Aaron Paajanen was named the head coach for the University of Detroit Mercy men’s and women’s tennis teams on July 27, 2015 and enters his fourth year at the helm of the program in 2018-19.
With Paajanen at the helm of Titan tennis, the men's and women's programs have seen a tremendous turnaround that was capped off with the men's 2018 season that broke numerous program records.
The Titan men's team broke the program record with 15 wins in 2018 and captured the first regular season title in program history. For the team's efforts, Paajanen was named the Horizon League's Men's Coach of the Year in 2018 - the first coach to do so in Titan tennis history.
Under Paajanen's tutelage, the men's tennis team has improved every year. The Titan men won 11 matches in 2017, an eight-win improvement from the previous year, before posting 15 wins in 2018.
The first year of Paajanen's guidance showed plenty of promise, with standout performances from his freshman class and all-league performers on the women's side. Under his tutelage, the rookie class combined to post 34 wins in singles, including a dominant 11-4 mark from freshman Iris Thioux, who also boasted a 9-0 record in Horizon League play. Meanwhile, Irina Slizovskaya enjoyed the best season of her career, earning Second Team All-Horizon League honors for the first time as a senior.
In his second year, the Titan men posted tied the second-best win total in program history with 11 wins - an eight-win improvement from 2015-16 season - the largest turnaround in program history. Detroit Mercy would finish the regular season as the No. 2 seed and reach the Horizon League semifinals for the first time since 2013.
In his third year, the Titan men were led by a pair of upperclassmen and an outstanding freshman class that combined to go 24-4 in conference singles and 68-29 overall. The Titans earned a Co-Regular Season Horizon League title and the No. 1 seed in the HL Tourney, where the squad advanced to the HL Championship before falling to No. 2 Cleveland State. Two Titans earned All-League accolades. On the women's side, the squad was ravaged with injuries but still managed to post seven wins and place freshman Jasmine Apawti on the All-HL team.
Prior to Detroit Mercy, Paajanen spent two seasons as an assistant men’s coach at Jesuit institution Santa Clara, helping the Broncos achieve national rankings in both years, including as high as No. 42 in 2013-14. That season, Santa Clara finished No. 56 overall in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
At Santa Clara, he coached a pair of players that were ranked in the Northwest Region's top-20 in singles as well as six players who received All-Conference accolades.
The Broncos also made a trip to the West Coast Conference’s Championship semifinals in his first season, while he helped assemble a 2014-15 recruiting class that was ranked No. 12 in the nation and No. 1 among mid-major programs.
Prior to that, he was an assistant men’s coach at another Jesuit University in Loyola Marymount. During his tenure with the Lions, players earned eight All-WCC accolades. Loyola Marymount collected 47 wins in his four years, including a number of victories over nationally-ranked foes.
He started his coaching career as a men’s and women’s assistant coach at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix, Arizona, (2004-2005) under his father and longtime coach Jim Paajanen on the men's side and his mother, Barbara, for the women. He was also an assistant in 2009 helping the men’s team reach the National Junior College Athletic Association’s (NJCAA) National Tournament.
As a player, he started his tennis career at Glendale community College in Glendale, Arizona, and was ranked No. 33 in the NJCAA in singles. He spent his sophomore year at Cowley College in Arkansas City, Kansas, under legendary coach and Hall of Famer Larry Grose was a NJCAA All American. From 2002-2004, he played tennis at Point Loma University in San Diego, California, where he was team captain and held a career winning percentage of .780.
After finishing his collegiate career, Paajanen briefly played the ITF/USTA pro circuit and was ranked in the top 500 before going into full time coaching.
Paajanen graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University in 2004 with a degree in Kinesiology.
