He is the only male head coach at American University without a hint of gray in his hair. The only one who routinely chooses to wear jeans and a T-shirt to work rather than the traditional polo and wind pants get-up. And the only one who is yet to sport a spare tire around his waistline.
Kyle Bailey, 24, an integral part of two AU men's tennis Patriot League championship teams, has taken an unfamiliar path and approach to becoming the youngest member of the AU coaching fraternity.
Just two years removed from graduating from AU, it is only natural that Bailey is going to work toward AU's common athletic goal of dominating the Patriot League and improving performances on the national scene a little differently. For Bailey, tennis is about more than just wins and losses - it's about the bigger picture.
Even after a successful life full of tennis achievements, which culminated in the two Patriot League titles, Bailey said becoming a head coach wasn't ever really in his career game plan.
"I never thought that I would even want to be a head coach - I couldn't have imagined thinking, 'Oh yeah, I'll go do that,'" Bailey said.
But after Martin Blackman, a well-respected amateur and professional player who coached AU to three consecutive Patriot League championships from 2002 to 2004, resigned last year, Bailey fell into the position largely because of the bond he formed over the past five years with the program.
"I really have to credit Martin for forming such a tight group of guys. The parents and the kids didn't want to lose that - the ability to relate on a different level with the guys," he said. "I know I have the vision of where we need to be."
Had someone told him to envision running a Division I tennis program a couple years ago, Bailey would not have believed it. Now, however, Bailey said he has had experiences and a guiding hand that have led him to his current position.
During his four years as an AU student, Bailey participated in sports marketing internships with the Washington Wizards and the "George Michael Sports Machine" on the local NBC nightly news. Jobs that many other business and communications majors would run through a wall for simply did not suit Bailey.
"Every single experience I had with that style of business - I didn't like," he said. "I didn't like going into work - the people were superficial. It wasn't the atmosphere I could see myself being happy in, especially after five years of this," he said, referring to his four years as a player and the one year he spent as Blackman's assistant.
To Bailey, there is a purpose beyond simply showing up to work and earning a paycheck. He thrives on results, lessons and the things he can do to make others more successful.
"When this opportunity came about I thought, 'Well, here's something where I can really affect kids' lives and put my energies into something useful'," he said. "I felt this was real work where you actually put work into something and see results right away."
That will be a challenge this year, because five of the six members of last year's team were lost to graduation last May. But that does not deter Bailey, who has used the first official week of practice this season to orient himself with his team and get it physically and mentally prepared for a Patriot League title defense that few around the league think is feasible.
One big way that senior and team captain Juan Jaysingh thinks Bailey can get the team to the level of defending the title is simply by being himself - someone young and fresh who can relate on a more personal level with the players.
"He's a pretty mature guy for his age who is very excited about his work," said Jaysingh. "And the best thing for me, and I think a lot of the other guys, is there is now less pressure."
While Jaysingh said Blackman was a fantastic coach, he said there was always a sense that he had to prove something extra. "With Coach Bailey, he's more of a friend to me," he said. "In tennis, I think you have to be friends with your coach.'
Sophomore Jefferey Schnell agreed.
"We're not afraid to play for him, yet it's a team that really respects him as a coach," he said. "It is a much more relaxed atmosphere this year, and I think that will help us put it together as a team."
This kind of atmosphere reflects an important part of Bailey's life. As a child, he played different sports and worked on being a well-rounded person. Now, as a head coach, he said he feels it is his obligation to see his players mature beyond tennis over their four-year careers.
As the team matures, Bailey said he hopes to show people that "college tennis is still important" in this country. As a non-revenue sport, tennis is often one of the most overlooked and underfunded on college campuses. But Bailey knows the only way to build the sport up, especially at AU, is to take a leap up to the next level of competition.
That kind of thinking has Jaysingh excited for the coming season. "He's always been a great leader," said Jaysingh, who teamed up with Bailey for two conference titles. "He's hungry, and I'll take hunger over experience any day - he's showing us that he's 100 percent into it"
