Georgia Southern University Athletics

Sean McCaffrey begins his ninth season as the head women's tennis coach for Georgia Southern University in 2025-26.

In eight seasons, Coach McCaffrey has made Georgia Southern one of the top programs in the newly-revamped Sun Belt Conference, and the Eagles reached another milestone in 2025 when the program achieved a No. 65 national ranking in the ITA Division I National Rankings, the highest ITA national ranking achieved by Georgia Southern women's tennis and the third straight season in which his team has earned a national ranking. His 116-66 record at Georgia Southern, .638 winning percentage and amazing 63-19 home record (.768) at the Wallis Tennis Center speaks for itself and eight straight winning seasons for women's tennis has never been accomplished before in program history.

The Eagles went 18-6 during the 2023-24 campaign, including an 11-1 start that was the second-best start in school history. Georgia Southern picked up several signature wins during the year, including a first win over North Florida (5-2, Jan. 26) in Jacksonville and a 4-3 win at Stetson on Jan. 20. Sophomore Ninon Martinache earned first team All-Sun Belt Conference singles honors, while Martinache and senior Sonja Keranen were named to second team All-Sun Belt doubles team. Fifth-year senior Paula Hijos also became the all-time winningest student-athlete in Georgia Southern history in singles wins, finishing her career with 71.

Georgia Southern tied the school single-season record for wins in the Spring of 2023, fashioning a 19-6 mark and advancing to the Sun Belt Tournament semifinals for a third time in the last four tournaments. The Eagles finished tied for third in the Sun Belt standings, went a stellar 8-2 at home and picked up stellar regular-season wins against James Madison, College of Charleston, Big South Conference champion Charleston Southern and SWAC champion Florida A&M. Three Eagles earned All-Conference honors as Silvia Martinez was named a first-team All-Sun Belt singles selection, Anna Tsitavets was a second-team All-Sun Belt singles honoree and Martinez and Liv Ryan earned second-team All-Sun Belt doubles honors. The highlight of the season, however, came in the Sun Belt quarterfinals as the Eagles trailed fifth-seeded App State, 3-0, and freshman Ninon Martinache fought off eight match points as Georgia Southern rallied with three separate three-set singles wins to overcome the Mountaineers and advance, 4-3, with the improbable victory.

The Eagles notched a 12-11 overall record in the Spring of 2022, the fifth straight winning season for Georgia Southern women's tennis - a feat that has not happened since 1978-83. The Eagles also compiled an impressive 10-1 mark at home. Silvia Martinez Jimenez earned named first-team All-Sun Belt Conference singles honors, the first time that the Eagles have had first-team All-Conference singles honorees in consecutive seasons since 1999-2001.

The 2021 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, McCaffrey led Georgia Southern women's tennis to their first Sun Belt Conference title and NCAA Championships berth as the Eagles went 19-9, achieving a school single-season record in wins in his fourth season. Georgia Southern defeated South Alabama 4-3, in the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship match and advanced to the Atlanta regional of the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships.

The Eagles won 11 straight matches to end the 2021 regular season, taking momentum into the Sun Belt tournament. Georgia Southern knocked off ULM, 4-1, and the top-seeded team in the West, UT Arlington, by a 4-2 score before downing the top-seeded team in the East, South Alabama, for the title. Sophomore Nadja Meier earned first-team All-Sun Belt Conference singles honors, while senior Charlotte van Diemen and freshman Sophie Wagemaker earned first-team All-Sun Belt Conference doubles honors. The conference tournament title was the first for Georgia Southern since the Eagles won the then-flighted SoCon tournament title in 1995 and 1996. The national tournament appearance was the first in the NCAA era and the first since Georgia Southern made four straight appearances in the AIAW Division II National Tournament from 1980-83.

The Eagles had their 2020 season cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but posted a solid 9-4 record just ahead of starting Sun Belt play. Georgia Southern recorded notable wins over Kennesaw State, Mercer and Toledo. The team also saw the program's first ever Sun Belt Conference women's tennis athlete of the week in freshman Nadja Meier on Feb. 12. 

