In the heat of a rough-and-tumble tennis match, his coaching manner was forceful but ceaselessly kind.  In his early teens, he was emotionally precocious, graced with rare empathy and compassion. As a competitor, he was formidable and exceptionally gritty, but always classy.  

These are just several words that best describe longstanding Southern California tennis coach Richard Gallien. Now, after 40 years coaching at such iconic venues as Pepperdine, the Los Angeles Tennis Club, USC, and Cal State LA, the 65-year-old Gallien has retired.  

“Richard cared most of all for us as people,” said Giuliana “GuGu” Olmos, who played for Gallien at USC from 2013-2017 and has since gone on to become a top ten WTA doubles player. “Our character mattered more than our results.”  

Gallien’s passions in retirement include golf, guitar, and more time with his wife of 36 years, Lisa, and their daughters, Ava and Leah. Earlier this summer, Gallien sat inside the dining room of the Los Angeles Tennis Club and reflected on a sport he’s given his heart and soul to for more than half a century.  

Through his early childhood, Gallien had been a baseball player. But one day in 1972, a baseball thrown by a teammate accidentally broke the 11-year-old Gallien’s nose. Following doctor’s orders to spend time away from the diamond that summer, Gallien stumbled across a tennis racket in the family garage at their home in Sunland; his father, Jim, had been a reasonably skilled player. Hitting a few balls against the garage, Gallien was reminded of the same joy he’d felt swinging a bat. But tennis offered something far more captivating. “In baseball, you’re not always in the game,” said Gallien. “But in tennis, you’re in every single point, and they’re coming quickly. You’re not waiting three days to pitch again.” Seemingly instantly, Jim, who worked in the jewelry business, and Richard’s mother, Adele, an accountant, began to raise one highly driven tennis player.   

Of course, to compete successfully in a section with such high-quality tennis as Southern California demanded exceptional skills. Through his teens, Gallien worked relentlessly on his tennis – a long car ride with Jim to Santa Monica for a Saturday night lesson with the iconic Bob Harman, two buses to train at Warner Center, earning playing privileges at the Los Angeles Tennis Club and, most of all, week after week of tournaments all over the Southland. All that devotion surfaced superbly when Gallien began to coach.  “I had a real keen respect for tennis and how hard it was,” he said, “and I knew what it felt like to choke, and I knew what it felt like to be clutch, and how much work went into it.”     

By his last year in the 18s, Gallien was ranked No. 18 in the country. At Pepperdine, he twice earned All-American honors, playing on a team that was usually among the top five in the country. “His kick serve was better than just about anybody’s,” said his coach, Allen Fox. “He was also a ferocious competitor, just great under pressure – but never antagonistic. He just beat you and then bought you a Coke afterwards.” Among the many highlights of Gallien’s college days were when he won the 1983 men’s Open singles title at The Ojai.     

Following a couple of years competing at pro events in various corners of the globe, where he reached a career-high ranking of 433 in the world in 1984, Gallien entered the world of coaching. The transition was seamless. Fox initially hired Gallien as his assistant, but within a few years was so impressed that he promoted Gallien to the post of co-head coach. “His people skills are tremendous,” said Fox. Said Pepperdine letterman Robbie Weiss, “He was always positive, pumping me up, and giving me good vibes on the court.” Weiss emphatically credits Gallien for helping him win the NCAA singles title in 1988.    

One of Gallien’s attributes is an ability to open himself up to learning from his elders. Besides the likes of Harman and Fox, notable Gallien mentors include such Southern California tennis gurus as instructor Bob Benton and, during Gallien’s years coaching at the Los Angeles Tennis Club, International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Gene Mako. “He’s always had that connection [with older men],” said Lisa. “I just think he draws on their wisdom and their stability, and they probably appreciate Richard.”

Empathy. Devotion. Ferocity. Kindness. All of these assets came to life most prolifically during Gallien’s tenure as the women’s coach at USC. Over the course of 22 years in that position (1995-2017), the Trojans were consistently ranked among the top ten teams in the country, ten times reaching the quarterfinals or better at the NCAA Championships. “Whether we were losing or winning,” said Olmos, “his emotions were very consistent.” Once, as Olmos geared up to play a third set, she saw that her opponent’s coach was yelling at her – at which point Olmos felt that much more grateful to have the persistently tranquil Gallien in her corner (yes, she won the match).    

“A lot of coaches suffer from dogma,” said University of Texas women’s coach Howard Joffe, who played for Gallien at Pepperdine and also worked alongside him for several years at USC. “Richard was not that way. He’d allow you room to learn and in his own way, was not just a teacher of tennis, but a teacher of life skills.”  

Gallien was 56 years old when he left USC. Though tempting to think that after nearly 30 years that his coaching days were over, one more call came. It came from Daryl Gross, the same man who’d hired Gallien at USC. By this stage of his career, Gross had become the athletic director at Cal State LA. “I have tremendous respect for his coaching ability,” said Gross. Gallien began as an assistant coach, for two seasons handling everything from instructing players to cleaning up the equipment shed. By 2019, he’d taken over the head coaching job.  

In addition to leading the team, Gallien greatly supported community tennis organizer Nico Riego De Dios when De Dios established the RDD Elite Tennis Academy. “Richard welcomed me into the Cal State LA family and gave me the opportunity to build a program that has impacted thousands of players through training, USTA tournaments, camps, and community events,” said De Dios in an Instagram post.  “Because of his trust and support, we’ve been able to create an environment where young athletes can develop not only as tennis players, but also as individuals.”  

Again and again, Gallien’s friends, colleagues, and even rivals praise his emotional intelligence and rare ability to blend high-intensity competition with sensitivity and unsurpassed interpersonal skills. It’s no wonder that when Lisa spoke of his musical aspirations – including a deep love for the Beatles – the member of the Fab Four she compared her husband to was the perpetually positive, productive and friendly one, Paul McCartney. Once upon a time, a common sports-infused saying went this way: nice guys finish last. But as Richard Gallien’s journey demonstrates, the opposite is arguably healthier: nice guys finish nice.  

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Joel Drucker vividly recalls being handily beaten by Richard Gallien in the first round of the Beverly Hills 14-and-under tournament in 1974. He also recalls how even then, Gallien was exceptionally friendly.