Men's Tennis
Nord, Kris
Kris Nord
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- nordkm@mso.umt.edu
- Phone:
- 243-5348
The 2016-17 season is men’s tennis coach Kris Nord’s 35th year at the University of Montana. In his three-and-a-half-decade tenure with the Grizzlies, Nord has coached men’s tennis, women’s tennis and women’s golf.
Now in his fourth decade at Montana, Nord, a two-time Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year, is doing some of the best work of his coaching career. He has led the Grizzlies to top-three finishes in the Big Sky the last seven seasons. Montana has gone 53-13 in league the last seven years.
He led Montana, with an 8-0 league record, to its first regular-season Big Sky championship in 2012 and a No. 10 ranking in the season-ending ITA Mountain Region poll, and in 2014 the Grizzlies won the Big Sky tournament title to advance to their first-ever NCAA tournament.
Nord was voted by his peers as the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year in both 2012 and ’14, and in 2014 Andrew Warren became the program’s first Big Sky Conference MVP.
It was the first time a Montana men’s tennis coach had been so honored and was Nord’s third conference coach of the year award. He was named the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year for his work with the Griz women’s tennis program in 1986.
The team’s recent on-court success hasn’t come at the expense of the classroom. Nord’s players have posted a 3.3 GPA or better eight of the last 10 semesters and have 15 straight semesters at 3.0 or better.
Since 1989, when the Big Sky Conference began recognizing all-conference teams, Nord has coached 23 first-team selections. He has coached 103 Academic All-Big Sky picks, an award that’s been given out since 1984.
Nord was hired as the head women’s and assistant men’s tennis coach at Montana in 1982. He became the head coach for both programs in 1986. Nord coached both programs until 2006, when Montana hired its first fulltime women’s coach.
Under Nord’s guidance, the women’s program advanced to the Big Sky Conference postseason tournament every year until he turned the program over in ’06. The men’s team has played in the postseason tournament every year since 1991.
The men’s team was the Big Sky Conference tournament runner-up in 2006, ’12 and ’13, and has eight third-place ties to its credit during its current streak of tournament appearances.
A Missoula native, Nord graduated from Sentinel High School in 1976 after winning the state AA singles title. He was also named all-state in football and basketball.
Nord was recruited to play football for the Grizzlies but opted to sign a tennis scholarship with UNLV, where he spent his freshman and sophomore years.
Following his second year, Nord took a year off from college and went to Alaska, where he served as a teaching professional at Tanana Valley Community College in Fairbanks.
Nord enrolled at Boise State in the fall of 1979, and he finished out his collegiate tennis career with the Broncos. He was the Big Sky Conference champion at No. 3 singles and BSU’s Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athlete in 1981.
Nord spent a year on the Satellite Circuit before being appointed to the Montana tennis coaching staff in 1982.
Nord, who earned a degree in health and human performance from UM in 1986, served as Montana’s first women’s golf coach from 1993-96.
Nord’s late father, Ron, was the head basketball coach for the Grizzlies from 1962-68 and was an assistant football coach from 1969-74. His brothers, Jeff and Mark, both played basketball for the Grizzlies.
Nord and his wife, Robi, have two sons, Anders and Isak.
Now in his fourth decade at Montana, Nord, a two-time Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year, is doing some of the best work of his coaching career. He has led the Grizzlies to top-three finishes in the Big Sky the last seven seasons. Montana has gone 53-13 in league the last seven years.
He led Montana, with an 8-0 league record, to its first regular-season Big Sky championship in 2012 and a No. 10 ranking in the season-ending ITA Mountain Region poll, and in 2014 the Grizzlies won the Big Sky tournament title to advance to their first-ever NCAA tournament.
Nord was voted by his peers as the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year in both 2012 and ’14, and in 2014 Andrew Warren became the program’s first Big Sky Conference MVP.
It was the first time a Montana men’s tennis coach had been so honored and was Nord’s third conference coach of the year award. He was named the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year for his work with the Griz women’s tennis program in 1986.
The team’s recent on-court success hasn’t come at the expense of the classroom. Nord’s players have posted a 3.3 GPA or better eight of the last 10 semesters and have 15 straight semesters at 3.0 or better.
Since 1989, when the Big Sky Conference began recognizing all-conference teams, Nord has coached 23 first-team selections. He has coached 103 Academic All-Big Sky picks, an award that’s been given out since 1984.
Nord was hired as the head women’s and assistant men’s tennis coach at Montana in 1982. He became the head coach for both programs in 1986. Nord coached both programs until 2006, when Montana hired its first fulltime women’s coach.
Under Nord’s guidance, the women’s program advanced to the Big Sky Conference postseason tournament every year until he turned the program over in ’06. The men’s team has played in the postseason tournament every year since 1991.
The men’s team was the Big Sky Conference tournament runner-up in 2006, ’12 and ’13, and has eight third-place ties to its credit during its current streak of tournament appearances.
A Missoula native, Nord graduated from Sentinel High School in 1976 after winning the state AA singles title. He was also named all-state in football and basketball.
Nord was recruited to play football for the Grizzlies but opted to sign a tennis scholarship with UNLV, where he spent his freshman and sophomore years.
Following his second year, Nord took a year off from college and went to Alaska, where he served as a teaching professional at Tanana Valley Community College in Fairbanks.
Nord enrolled at Boise State in the fall of 1979, and he finished out his collegiate tennis career with the Broncos. He was the Big Sky Conference champion at No. 3 singles and BSU’s Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athlete in 1981.
Nord spent a year on the Satellite Circuit before being appointed to the Montana tennis coaching staff in 1982.
Nord, who earned a degree in health and human performance from UM in 1986, served as Montana’s first women’s golf coach from 1993-96.
Nord’s late father, Ron, was the head basketball coach for the Grizzlies from 1962-68 and was an assistant football coach from 1969-74. His brothers, Jeff and Mark, both played basketball for the Grizzlies.
Nord and his wife, Robi, have two sons, Anders and Isak.
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