The Eagles pulled off a dramatic run to the 2019 Sun Belt Conference tournament finals in just his second season at the helm of the program, directing the eighth-seeded Eagles to upsets of top-seeded Appalachian State and fourth-seeded UT Arlington to earn just the second conference tournament finals berth in school history. With the upset, McCaffrey becomes only the second coach to knock off the top seed as an eight seed in an NCAA division I women's conference championship tournament and the first to do so since 2003. Overall, Georgia Southern compiled a 14-13 record and featured All-Sun Belt Conference doubles honorees Emilia Bujan and Arianne de Winter.

In his first season with the Eagles in 2018, McCaffrey led the Blue and White to a 14-7 record and was able to pick up their second tournament victory in as many seasons. The Eagles tough slate in 2017 had three NCAA tournament teams and featured programs from multiple Power 5 and Group of 5 conferences. McCaffrey led the Eagles to six match winning streak heading into conference play and upset the No. 8 seeded Louisiana, 4-2, in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. With the Eagles finishing 14-7 on the season head coach Sean McCaffrey collected his 400th career victory at the collegiate level and now posts a 402-226 (.640) record in his fifteen years.

Sean McCaffrey joined the Georgia Southern athletics department in June 2017 as the head women’s tennis coach after three highly successful seasons as head men’s and women’s tennis coach for Armstrong State University in Savannah.

In his first season at the helm of Armstrong State, McCaffrey led the women’s tennis team to an unbeaten 32-0 record. The Armstrong State men also enjoyed a successful season, finishing as NCAA DII semifinalists and a final No. 3 national ranking after going 24-5.

The 2015-16 season saw Armstrong State women’s tennis team finished 31-1 and featured three of the Top 10-ranked singles players in the nation, including PBC Player of the Year Lena Lutzeier. The men advanced to the NCAA Semifinals for a third straight year, finishing the season with a 26-3 record and a final No. 3 national ranking.

In his final season with the Pirates, McCaffrey led both the women to the NCAA Division II National Semifinals while the men advanced to the Round of 16 before bowing out. The women posted at 26-5 record in 2016-17 while the men went 20-8. The Pirates’ program ended after those losses due to the consolidation between GS and ASU, but McCaffrey was announced as the Eagles’ head coach on June 1, 2017.

His final tally as the head coach at ASU was 89-6 (.936) with the women’s program and 68-16 (.809) with the men’s program for a overall tally of 159-22 (.878).

McCaffrey joined Armstrong State in 2014 from Division I Wright State University, where he served as the head men’s and women’s tennis coach for six seasons.

As the head coach for Wright State, McCaffrey was named the 2012 Horizon League Men’s Tennis Coach of the Year for leading the Raiders to the program’s first regular season Horizon League title and an overall record of 18-5. Overall in his six seasons, McCaffrey accumulated a 78-69 record with the men’s program (.531). 

Prior to joining Wright State, McCaffrey was the head coach at Division III Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire, accumulating a career record of 39-17 (.696) in three seasons with the men and a 60-19 career record (.759) in five seasons with the women for an overall 99-36 record (.733).

In his 18 seasons of collegiate coaching, his overall men’s and women’s tennis record stands at 506-289 (.636).

A native of Saratoga Springs, New York, McCaffrey graduated from Johnson State College (Vt.) with his bachelor’s degree in history in 2007. He earned an associate degree in recreation and leisure management from Johnson & Wales University in 1995 where he served as team captain in 1994 and the following year was a player/coach who helped lead the Wildcats to an 11-1 record. McCaffrey previously attended Adirondack Community College where he was named Most Outstanding Player of the 1991 team that went 12-2 and finished as the runner-up at the New York State Junior College tournament. In 2019, he earned his master's of science degree in kinesiology and coaching from Georgia Southern.

McCaffrey has two daughters, Cora and Maddie.