Record-Setting Roberts Keeps Feeding The Positive Dawg
February 22, 2026 | Men's Tennis, Joel Coleman
STARKVILLE – Culture.
It's a word that gets thrown around a lot in college athletics. Virtually every program aims to have a consistent atmosphere of unity, preparation and toughness that carries over from season to season.
A lot of folks talk about it. Then, there are those like Mississippi State men's tennis head coach Matt Roberts.
Roberts doesn't talk about culture. He IS about it.
On Saturday with the Bulldogs' victory over Vanderbilt, Roberts notched the 221st victory in his MSU career to surpass Andy Jackson and become the all-time winningest coach in State men's tennis history. It's just the latest accomplishment for Roberts since he took the helm in Starkville a little over a decade ago.
In 11 seasons, Roberts has led the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament in every single completed campaign. (The tournament wasn't held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) State has advanced to the Round of 16 or farther in every completed season but one since 2018.
Put simply, Roberts has constructed an elite tennis program that punches with the nation's best literally every single season. Behind it all – the secret sauce, if you will – there's that buzzword.
Culture.
Only for Roberts, it's not a buzzword at all. It's a foundation for everything.
"For me, I just always focus on, 'Do I love my job, and do the guys love being here?'" Roberts said. "'Do they want to be here for four years and see the value in this program?'
"If I feel in my heart, 'Yes', then I feel like I'm doing something right."
If the results Roberts and his team have earned don't speak loudly enough to the fact his bunch is totally bought in, the team members' feelings certainly do.
Once again this season, the Bulldogs are among the nation's best and currently stand as the nation's 10th-ranked team. It's yet another successful squad under Roberts' watch, and it's again buoyed by brotherhood.
"We like to tell people that we're just like one big family," Marshall Landry said. "We have the ups. We have the downs. But we're always are together through it all."
Adds Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes: "We always find the positives in things together. No matter what we go through, we still find a way to have fun and enjoy our time together, and I think that's what kind of gives us an edge over other teams – because we're so close as a unit."
The thoughts of Landry and Ferrer Guimaraes have to come as music to the ears of Roberts. Yet again, he's constructed a team that fights for each other, picks each other up and simply betters each other.
Now you might wonder, of all the things a head coach could focus on, why has mentality and team harmony been such a priority for Roberts? He traces it back to when he first was handed the keys to MSU's program.
After being elevated from assistant to head coach, the early days weren't easy. Transitions usually aren't. The team wasn't as united as Roberts would've preferred and the sailing was far from smooth.
However, with only three remaining players following that first season, Roberts had the opportunity to remake his roster. He had the chance to start to put in place the culture that still stands in Starkville today.
Some of those early building blocks turned into some of the most talented and important athletes to ever wear Maroon and White including Nuno Borges, Strahinja Rakic and Niclas Braun.
"I started to be able to coach the way I wanted to coach, and that was relationships first," Roberts recalled.
The faces have since changed, but Roberts' ways haven't. Year after year, Roberts has cultivated the special culture that is now synonymous with MSU men's tennis.
The process isn't so much built on the court as it is behind the scenes. The guys are open with each other in the locker room, freely discussing topics ranging from their personal journeys and struggles, to whether or not they feel they're succeeding in the areas Roberts and staff focus on.
Players give each other feedback and hold each other accountable. They're open books with each other.
"That's very quickly became the core of it all," Roberts said. "We created that environment where guys are loving each other and pushing each other.
"We created (an acronym) 'TEAM', which stands for toughness, energy, accountability and maturity. Those are the four areas we go over as a team to start each week…Then you add to that teaching them all how to build self-confidence and creating good self-talk. We say, 'Feed your positive dawg.' So, if you have a negative thought, try to have two or three positives that cancel that out."
It really is mind over matter for Roberts' guys. Yes, they're all talented athletes with tremendous physical skills. But what has truly separated Roberts' program from many others is their mental toughness and their persistent positivity.
Even on the occasions guys do get a little down on themselves, they quickly get reminded that's not how things are done at MSU.
"We've implemented rules where, if there's bad body language in practice, we run four over-and-backs [as a disciplinary measure]," Roberts said. "You watch that develop over four years and you see guys who might come in used to getting away with being negative. But here they start to learn, 'That doesn't help my teammates trust in each other. It doesn't help them trust me.'"
Mix the accountability piece with how Roberts and staff pour into each player and the picture of how individually and collectively State tennis is so strong becomes clearer.
"We do film review and we do a lot of practice sessions in the mornings one-on-one," Roberts said. "We try to maximize our time with these guys and build them up, help them grow and teach them how to build confidence within themselves."
Confidence leads to belief. Belief turns to an unwavering spirit, even when things aren't going great.
You have to look no further than Roberts' record-breaking win on Saturday for proof of the mentality he's instilled in his athletes and the type of program he's built. For much of the match against Vanderbilt, MSU found itself playing from behind.
The Bulldogs lost the doubles point. They later trailed 2-1, needing wins in three of the remaining four individual contests to earn victory.
State, once again, found a way. With the score knotted 3-3, Mario Martinez Serrano's thrilling three-set triumph clinched the match for State.
No one watching who has followed Roberts' group closely should have been surprised.
"I think we have the reputation in the nation as one of the toughest teams," Roberts said. "We were down against Virginia [earlier this season] and the Virginia coach was interviewed after the match. He was asked if he was surprised Mississippi State came back and had a chance. He said, 'No, because they're doing something there that builds culture. They're really close as a group. They fight for each other. You can tell they're best friends, so you expect that from them.'"
The lessons learned under Roberts haven't just stayed in Starkville either.
Borges has made waves on the worldwide tennis scene, appearing in Grand Slam tournaments and beating 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the 2024 Swedish Open. So many other Bulldogs have gone on to successful professional careers as well, incorporating the lessons they learned at MSU.
Roberts' assistant coaches through the years have grown and developed, too. The most recent example was Jake Jacoby, who spent six years under Roberts before being hired as the head coach at Ole Miss prior to this season.
All of it – the wins, the postseason success, the player and assistant growth – every single bit of it has been built on Roberts' unwavering commitment to positivity, mental strength and togetherness.
It's easy for a coach to say he or she will incorporate those things into a program. It's another thing altogether to put it into practice and ensure it sticks.
Roberts has built it, fostered it and maintained it. Now – feeding his own positive dawg – his main focus is just to keep the train rolling.
"I just want our guys to love Mississippi State athletics and Mississippi State University, and I want them to love their teammates," Roberts said. "I'm just putting my head down and focusing on how we can keep loving each other and pushing each other and have fun together. It's like, 'OK, let's just keep on going."
Players Mentioned
