Tripp Tuff Joins Women's Tennis Coaching Staff
9/12/2025 2:34:00 PM | Women's Tennis
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern women's tennis has added Tripp Tuff as an assistant coach ahead of the 2025-26 season, the program announced Friday. A former Big East Champion at DePaul, Tuff joins the Wildcats after two seasons as the head coach at Hofstra.
I couldn't be more excited to join Claire, Ellyse, and the Northwestern Athletics community, said Tuff on the move. Claire has built one of the nation's premier programs in one of the toughest conferences, and her reputation speaks for itself. Over her 27 years leading Northwestern women's tennis, she has consistently set the standard for excellence, and I am eager to learn from both her and Ellyse as I transition into the Power 4 level. Together, they have assembled a motivated group of young women who are hungry to grow and return the program to the top of the Big Ten and ultimately compete for a national championship. I look forward to supporting Claire and Ellyse in every way possible as we work toward bringing another Big Ten championship back to Evanston.
Tuff took over head coaching duties at Hofstra after a year assisting both the men's and women's programs. In three seasons with the Pride, he helped multiple players to All-CAA honors. Additionally, he guided the women's team to a program-best nine-seed at the CAA Conference Tournament in his first year at the helm.
During his own playing career, Tuff captained the DePaul men's team during their back-to-back Big East Championship years in 2021 and 2022. He also excelled in the classroom, earning a spot on both the Big East All-Academic Team and the ITA All-Academic Team each year of his collegiate career.
A native of Watermill, N.Y., Tuff graduated cum laude with a Bachelor's of Science in neuroscience and a minor in peace, justice, and conflict studies in 2020 before obtaining his Master's in public health in 2022.
