Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame
Kris Nord
- Induction:
- 2026
- Class:
- 1986
Nord, a Missoula native and University of Montana alum, was a staple around the Grizzly Athletic Department for most of his life. The son of a coach, he grew up around the Adams Center, and after a successful collegiate tennis career as a player was hired to coach UM's two tennis teams in 1982.
That launched a 42-year coaching career at UM that spanned both tennis teams and women's golf. After starting as the women's tennis head coach and the men's tennis assistant, he took sole charge of the two programs in 1986 and led them simultaneously for more than two decades until the positions were divided into two full-time roles.
Nord was named the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year in women's tennis in 1986. He later guided Montana men's tennis to its first Big Sky Conference regular season championship in 2012, earning Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year honors that season and again in 2014. That year the Grizzlies captured the conference tournament title and advanced to their first-ever NCAA Tournament. Those teams laid the foundation for what has become one of Montana's most successful programs, both the court and in the classroom.
He additionally served two tenures as head coach of the Grizzly golf program. From 1993 to 1996 he pulled triple-duty, leading both tennis programs and the golf team simultaneously. He took over as golf coach again from 2018 until his retirement in 2024.
A 1976 graduate of Missoula Sentinel High School, Nord won the Class AA state tennis title as a senior and earned all-state honors in both football and basketball. He was recruited to play football for the Grizzlies but instead accepted a tennis scholarship to UNLV. He later transferred to Boise State, where he was the Big Sky Conference champion at No. 3 singles and was named BSU's Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athlete in 1981. Nord later earned a degree in health and human performance from the University of Montana in 1986.
Nord's ties to Grizzly Athletics run deep across generations. His late father Ron served as head basketball coach at Montana from 1962 to 1968 and was an assistant football coach from 1969 to 1974. His brothers Jeff and Mark both played basketball for the Grizzlies.
Kris Nord's 42-year tenure as a coach, combined with his lifelong connection to the university represents one of the most enduring and wide-ranging relationships between an individual and Grizzly Athletics in the program's history.
Quoting Coach Nord: "Being inducted into the Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame is a great honor. I'm a bit speechless, but to join some of the names on this list of some of the greats in Grizzly Athletics history is totally humbling. I'm really proud to be representing the tennis and golf programs as well. It's quite a deal."
That launched a 42-year coaching career at UM that spanned both tennis teams and women's golf. After starting as the women's tennis head coach and the men's tennis assistant, he took sole charge of the two programs in 1986 and led them simultaneously for more than two decades until the positions were divided into two full-time roles.
Nord was named the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year in women's tennis in 1986. He later guided Montana men's tennis to its first Big Sky Conference regular season championship in 2012, earning Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year honors that season and again in 2014. That year the Grizzlies captured the conference tournament title and advanced to their first-ever NCAA Tournament. Those teams laid the foundation for what has become one of Montana's most successful programs, both the court and in the classroom.
He additionally served two tenures as head coach of the Grizzly golf program. From 1993 to 1996 he pulled triple-duty, leading both tennis programs and the golf team simultaneously. He took over as golf coach again from 2018 until his retirement in 2024.
A 1976 graduate of Missoula Sentinel High School, Nord won the Class AA state tennis title as a senior and earned all-state honors in both football and basketball. He was recruited to play football for the Grizzlies but instead accepted a tennis scholarship to UNLV. He later transferred to Boise State, where he was the Big Sky Conference champion at No. 3 singles and was named BSU's Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athlete in 1981. Nord later earned a degree in health and human performance from the University of Montana in 1986.
Nord's ties to Grizzly Athletics run deep across generations. His late father Ron served as head basketball coach at Montana from 1962 to 1968 and was an assistant football coach from 1969 to 1974. His brothers Jeff and Mark both played basketball for the Grizzlies.
Kris Nord's 42-year tenure as a coach, combined with his lifelong connection to the university represents one of the most enduring and wide-ranging relationships between an individual and Grizzly Athletics in the program's history.
Quoting Coach Nord: "Being inducted into the Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame is a great honor. I'm a bit speechless, but to join some of the names on this list of some of the greats in Grizzly Athletics history is totally humbling. I'm really proud to be representing the tennis and golf programs as well. It's quite a deal."
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