Benjamin Johnson was named the Cary Leeds Head Coach of Men’s Tennis in June 2026.
Johnson arrived in New Haven after nine years at Southern Methodist University, where he served as an assistant coach from 2017-19 before being promoted to associate head coach. With over 17 years of collegiate coaching experience, he has established himself as one of the nation’s premier program builders, helping guide teams to conference championships, NCAA Tournament appearances, national rankings, and sustained academic success.
At SMU, Johnson played an instrumental role in elevating the Mustangs into a nationally recognized program. He helped lead SMU to back-to-back American Athletic Conference championships in 2022 and 2023 and guided the program through its transition into the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Mustangs reached as high as No. 20 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, the program’s highest national ranking in more than two decades.
Most recently, Johnson helped lead SMU to an NCAA Tournament at-large bid in 2026, highlighted by a first-round victory over Princeton. He also coached Trevor Svajda to one of the most decorated seasons in college tennis, earning AAC Player of the Year honors, advancing to the NCAA Singles Championship final, and reaching the No. 1 national ranking.
Throughout his career, Johnson has developed approximately 100 All-Conference performers and numerous nationally ranked players. His student-athletes have excelled both on the court and in the classroom, with his teams consistently posting exceptional Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores. At SMU, the men’s tennis program earned the highest team GPA in the athletic department in five of the last six years.
Prior to SMU, Johnson served as head coach at the University of Richmond from 2011-17, where he transformed the program into one of the Atlantic 10 Conference’s top contenders. He was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year in both 2015 and 2017 and guided the Spiders to a program-best 25-3 record and the program’s only top-75 ITA national ranking in 2017.
During his six seasons at Richmond, Johnson led the Spiders to 20 All-Conference selections, earned Atlantic 10 Tournament top seeds in 2015 and 2017, and guided the Spiders to their first conference championship match appearance in more than a decade in 2017.
Johnson began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach at Davidson College, where he helped elevate the Wildcats to their highest national ranking in more than 25 years. Before entering the collegiate ranks, he served as Director of Tennis at Birmingham’s Elite Tennis Academy, coaching 10 junior players to USTA Top-100 national rankings and Division I scholarships.
Johnson earned a Bachelor of Science in Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education and History from Birmingham-Southern College.
