Ed Steele has been coaching tennis for over three decades, all along the East coast. He began his coaching career in New Hampshire in 1978. Since that point, Steele has coached in New England, Florida, New Jersey and most recently North Carolina.

He took over the Salem College tennis program in the spring of 2015 and helped the team to the Great South Athletic Conference Tournament. The Spirits would conduct a 5-0 sweep in the opening round over Wesleyan (Ga.) before falling by the same margin to UC-Santa Cruz in the semifinal round.

In his seven years at the helm of the Salem tennis program Steele has guided the Spirits to at least five victories. His best season came in 2017-18, when the Spirits claimed seven wins, including four in USA South Conference action. The 2019-20 season was off to a great start for Steele, whose team owned a 3-1 mark through fall play, but COVID-19 halted spring play before it even began.

Salem’s 2019-20 slate included a three-match winning streak over Ferrum (6-3), Hollins (7-2) and Guilford (5-4) in late September and early October. Steele began his career at Salem with a 6-8 mark in 2015-16. He followed that up with six wins in 2016-17, posting consecutive wins over Greensboro (Feb. 28) and Mary Baldwin (March 10).

Steele’s 2023 unit grabbed five wins over the course of the season, posting three in March against the likes of Agnes Scott (8-1), Ferrum (6-2) and William Peace (6-3). The Spirits triumphed against both Johnson & Wales (6-3) and USA South Conference foe Greensboro (7-2), giving Salem a pair of league victories on the season.

As a result of his seventh straight five-win season, Steele’s program made its first-ever appearance in the USA South Conference Tournament in 2023. The Spirits faced eventual champion N.C. Wesleyan and fifth conference tournament appearance in program history.

In 2021-22, he guided Salem to a 6-7 mark on the season, winning three matches at Bert Lain Tennis Center along the way. Posted four wins in USA South Conference play, tying the most league wins in program history with the 2013-14 team, coached by Kevin Fleck, along with his own mark, which he established in 2017-18. Steele led Salem to six wins in their final seven matches, ending the 2021-22 season on a four-match winning streak that began with a forfeit win over N.C. Wesleyan on April 18th. The Spirits followed that by winning a 9-0 decision over Johnson & Wales (April 21) and 6-3 wins at Mary Baldwin (April 22) and Hollins (April 23). The other two wins came against USA South Conference foes Greensboro (April 9) and William Peace (April 13).

Steele’s four-match winning streak (third-longest in program history) to conclude the 2021-22 campaign is the longest since the Spirits put together a seven-match streak from April 5-April 26, 2014. The second-longest streak in program history spanned from February 23-March 17, 2011.

The 2017-18 spring schedule began with three straight wins for the Spirits against Wesleyan (March 3 / March 4) and Mary Baldwin (March 10), resulting in seven victories. The 2018-19 schedule drew to a close with five wins for Salem, including consecutive wins over Guilford (March 16) and Hollins (March 17) in the opening month of spring play.

Steele graduated from Georgetown College (Ky.) with a bachelor of science in zoology. From there he went to earn a master’s degree from Nova Southeastern (Fla.) in Teaching Speaking of Other Languages. He also holds a USPTA Level Two coaching license.