Updated Sunday, Jan. 16
By CAROL STUART
For Brentwood Home Page
Ravenwood High School's new tennis coach Brad Herrera, who is replacing the late A.W. Speake, said the former Raptors coach had personally served as a mentor to him.

Speake, the school's only previous tennis coach, collapsed and died on the RHS tennis courts during lessons last August, just months after the Raptors took home three state championships in tennis. Last May, Ravenwood won the Class AAA girls team title, girls doubles (current juniors Lauren Caballero and Madison Stankevich) and boys singles (Sean Karl, now a sophomore).

"Coach A.W. Speake and I were very good friends and colleagues as he and I worked together on numerous occasions over the years,"  Herrera said. "He also served as a mentor I turned to many times for professional advice and guidance during my tenor as a USPTA professional."

Herrera, a former Junior Davis Cup player and Belmont assistant coach, said he wants to continue the reputation that the Ravenwood's tennis program has built.

RHS girls, celebrating district title here, won state last year.

"Coach Speake cannot and never will be replaced.  He served not only as a tennis coach and mentor to the tennis family at Ravenwood High School, but also as a a role model for many to follow," Herrera said.

"It is my hope to continue on the path that he worked so hard to build.  We will continue in striving for excellence in the classroom and on the court and respectfully grow as a family and individuals along the way."

Herrera said that the caliber of student-athletes both on and off the court at Ravenwood makes the program one of the best in the state.

"There is no substitute for dedicated hard work and as a tennis family we will continue with the same principals and objectives that Coach Speake worked to instill in all our players," the new coach said.

Herrera coached for Centennial during the 2008 and '09 seasons, but began graduate school in 2010. He currently works at Sequoia Tennis and Swim Club and is student teaching at Ravenwood this spring.

He will complete his master's degree in August at Middle Tennessee State University to teach Business Education/Technology at the middle and high school levels.

Herrera earned his undergraduate degree in business administration at Eastern Kentucky University, where he played No. 1 singles and doubles. He also served as assistant tennis coach at Belmont University during 2005-08.

The new Raptors coach has been teaching tennis in the Nashville area for the past eight years, working with adults and juniors of all levels. He played in the Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships on the USTA Pro Circuit in 1996 and was a member of the Junior Davis Cup tennis team in 1995.

Herrera and wife Kristi have four children,  Madelyn, 3; Jacob, 4; Tyler, 10; and Trevor, 13.