Thomas Jefferson tennis coach Andrew Buchan doesn’t care about wins — but he’s got more than most coaches in the state.

With the Raiders’ 4-1 win over the Federal Way Eagles last Friday and 3-2 win against Auburn Mountainview on Monday, Buchan notched his 486th and 487th career wins as Jefferson’s coach. In addition to being a step closer to the 500-win milestone, the Raiders’ win over the Eagles has them at 5-1 on the season, one game behind Enumclaw for second place in the North Puget Sound League Olympic division.

Buchan also has 25 league championships and 22 league Coach of the Year awards to his credit.

Mike Grady, who returned to Thomas Jefferson as its athletic director this year, said there are few coaches in the league’s history deserving of such high praise, but acknowledging Buchan’s success is a must.

“I’ve known Andrew for upwards of 20 years. I’ve known him through all positions he’s been a part of here at T.J.,” Grady said. “I can say this with confidence: He is considered the most highly respected tennis coach in the state of Washington.”

Buchan finds his “thing”

Buchan began his coaching career as a college student in 1986 as a student teacher. But he didn’t get his start in tennis. Instead, he got his coaching feet wet as a high school basketball coach. He also dabbled in volleyball, soccer and debate coaching.

“I was here and remember him first as our basketball coach,” Grady recalled. “You could kind of tell that basketball wasn’t necessarily his thing, his sport. But it was so obvious that coaching was his thing. It was only a matter of time before he found what his sport was.”

Grady was right.

Two years later, Buchan took his first stab at coaching the Raiders’ tennis program. He started with the girls program in 1990 and added the boys program in 1991.

The transition to coaching tennis full time was a seamless one for Buchan. The only losing season Buchan had on the boys side was his first one. Since the 1991 season, all of Buchan’s teams have competed for a league championship.

The girls program was a little more work. It took Buchan six years to produce a league championship.

“Andrew is definitely tennis royalty around here,” Federal Way coach Josh Drewry said. “No matter what his program looks like. It just seems like even the ‘down years’ pan out well for his programs.”

In 1999, Buchan not only produced a league championship, he also coached a girls doubles team to an individual state championship. The Raiders had a losing season in 1998, but they haven’t suffered a down year since.

Finding the good ones

Buchan’s accolades speak for themselves. And while he’s a clear mastermind on the court, his recruiting skills also happen to be second to none.

Grady credited Buchan as the primary reason he returned to Thomas Jefferson as its athletic director. Gracie Holden vacated the position in 2015, and former football coach Jeff Zenisek departed for White River High School.

Grady originally moved on from Thomas Jefferson in 2013 to a school in Las Vegas where he could both teach and coach. Buchan said the two kept in contact on a regular basis.

Over time, Buchan learned Grady was doubting his move to the desert but said he didn’t think much of it at the time. When Buchan learned of the opening with Jefferson athletics, he said he felt the right hire for the position was the simple one.

Buchan said it’s Grady’s ability to put the department and school’s needs before his own that made the idea take shape so easily.

“When I found out Jeff had left, I knew there would be at least a part-time position open,” Buchan said. “I knew that Mike Grady wasn’t – Vegas, where he had moved, wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. So I contacted him to let him know that we might have a position opening.

“I happened to call him on a day that was 118 degrees out. He said he couldn’t even get into his car because the door handle was too hot. So I just put the fire in him that there was a position open and that we would love to have him back if they were so inclined.”

Surpassing expectations

During the preseason, Buchan said he loves the initial unknowns of coaching: What other programs look like, who might be an early favorite to win, the Raiders’ depth and how it stacks up the other programs in the Olympic division.

At the time, he said the 2016 season appeared to be an intriguing one. The league looked like it was on an even playing field in terms of talent, a wide-open opportunity for every program the league hasn’t seen in quite some time.

Back in August, Buchan said his early impressions were that Jefferson could be toward the top. After the first five matches, the Raiders find themselves in second place behind undefeated Auburn Riverside.

“We’ve got a shot,” Buchan said. “We’re right there with all the other teams in the league. We’ll see what happens in the second half of the season.”

The blueprint

Other coaches have come to not only recognize Buchan’s success, but even go as far as to try to replicate it. But, as they quickly learn, it’s easier said than done.

“I think we all try to do what Andrew has done at Jefferson, try to ‘copy the blueprint,'” Drewry said. “It’s hard not to when you see 400 wins, 25 league titles. Thing is, you can’t copy it. It seems like he doesn’t have to think about success, he just… does it.”

Buchan admitted he doesn’t pay much attention to the numbers. He learned not to during a grueling, losing girls season in 1997.

Buchan and the Raiders were just coming off a league championship season the year before, and he had his eventual state champion doubles pair returning, a recipe for a repeat.

But he learned multiple players were not returning to play that year, and Jefferson went from title contender to bust. So, for the legendary coach who will likely exceed 500 career wins at some point next year, Buchan learned not to put a lot of stock into wins and losses.

Instead, he follows the advice of tennis legend Jimmy Connors.

“‘The best thing in life is to compete and win,” Buchan recited. “The second-greatest thing is to compete and lose.’

“I put a lot of merit into what Jimmy said because there’s going to be a lot of losses along the way. You can’t let the wins dictate how you coach. You have to try and compete, give kids opportunities. If my kids aren’t going to grow a certain way someone or something tells me to coach something, then I’m not going to do it. Regardless if it gets me the win or not.”