Bob Lang has spent a career shaping young people — first in the classroom, then on the tennis court, and often both at once.

A former sportswriter and recently retired teacher, Lang built his coaching philosophy around a simple idea: treat athletes with kindness and respect while holding them to high standards of behavior on and off the court. That approach has helped Wando tennis maintain its longstanding reputation as a disciplined, classy program with a rich winning tradition since Lang took over as head coach in August 2022.

A lifelong player at roughly the 4.5 NTRP / 6.0 UTR level and an avid follower of the professional game, Lang draws on his own extensive playing experience and close study of tour-level tennis to teach strategy and the mental side of the sport. While his personal game is that of a grinder, he focuses on developing each player's individual style rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. In-match coaching is one of his signature strengths — a skill that has helped three of his former players earn college tennis scholarships: Reese Frank (Purdue), Benny Bonavito (Coker) and Mia El-Kheddiwi (Coker).

Lang retired from the classroom in June after 13 years as a journalism teacher at Cario Middle School, where he oversaw the school's award-winning daily announcements program, CTV News. Many current and former Wando tennis players were once his students, giving him a rare, layered relationship with the athletes he coaches. Earlier in his career, as a sportswriter for The (Charleston) Post and Courier from 1986 to 2003, Lang interviewed a young Andre Agassi and Jim Courier at a Wild Dunes tournament, well before either ascended to the world No. 1 ranking.

Under Lang, the Warriors have rediscovered their championship form after a title drought of nearly a decade. His girls teams won back-to-back state championships in 2024 and 2025, while his boys teams have finished as state runners-up in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Entering the 2026-27 school year, Lang holds a 144-31 overall record through eight seasons at Wando and has been named Region Coach of the Year five times.

Lang and his wife, Grace, live in Mt. Pleasant. They have two adult children: Kyle, an attorney in Roanoke, Va., and Emma, a wedding artist on James Island.