*** 2008 Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year ***
*** 2005 Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year ***
*** 2002 Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year ***

David Vest, a three-time winner of the Ohio Valley Conference's Coach of the Year award, is in the midst of his second full season as the head coach at Samford University. He was named to the position on Aug. 2, 2007, and has already led the Bulldogs to a conference championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance.

During the 2007-08 campaign, his first at Samford, Vest guided the Bulldogs to both the OVC regular-season championship and the OVC Tournament title. Samford finished the season with an unblemished 10-0 record in conference play and set the school's all-time record for wins with 20.

The Bulldogs also finished the 2007-08 campaign as the 13th-ranked team in the talent-laden ITA South Region.

Prior to taking the reigns at Samford, Vest served as the assistant head women's coach at the University of Kentucky for two seasons. During his time at Kentucky, Vest helped coach a women's team that was ranked as high as No. 13 in the nation in 2006 and produced a pair of All-Americans in Kim Coventry and Joelle Schwenk.

As a relentless recruiter, Vest helped Kentucky earn the fourth-ranked recruiting class in the nation in 2007, as determined by tennisrecruiting.net.

Prior to moving to the University of Kentucky, Vest was the head men's and women's tennis coach at Morehead State for four seasons. He was named the OVC Coach of the Year in both 2002 and 2005 after he led the Eagles to school-record totals in wins each season.

During his first year at Morehead State in 2002, Vest helped a women's team that finished eighth in the conference tournament the year before to a third-place finish. He went on to earn a number of accolades in his four seasons with the Eagles and coached Morehead State's first nationally-ranked NCAA singles performer in Greg Johnstone (#67 ITA ranking in 2005).

Before being named the head coach at Morehead State, Vest spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the program after he completed his eligibility as a member of the Eagles' tennis team.

Vest was a four-year letterwinner at Morehead State and was named to the OVC Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll following each season. He was also the Eagles' Team Captain and was the No. 1 singles and doubles player as both a junior and senior.

Vest graduated from Morehead State with a degree in government and history in 1999. In 2008, he earned his Master of Arts degree in sports administration at Morehead State.

In high school, Vest was a four-time team Most Valuable Player at Morgan County Central High School in West Liberty, Ky., where he was named first-team all-state in both his junior and senior seasons.