He has coached the NIU men’s tennis team to two straight Mid-Continent Conference championships, and now he is moving on to bigger and better things.

NIU men’s tennis coach Chuck Merzbacher told The Northern Star Tuesday that he will resign from his position here at NIU to take over the helm of the University of Kansas’ women’s tennis team, effective at the end of the fall semester.

The Kansas athletic department is expected to announce Merzbacher’s hiring today.

Merzbacher had started his fourth year as head coach of the Huskie netters and has earned Mid-Continent Coach of the Year honors the last two seasons, but he has decided that this is the best thing for him to do at this point in his career.

“I look forward to that,” said Merzbacher. “I feel good about leaving because the program is in good shape.

“I have mixed emotions about it because I was recruited by the University of Kansas, and I wasn’t really seeking it because I enjoy what I’m doing here. They have a top 20 program and they’re on the rise, and it was definitely something that I had to look into.”

Despite the excitement of his new job, Merzbacher will miss his players the most.

“There’s some great kids that I’m going to be leaving behind, and I’m going to miss them dearly,” said Merzbacher. “They were a little bit shocked, but they realize that there’s going to be changes. I have a great relationship with these kids.”

Merzbacher will be a long ways away from DeKalb, but he says that he will watch over the NIU program to see if it continues its reign of success that it has enjoyed the past couple of years.

“I’m going to stay in touch with them,” said Merzbacher, “and I would really like to see how they do.”

Merzbacher was an assistant at the University of Minnesota before coming to NIU in the fall of 1989.

He will stay with the NIU program until the end of the fall season before going to Lawrence, Kan., for the spring season with the Lady Jayhawks.