Okay, Coach
After a short stent on the professional circuit, Bob ended his playing career for what he called, "a once in a lifetime opportunity". In the spring of 1974, he reveived a phone call from his former coach, Clarence Mabry. Mabry asked him if he would come back in the fall of 1974 to serve as assistance coach and then take the head coaching position starting in the spring of 1975. Bob beleived that if he turned down this opportunity, he may never have the chance again. That decision proved to be the right one.
Bob served as head coach at Trinity from 1975- 1984, compiling a record of 219-57. He took his teams to the NCAA Championship match in 1977 and 1979. He received "Coach of the Year" honors in 1979 and also coached seven All-Americans. Some of his standout atheltes included Bill Scanlon, 1976 NCAA Singles Champion, as well as Erick Isersky and Ben McCown, 1979 NCAA Doubles Champions.
His approach to the game, as a player and a coach, was very similar. He was a firm believer that there was not ONE right way to play the game.
"There may be one way that is more efficient than others, but every athlete is different, and each player has a different skill set"
He formed his team based on skill sets, similar to how he and Dick worked well together. He looked for complimentary styles of play, and formed his teams off of that. His goal was to enhance each player's individual skills in order to set the entire team up for the most success.
McKinley also served as director of the John Newcombe/Prince Tennis Academy, located in New Braunfels, TX, before ending his coahing career at Texas A&M.