Matt Buns rejoined the CSP cross country coaching staff prior to the 2026 season after a strong eight-year run with the program through 2023, earning a promotion to associate head coach of the cross country program prior to the 2021-22 season. Buns has also assisted track & field primarily with middle distance and long distance runners and has experience coordinating cross country recruitment efforts.
A 2004 graduate of Concordia University, Nebraska, Buns continued his education at Emporia State University, where he earned a master’s degree in health, physical education, and recreation in 2005. He received a doctorate degree (Ph.D.) in Kinesiology from Iowa State University in 2010. In addition to coaching, he serves as a professor of Kinesiology and Director of the Doctorate in Kinesiology (Ed.D. & Ph.D.) program at Concordia.
While competing at Concordia University, Nebraska, he was a two-time NAIA All-American and two-time Academic All-American. During his coaching tenure, Buns has helped coach 19 NAIA track & field All-Americans, two NAIA All-Americans in cross country and one NCAA Division II All-American and National Champion Runner-up. Following his first year of recruiting efforts with the Golden Bears in during the 2015-2016 campaign, Buns helped architect the greatest one-year turnaround in the history of the Northern Sun (all sports), when the men's cross country team advanced from last to eighth place in a large and highly competitive conference led, led by state champion Cole Oslin and Benjamin Allen who in 2022 broke the 4-minute barrier in the Mile as a professional runner with New York's Empire Running Club.
His teams are known not only for their competitiveness on the track, but also for their work in the classroom. Buns has authored one book, The Art and Science of Distance Running (Coaches Choice Publishing) and more than 30 scholarly articles examining mechanisms of expertise in sport and the cognitive and psychological factors related to motor skill. He is also editor of the Track and Cross Country Journal and serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Advanced Medical Sciences, United Journal of Behavior and Psychology, and the International Journal of Medical Health and Clinical Research while presenting regularly to numerous state, regional and national audiences.
