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After Four Decades of Success, Sun Devil Women’s Tennis Coach Sheila McInerney Retiring

by thesundevils.com
May 7, 2024

After four decades as a Sun Devil head coach, an Arizona State campus legend is retiring. Turn the clock back to summer of 1984, and that is when Sheila McInerney arrived at ASU.
 
She could earn the title of most passionate Sun Devil and also take home the award for the kindest. Every person who has played for, worked or been around her has something great to say, and then says more, not just about the coach, but about the person.
 
Named women's tennis coach on Aug. 16, 1984, Coach Mac – who won close to 600 matches and earned 37 NCAA Tournaments (including her final 36) – is ready to enjoy life in a different way. No head coach at ASU across any sport has held the position longer and her impact on the women of the program is immeasurable.
 
Think of it this way…next up in current tenure is wrestling coach Zeke Jones, who just completed his tenth year, so think of him retiring in 2054, or maybe Kenny Dillingham leading the program in 2063. We can hope those happen, but it is also safe to say the legendary tenure of "Coach Mac" and years energizing ASU is the standard.
 
But more it is more than just the standard of winning, producing academic numbers that were incredible and pumping out All-Americans and Academic All-Americans. It was the way she cared for everyone in SDA, including her coaches, staff and anyone who put on a Sparky or Pitchfork logo.
 
"Four decades of my life have been dedicated to Sun Devil women's tennis and Sun Devil athletics, and I am very thankful for those that made it a wonderful time. There have been countless student-athletes, assistant coaches, and staff who have helped me and I plan to take time now and thank as many as I can,'' says McInerney, who exits Arizona State with more years as a head coach than any Sun Devil mentor. "No retirement in coaching is easy, because there is much I will miss, and that includes some great people, but now is the time for me to step aside and watch Sun Devil Athletics in a different way. The changing landscape in college athletics is a perfect time for our program to move forward in a new direction and no one understands that better than me. I am ready for retirement, and I look forward to spending many days ahead enjoying all the things in life that maybe one can't while coaching.
 
"Who would have thought when Dick Tamburo and Mona Plummer hired me I would still be here in 2024? There are so many people to thank, but I want to say thanks to long-time assistants Paul Reber, Clint Letcher and Matt Langley who were instrumental in helping our program stay so competitive over the years. Our rock star academic advisor Denzel Burrell who has been with us for 11 years and has been so important in our team's academic success. Don Bocchi was the perfect sport administrator for countless years and was and still is a great mentor to me. Next up for me is to play some pickleball and learn some golf…and I expect to be at Papago and the Mickelson practice facility a lot. Coach Missy (Farr-Kaye) and Matt (Thurmond) are now in charge of making my swing better."
 
Retirement releases are usually full of numbers and that is understood. Plenty of that can be found in a website bio, but rather than that, just take a peek at the ASU News story from January of 2024 or the August of 2023 story from our own website or the fantastic story by Cronkite News just a few months ago.

'Arizona State has treated me very well': She's been women's tennis coach for 40 years
 

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