Collin McMullen takes over as the new head tennis coach at Whitehouse High School.

Collin McMullen has been at Whitehouse High School as an assistant tennis coach for the past seven years.

Now, McMullen will take over as the new head tennis coach for Whitehouse.

“I think it was a no-brainer to have some consistency in the program,” Whitehouse athletic director Don Newton said. “I think he works really hard and builds good relationships with the kids. He is super passionate about teaching them about life and tennis. He is happy to step up and lead the program. I know he’s going to do some great things.”

McMullen said while the opportunity has presented itself in the past, he said he felt like now was the right time to make the transition into the head coaching role.

“I will say I am very excited,” McMullen said. “This was the year God was pushing me in that direction, and things fell in line. I have been asked in years past, and I just didn’t think it was the right time. This year, it was a lot different.”

McMullen went to White Oak High School, where he competed in four sports — football, basketball, track and tennis — before ultimately just playing tennis as a senior. He graduated from White Oak in 2013 and then attended The University of Texas at Tyler.

McMullen just finished his seventh year as a coach at Whitehouse but will now be the head tennis coach. He will be joined by assistant coaches Jade Aduddell, who was the Whitehouse head tennis coach last season, and Jon McNew, who was the head tennis coach at Henderson High School.

“I’m most excited about the coaching situation and the players we have,” McMullen said. “I have two awesome coaches right there with me. The players, we have a team that is kind of a dream team. When explaining to somebody the kind of team I want, I want a group with integrity, that works hard and is coachable. We have that. That’s what I’m most excited about.”

McMullen said strengthening the schedule will be a key for the Whitehouse tennis program.

“I plan on us playing quite a bit of tennis,” McMullen said. “We will have a few more matches in the preseason to really gear up and get ready. We will face better competition, teams that may beat us, but I want us to get that experience and get better, as well.”

While McMullen hopes to build a championship tennis program at Whitehouse, he said that is team having fun and enjoying the sport equally important.

“As much as I want to be a championship program, I think we can and will, I want us to have fun, too,” McMullen said. It’s awful to show up and don’t like the sport or the atmosphere. We have two goals, to be championship-minded and to have a really good time.”

McMullen and his wife, Hailie, have two sons — Tucker (4) and Turner (3) — and they have another child on the way.