The job title for Bill Potoczny will now change -- not much else will.

The five-year assistant coach for the Penn State men's tennis team said he was named interim head coach yesterday, with the announcement of the promotion coming today.

The filling of the head coach position follows a three-week period when the Nittany Lions were without a head coach in name. The position became available when longtime head coach Jan Bortner was promoted to Penn State's vacated assistant athletic director's job on Sept. 22.

"It's obviously something I'm excited about," Potoczny said after practice yesterday. "I've been part of this program for five years now and I learned under Coach Bortner, who was a great mentor."

The transition from assistant to head coach should not be difficult as Potoczny has been assuming the responsibilities since Bortner's departure in late September, and now the Lions can move forward with their fall season.

"He deserves it," senior co-captain Malcolm Scatliffe said. "Hopefully we can get an assistant coach now."

In the time since Bortner officially transferred into the administration, Potoczny has taken the Lions to Flushing Meadows, N.Y., for the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships, the Army Invitational last weekend and accompanied senior co-captain Mark Barry to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Championships earlier this month.

The Lions advanced to the semifinals of the ECAC tournament and won all three mock dual matches last weekend under Potoczny.

"Really right now I'm not anxious to see what changes I think can be made, I'm anxious to see if I can stay the course because I think the path we're on is a good one," he said. "I think he set the program a certain standard and obviously it's a good situation for me to come into with such quality guys."

Last spring under Bortner, with assistance from Potoczny, the Lions finished 5-5 in the Big Ten, the best finish the school's history in the conference. Barry also represented Penn State at the NCAA Individual National Championships in June.

Bortner was not available for comment.

Potoczny was the director of the Cape Coral Yacht and Racquet Club in Florida in the mid-90s. There he was able to coach top junior and collegiate players in the area.

An All-American at the University of West Florida in the early 1990s, Potoczny was part of the 1991 men's tennis team inducted to Western Florida's athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.

With a winning tradition behind him and five years under his belt on staff with the Lions, Potoczny will look to continue his winning ways this year at the helm for Penn State.

"Personally I think he's doing a stellar job so far, he is really showing a good transition from assistant to head coach," junior Brad Hunter said. "I feel like he started where [Coach Bortner] left off -- I like where he's taking our program in his stint as head coach.