Coach Holmgren’s primary responsibility with the CSP baseball will be coaching the catchers and directing players as the first base coach. He will also assist in all defensivr and game management aspects for the Golden Bears.
Coach Holmgren comes to Concordia, St. Paul after spending the last 12 seasons as the head coach at Elk River High School in Elk River, Minn. During his tenure at Elk River, Coach Holmgren’s teams compiled a 130-105 overall record from 2011-2022. During that time, they had double-digit win totals in each of those 11 season. In 2014, Elk River won the Section 7AAA Championship and finished fourth at the 2014 MSHSL State Tournament. Elk River was also a section tournament runner-up twice during his tenure. The 2021 VFW team (16U) that he led during the summer season finished second in the state at the Minnesota State VFW Tournament as well. During his 12 year tenure at the helm for Elk River, they turned out 34 college baseball players, including two Division I players.
Prior to his time at Elk River, Coach Holmgren was the head coach at Spring Lake Park High School from 2009-2011. At SLP he helped develop two Division I signees, including Jake Matthys, who earned the Big 12 Freshman of the Year award for the Kansas State Wildcats in 2013 before eventually pitching professionally after college.
From 2003 to 2008, Coach Holmgren spent time as the assistant varsity coach and head legion coach in the Champlin Park program while teaching middle school social studies at Jackson Middle School, where he remains and is currently in his 24th year of teaching.
During that same time, Coach Holmgren was also a member of the Concordia-St. Paul women’s basketball staff from 2002-2006 where he helped the Golden Bears reach four NCAA Division II Regional Tournaments and saw each of the four teams he assisted to reach the 20 win mark under Head Coach Paul Fessler. He also earned his master’s degree in youth development from CSP during this time on the Concordia campus.
Holmgren is a 1993 graduate of St. Francis High School in St. Francis, Minn. He played baseball collegiately at Anoka Ramsey CC and Bemidji State University. He also has 27 years and counting of amateur playing experience around the state of Minnesota. He and his daughter Reese currently reside in Elk River.
