René Vidal

René Vidal serves as UCF’s volunteer assistant men’s tennis coach and director of programming at Roddick Tennis Training (RT²).
 
A six-time NCAA conference championship coach at Boise State, Colgate, and Mississippi State, Vidal joins the Knights after six successful years (2010-16) as owner and operator of René Vidal Companies, a business specializing in leadership training for elite athletes, teams, and organizations. Vidal is the author of three books: Play Smart to Win: Better Tactics Lead to Better Results, The Power of Focus, and Play Smart to Win in Business: Leadership Lessons from Center Court to Corner Office. Vidal’s entrepreneurial work has been featured on Fox 2 News and STL-TV Live.
 
Prior to his tenure at René Vidal Companies, Vidal served as head women’s tennis coach at Southern Illinois University (SIU), leading the team to a semi-final result at the 2007 Missouri Valley Conference Championships. Preceding SIU, Vidal served as assistant women's tennis coach at Mississippi State, helping guide the Lady Bulldogs to a highest-ever ITA national ranking #22, first-ever SEC West conference championship, and a berth to the 2005 NCAA team championships in Athens, GA. 
 
Vidal has extensive experience in tennis camp operations and player development. From 2002-04, Vidal served as camp director and high performance coach at Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, FL. While at Evert’s, in addition to developing future professionals such as Jesse Levine (ATP) and Caitlin Whoriskey (WTA), Vidal was tabbed as technical advisor for Venus and Serena Williams’ book, How to Play Tennis. Vidal has also successfully led camps at Stanford, Wisconsin, William & Mary, Notre Dame, and 5-star country clubs.
 
Vidal started his tennis career as a sport science intern with the USTA Player Development Headquarters in Key Biscayne, FL, before joining the men's and women's coaching staff at Boise State.
 
A former nationally ranked junior player and student-athlete at Broward College (FL), Vidal is a USA Tennis High Performance Coach and USPTA-certified elite teaching professional. He earned a master’s degree in sports management from St. Thomas University in Miami, FL, and his high performance coaching articles have been published by USPTA Addvantage Magazine, PTR TennisPro, and Florida Tennis Magazine.
 
Vidal is married to Lisette Ortega. The couple has three sons: Angelo (17), Manny (14), and Alex (11).