Wilson were both named to the All-ASUN Second Team. Guglielmo Stefanacci was named on the All-ASUN Third Team.