Mike Mucci was named interim head coach of the women’s tennis program in January 2026.
Mucci brings Division I coaching experience from multiple programs, including head coaching stops at Jacksonville State, Southern Utah and Niagara. Most recently, he served as an assistant coach for the Penn State women’s team, where he helped guide one of the strongest stretches in program history and was named the ITA Northeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2025.
The Nittany Lions recorded 14 wins in 2025 — their most since 2013 — and earned five Big Ten victories, including a win over No. 14 USC, the program’s highest-ranked victory in more than 20 years. He also helped Penn State land its highest-ranked recruiting class in program history in 2024, ranked 11th nationally.
Prior to Penn State, Mucci coached both the men’s and women’s programs at Jacksonville State from 2021–23. He led the Gamecocks’ men’s team to a 31–28 record and the women’s team to a 31–31 mark over three seasons. He guided the women’s team to its most victories since 2013 with 15 wins in 2023, including the program's first postseason win in ten years. Across three recruiting cycles, Mucci guided Jacksonville State to multiple nationally ranked recruiting classes, highlighted by a top-30 national and No. 7 mid-major men’s class in 2022 — the best in program history. He also delivered the women’s program’s first-ever ranked recruiting class, which was No. 16 among mid-major programs in 2022.
Before Jacksonville State, Mucci spent two seasons as head women’s coach at Southern Utah, leading the Thunderbirds to a 13–11 record and a Big Sky Semifinal in 2019. In 2020, the team posted three wins before the season was cut short by COVID-19, and the program was discontinued that June.
In 2018–19, Mucci was an assistant at Belmont University, where he helped the women’s team achieve its highest win total in more than 15 years and guided the men’s doubles team of Marko Ilic and Hendrik Inno to a No. 8 national ranking and the NCAA Round of 16. Prior to Belmont, Mucci was an assistant with the University of Delaware men’s program in 2017–18, helping the Blue Hens post a 17–8 record — their best season in 44 years.
Mucci began his collegiate coaching career at his alma mater, Niagara University, serving as head coach for both the men’s and women’s programs in 2015–16. He played at Niagara from 2010–2013, contributing to the highest-ranked teams in school history. Mucci earned two ITA Scholar-Athlete honors at Niagara, where he graduated with a degree in psychology in May 2013.
In addition to his collegiate coaching, Mucci worked as a tennis professional at Village Glen Tennis Club in Williamsville, N.Y. (2016–17), before serving as head assistant professional at the Tennis Club of Rochester in 2017–18.
