Peter Kobelt has been named the 12th head coach of the Husker men’s tennis team, Athletic Director Troy Dannen announced Monday.
Kobelt served as the interim head coach this past season, leading the 2023-24 team to one of the best seasons in Nebraska history. Kobelt accomplished the best record by a first-year coach in program history, leading the Big Red to a 17-10 record. The feat of 17 single-season wins was a program best since 1990, and Kobelt led the Huskers to the first Big Ten Tournament Semifinals in school history.
A successful collegiate tennis athlete himself, Kobelt led junior Calvin Mueller to claim the 2023 Big Ten Singles Individual Championship. Mueller also earned a 27-12 singles record, which notches him at No. 5 in program history for most singles wins in a season, and was named to the All-Big Ten First Team.
“Peter has provided outstanding leadership for our men’s tennis program over the past year, and we are excited to name him our permanent head coach,” Dannen said. “Our men’s team had one of the best seasons in Nebraska history and we are confident the program will continue an upward trajectory under Peter’s guidance.
“Peter has shown the ability to develop and improve the young men already in the program and has an excellent recruiting plan to attract elite future prospects to the University of Nebraska.”
Prior to his role as interim head coach, the Ohio State alum served as assistant coach at NU for the 2022-23 season. Kobelt helped the team reach an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) season-high ranking of 45th and stayed in the top 50 rankings for much of the 2022-23 season.
“I am extremely honored for the opportunity to continue coaching here at the University of Nebraska,” Kobelt said. “Over the last two years, I've seen personally how special this place is and I am thrilled to be able to continue to call Lincoln home. Our program has more momentum behind it now than it ever has before, and I truly believe we can accomplish everything that we set out to do. My goal is to continue developing a winning culture within our program that focuses on sustained success on the court, in the classroom and in the community. I truly believe that Nebraska does it better than everyone else, from having the very best facilities, to the unmatched student-athlete resources and most of all, the best fans in all of college sports.
“I'd like to thank Troy Dannen and Keith Zimmer for their continued belief in me throughout this whole process. The leadership here at Nebraska is elite and has truly set all of us up to be successful for many years to come. I'd also like to thank our guys, this past season they re-wrote numerous records at Nebraska on and off the court that have stood here for decades. The way you all embraced me this year was extremely special, and I can't wait to see what’s next. There is no place like Nebraska!”
Before coming to Nebraska, Kobelt served as the volunteer assistant coach at Kentucky for two seasons (2020-22), helping the Wildcats finish as the 2022 NCAA runner-up and a No. 7 national ranking. He was responsible for implementing the doubles strategy and on-court fitness for the entire team and coached the No. 1-ranked ITA player, Liam Draxl, to the semifinals of the 2021 NCAA men’s singles competition.
Kobelt played collegiately and professionally. On the ITF and ATP men’s professional tours, he peaked with a No. 332 singles and No. 378 doubles ranking. Kobelt was a tennis standout at Ohio State, finishing his career as one of the most successful men’s tennis players in school history. He led Ohio State to its first NCAA National Indoor Team Championship in 2014 and was selected as the 2014 ITA National Indoor Championships Most Outstanding Player. During his career, he held the ITA No. 1 singles ranking and the No. 2 doubles ranking.