Dave Balogh’s coaching career is defined by loyalty to a team and loyalty to a friend.
Balogh has spent 13 seasons as an assistant coach for the Florida women’s tennis team.
During his tenure, he has helped the Gators win three national championships. He has also earned two ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year awards, becoming the first Gators coach to do so.
Balogh’s resume as an assistant coach in Gainesville begs the question: Why not build his own program as a head coach?
Chalk it up to his loyalty.
Balogh said he has fielded head coaching offers from Arkansas and Wake Forest, but he never showed interest.
“For me, it’s not the title that’s in front of my name,” Balogh said.
“It’s about the titles we can hopefully win behind the name ‘The University of Florida.’”
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Balogh is committed to UF.
Coaching anywhere for 13 years creates an attachment to the program. But for Balogh, that’s not where it started.
Playing at Florida could have spurred his faithfulness, but that’s not the beginning, either.
The Gator gene was imbedded in Balogh the moment he was born.
He lived minutes away from the campus as a child and was raised a Gators fan.
Balogh attended home football games and always dreamed of going to UF.
Once he realized he might have the opportunity to play for the program, there was no doubt in his mind.
“If I’m good enough, and they need me, I’d like nothing better than to play for Florida,” 16-year-old Balogh told the Gainesville Sun.
Balogh’s dream became a reality when he signed his letter of intent to Florida in November 1992.
“That was one of the greatest days of my life,” Balogh said. “To have the opportunity to play for the University of Florida was a dream come true.”
UF ranked in the NCAA’s top 15 during each of Balogh’s four seasons as an athlete.
Balogh received the 1996 Presidential Recognition Award from then-president John Lombardi in honor of his achievement and contributions to Florida.
During Balogh’s freshman season in 1993, he stepped onto the green stage against a familiar foe: Georgia freshman Albert Polani, a top-ranked recruit in that year’s high school class.
Two years earlier, when both were high school juniors, Polani handily defeated Balogh in a tournament match.
This day was different, though.
For three sets and three-and-a-half hours, the two battled. After a 75-minute third set, Balogh held his hands in the air in triumph.
“Georgia was a powerhouse at that point and to be the last match on there and to get a win against a guy that was much better than me was just one of the best moments,” Balogh said.
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Between 1996 and 1998, Balogh worked as the assistant head professional at DB Raquetball Club in Gainesville before an opportunity to coach collegiate tennis fell into his lap.
Balogh’s former coach at UF, Ian Duvenhage, heard that an assistant coaching position opened at Vanderbilt. He recommended Balogh call Vanderbilt to look into the job.
Balogh did, and he coached there for a year.
He then served as an assistant coach at Florida State for a semester before receiving an unexpected phone call from former Gator Andy Brandi.
Brandi, Florida’s women’s coach at the time, said he wanted to bring Balogh back home to Gainesville.
Balogh called it his second-greatest Gators moment, behind signing his letter of intent.
He had a simple response for Brandi: “You don’t have to say anything else. I’ll just pack up my stuff right now.”
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After growing up a Gator, Balogh is raising his two sons, Cade and Colby, in the same environment.
But that’s not the reason he has remained an assistant coach.
Balogh’s biggest reason for staying is his best friend — head coach Roland Thornqvist.
“This guy is the reason I’m still here,” Balogh said. “What Roland has provided me and my two boys is priceless. For me, loyalty is No. 1.”
For seven straight years, Thornqvist and Balogh have traveled to Daytona in July. The trip has become a tradition.
They do not take the trip to coach or recruit.
Instead, the tandem travels to the Daytona International Speedway to watch the Pepsi 400. They also visit the pits and garage before the race and drive the wreckers during the parade lap.
“He has not only been a great colleague, but a great friend over these 12 years,” Thornqvist said. “He’s been instrumental, clearly, to our success here the last few years.”
In the past 12 years, Thornqvist and Balogh have won three national championships and tallied nine SEC titles.
Head coaches typically receive the bulk of the credit, but senior Lauren Embree said Balogh should get just as much recognition as Thornqvist.
“Dave doesn’t like talking and doing the interviews and liking all the spotlight, but he deserves just as much credit as Roland,” Embree said.
Thornqvist said he believes Balogh likes being in the background.
While Balogh doesn’t like the attention, Thornqvist said he and Balogh run the team as a unit.
“Dave knows that he is my co-captain, and our players know that Dave is the co-captain,” Thornqvist said. “Dave and I share 50 percent equity in what we are doing.”
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Balogh acknowledges that many others would have moved on to a head coaching job, but that’s not him.
“When things get a little bumpy, more people tend to bail out and think the grass is greener on the other side,” Balogh said. “I’m not like that. I’m about sticking through it.”
During the 2004 season, top-seeded Florida lost to 23rd-seeded Miami in the second round of the NCAA Championships. The Gators had their undefeated season and 40-match win streak snapped at home.
In 2005, No. 2 Florida lost 4-3 to No. 5 Vanderbilt and 5-2 to No. 6 Kentucky in a span of 48 hours.
The struggles kept Balogh awake for three straight nights. He wondered what he could have done to prevent the losses.
Still, Balogh remained at UF.
“Roland, we’re best friends,” Balogh said. “We have had a lot of great moments, but we have had some downs, and we have stuck together.”
Thornqvist would love to work with Balogh for another 13 years, but vows to stand behind his loyal assistant.
“If he ever decides to leave, I’m going to support that decision because he surely has poured his heart and soul into [Florida],” Thornqvist said. “We’re going to do what’s best for Dave. If that’s staying here, great. If it’s getting a head job somewhere else, we are going to be there right behind him.”
Don’t expect Balogh to switch schools any time soon. His roots are planted firmly at UF.
“Dave Balogh is a Gator in every sense of the meaning,” Jeremy Foley, the athletics director at UF, said via email. “He has a passion for coaching and a passion for the Gators.”
Thornqvist added: “He’s the most loyal human being that I ever met, so I cannot say enough about Dave. He’s a quality man. Not just a great coach, but a great man.”
Beyond his upbringing and his relationship with Thornqvist, Balogh points to one trait that explains why he is still an assistant coach at UF and not running a program of his own.
“Loyalty,” Balogh said. “How good people treat you, having a great head coach, great team, great group of girls and having fun at what you do. When you have those qualities, it’s hard to leave a place.”
Assistant coach Dave Balogh said his team didn't perform up to their own standard over the weekend. "I'm looking forward to seeing us build on this next weekend for our last fall event," he said.
Associate head coach Dave Balogh said he was pleased with the way his players performed Saturday at FSU. "“We played the big points extremely well and won four of five deuce points," he said in a release.
