Two years ago, Doyle was selling real estate part-time in Greenwich, Connecticut. A 1985 Trinity College graduate who played on the professional circuit for four years, Doyle had no coaching experience when he stepped into the retiring Steve Piltch's shoes.

"Coaching was always on my horizon," Doyle says. "But I wanted a school with students who are focused on squash. And no school had a better squash tradition than Harvard."

Harvard had so much talent, Mr. Ed might have been able to take this team to the national championship. But Doyle took them a step further, teaching and conditioning his team to fulfill its maximum potential.

"The matches kind of got in the way this year," Doyle says. "These were smart, driven, understanding people who knew what it takes to excel. It was most challenging to have the surplus of talent we had and to try and keep everybody focused."

Doyle--who coaches the men's team as well as the women's--also won the respect of his players with his knowledge and work ethic.

"He's just a great coach, an excellent coach," Fraiberg says. "He's got a lot of experience, and he has a good way of articulating things. He knows his stuff well, and he kept us working hard.

The Future

Defending national championships is an extremely difficult task in collegiate sports. A particularly good team is hurt on the recruiting front, as many top-line players opt for other schools where they will be bigger names.

And, while Harvard has soared this season, other traditional squash powers have floundered.

"We were really strong this year, while other teams were kind of down," Doyle said after his team's Howe Cup victory. "We knew that if we stayed healthy and worked hard, we'd be tough to beat."

The formula will not be as simple next year. Doyle says that recruiting the top high school players hasn't been easy ("many say that Harvard is just too good for them," Doyle says) and schools like Princeton, Yale and Trinity will rebound from their weak seasons.

"Next year, it will be much more of a relative thing," Fraiberg says.

But for now, next year doesn't matter. This is now: 96-3.