Timothy Koch ’02 was named Men’s and Women’s Tennis Head Coach in Summer 2024. Koch returned to his alma mater following successful tenures as Varsity Head Tennis Coach at the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur with the girls program and The Peddie School with the boys team.
"I am extremely grateful and humbled to have the opportunity to return to my alma mater, where I served as Captain of the Broncs back in 2001-02, to lead the next chapter of the Rider Tennis Program,” said Koch. “I've always felt we had unfinished business and I'm keen to put the Men's & Women's Tennis teams on a trajectory which allows us to compete for a MAAC Championship year in and year out. I was grateful to play under the winningest player in Rider's history, the late Ed Torres, who had my back and helped me grow as a tennis player and leader. We spoke about me taking over the program someday...and that day has now arrived. I am thankful to the Athletic Department, including Gerry Green for his long-time support and both Don Harnum and Brian Keane, for trusting and believing in the vision I have set out for the Broncs, recognizing the relentless energy and passion I have for both coaching and the game of tennis."
Koch established a winning culture at both Notre Dame de Namur and Peddie through a personalized, high-energy, high-motivation approach, both on and off the court. His unique ability to design innovative approaches to the game and instill confidence and belief, left an indelible mark on both programs. Koch not only has the ability to dissect the technical aspects of a player’s approach, but he puts equal emphasis on the mental, strategic and physical elements of the game. Beyond transforming the culture at both programs, Koch equally produced record wins compared to prior years, and had a young Peddie Boys squad in the hunt for a league championship.
"Tim certainly demonstrated passion and a vision for the Rider Tennis programs and I am confident he will build a positive, winning culture for both the men and the women,” said Rider Athletic Director Don Harnum. “The fact that he is an alum is certainly an added bonus as we continue to make great competitive strides with both programs. I commend the efforts of Associate Director of Athletics, Brian Keane, in leading this successful search for a new head coach."
Growing up in Bucks Country, Koch made his way into Coaching at the age of 14 as part of the National Junior Tennis League (NJTL) of Philadelphia, earning “Junior Instructor of the Year” and the honor of playing doubles with Hall of Famer Chris Evert at Arthur Ashe Tennis Center in Philadelphia. As a player in NJTL, Koch made the All-City Team of Philadelphia and then went on start all 3 Years at Neshaminy High School, becoming Captain his senior season.
Koch went on to start all four Years on the Division I Rider Tennis Team, becoming Captain his senior season and playing as high as #1 Singles. He earned awards such as “Player of the Week,” and was named each year to the “MAAC All-Academic Team.” On the academic side, Koch was a double major in Accounting and Computer Information Systems, was accepted into the Business Honors Program, served as Vice President of the Accounting Society and received an award as “Most likely to succeed in Public Accounting.” He earned the academic distinction of being named “Andrew J. Rider Scholar,” an honor based competitively on a student's grade point average and is the highest academic honor a student can achieve while an undergraduate at Rider University. The top four seniors, three juniors, and three sophomores are selected from each of the University's colleges. Koch graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2002.
Following his college career, Koch established 2 USTA Men’s teams out of Bucks County and within a year, had each team win District titles and within 1 match of Nationals. He continued to coach at various camps in the area and trained local players preparing for high school/college.
Outside of tennis, Koch rose up the ranks in some of the largest Global Pharmaceuticals in the world over the last 20 years, serving most recently as the Vice President of Global R&D Excellence at Daiichi Sankyo. Koch became a Lean Sigma Black Belt in Process Excellence, an Industry Leader in Data Analytics and Metrics, launched/supported >100 systems/tools, modernized Quality Assurance/IT and upskilled thousands of associates around the Globe through immersive training programs. Koch served as Chairperson at various Industry conferences and is known for his relentless drive to optimize and transform Systems, Data, Processes and People to ultimately accelerate the delivery of Clinical Trials and cures for patients around the world. Koch currently serves as Founder & CEO of Citizen Data Solutions and previously worked for Novartis, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Merrill Lynch, Bristol Myers Squibb and Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic.
