MINNEAPOLIS – Jeff Swenson '79, who has spent nearly his entire adult life as a member of the Augsburg University community, will step down from his current position as Athletic Director at the end of the 2024-25 school year and assume a special role in Augsburg's Office of the President, the university has announced. Swenson led the Augsburg athletic program through a period of unprecedented growth, improvement and athletic success, while prioritizing equity, inclusion and academic excellence.
Swenson, a 1979 Augsburg alumnus, has directed the Augsburg Athletic Department since 2001. A national search for his successor will commence in early 2025, with an anticipated start date of June 1, 2025.
"As we celebrate 100 years of Augsburg athletics, and having been a part of athletics here for nearly 50 years, counting my undergraduate years, my family and I felt that the time was right to make a transition. Being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in June 2022 certainly entered into my thought process as well," Swenson said. "I'm looking forward to helping Augsburg transition to the next athletic administrative team, and finishing up our fundraising for the men's locker room project and other university priorities. I'm excited to watch Augsburg University and our athletic program continue to improve, grow and prosper in the future, and I'm glad to have the opportunity to help with this."
Swenson served as Augsburg's men's wrestling head coach for 25 seasons (1980-84, 1986-2007), building the squad into a national small-college wrestling powerhouse. Under Swenson's leadership, Augsburg won a record-10 NCAA Division III national championships and 20 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team championships. He had a career dual-meet record of 321-44 (.879 winning percentage), earned National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III National Coach of the Year honors six times and MIAC Coach of the Year honors 13 times.
"It's hard to overstate Jeff Swenson's impact on intercollegiate athletics at Augsburg over the past five decades," said Augsburg President Paul C. Pribbenow. "It can't be measured solely in statistics or even championships, impressive as those numbers may be. Jeff's true legacy is the generations of student-athletes who found identity, purpose, and belonging through athletics under his leadership."
Under Swenson's leadership of the athletic department, Augsburg has experienced its most dramatic growth and success in school history, and has undertaken significant improvements in its sport offerings, staffing and facilities. Augsburg became the first school in Minnesota to sponsor women's lacrosse on the varsity level in 2012, and added women's wrestling in 2019 as the only four-year institution in Minnesota to sponsor the sport.
Since 2001-02, Augsburg teams have won 32 MIAC team championships, received 83 berths in MIAC postseason playoffs with nine playoff titles, and appeared in NCAA Division III national tournaments 18 times. With Augsburg's nine men's wrestling national championships since 2001 leading the way, Augsburg individual sport student-athletes earned 205 conference and regional individual titles, 311 berths in national tournaments and 38 individual national championships. Augsburg student-athletes in all sports earned 261 All-American and 208 All-Region honors since 2001.
"My goal has always been to provide the best possible experience for our student-athletes and to improve one percent each day in everything we do. I hope we've accomplished that in the areas I've had the opportunity to be part of at Augsburg during the last five decades. We have great coaches, an incredible support staff and an awesome administrative team, and I'm confident that Auggie athletics will continue to thrive and improve. I'm proud of Augsburg and proud to be an Auggie," Swenson said.
From mentoring young coaches to strengthening alumni connections, Swenson has made it a priority to invest in people, strengthening the community of support for Augsburg student-athletes long past graduation. Retention rates for Auggie student-athletes have significantly improved in recent years, enabling teams to build consistency to compete in the MIAC, one of the strongest NCAA Division III conferences in the country. The athletic department has established a coaching graduate fellowship program to train future coaches. Recruiting has also significantly improved, with more than 450 student-athletes currently wearing the Auggie maroon and gray -- roughly a quarter of Augsburg's traditional undergraduate population.
Swenson has emphasized student-athlete success in the classroom with all 22 varsity teams. Student-athletes earned a 3.17 department-wide grade-point average in the 2023-24 school year. Since the 2001-02 school year, Augsburg student-athletes have earned 42 Academic All-American honors from College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA), considered the highest student-athlete academic award in college athletics. Auggies have received the NCAA Elite 90 Award, given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA competing at NCAA national championship events, seven times since the program started in 2009-10.
Under Swenson's leadership, the athletic department created the Auggie Awards end-of-year gala in 2008, a formal event that celebrates student-athlete accomplishment. The event has earned a national reputation as one of the finest student-athlete celebratory events in all of NCAA Division III. Augsburg's Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony has also seen significant improvements, making the Homecoming week event more meaningful to inductees, families and friends. And in 2024-25, the celebration of Augsburg's century of athletic competition in the MIAC will bring a fitting conclusion to Swenson's tenure as athletic department leader.
Swenson, who said he has held "at least 10 different job titles at Augsburg" during his tenure, also served as co-chair of the university's sesquicentennial celebration in the 2019-20 school year.
"Jeff embodies integrity, honesty, and sportsmanship -- all values we hope to instill in our student-athletes as they develop into engaged citizens and leaders in their communities. We are grateful beyond words for his extraordinary commitment and faithful service to Augsburg," Pribbenow said.
In 2007, construction was completed on the Kennedy Center addition to Si Melby Hall, which includes expanded classroom, meeting and locker room space. The facility includes the Alan and Gloria Rice Wrestling Center, the James Haglund Family Fitness and Recreation Center, the Donny Wichmann '89 Weight Room and the LaVonne Johnson Peterson '50 Health and Physical Education Center.
A video scoreboard, new sound system, new artificial turf surfaces and a new season air-supported dome have been installed at Edor Nelson Field, and major renovations have taken place at the Augsburg Ice Arena/Ed Saugestad Rink, as well as a new soundsystem in Si Melby Hall. Over the past few years, a three-phase facility renovation plan has taken place in Si Melby Hall, with the opening of a new sports medicine center in 2019 and major improvements to the women's locker rooms in 2023. Fundraising is currently in progress for the final phase, major improvements to the men's locker rooms.
Swenson has been a member of the Augsburg community for nearly 50 years -- as a student, athlete, coach and administrator. Swenson began his coaching career in his first year out of college, as an assistant coach on John Grygelko's Auggie staff. Grygelko retired in 1980, and Swenson was named head coach.
Swenson was inducted into the NCAA Division III Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in 2005, the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association/David Bartelma Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. He received the Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Minnesota chapter in 2011. In 2000-01, Swenson was named Lutheran College National Coach of the Year (all sports) from Lutheran Brotherhood, and in 2002, he earned National College Coach of the Year honors (all divisions) from Wrestling USA Magazine.
As a wrestler at Augsburg from 1975-79, Swenson produced a 102-17 competitive record, earning NAIA All-American honors three times (1977-78-79) and winning the national title at 167 pounds in 1979. He earned the school's senior Honor Athlete award in 1979 and was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.
Swenson also served as an assistant coach on the Augsburg football staff for 10 years, including being a part of the Auggie 1997 MIAC championship and NCAA national tournament team, and also served as director of Augsburg's alumni office for a short time in the 1980s. Swenson earned Augsburg degrees in health and physical education in 1979, and earned a master's degree in health from the University of Minnesota in 1982. He also spent two years away from Augsburg (1984-86) as wrestling coach at Rosemount (Minn.) High School.
Swenson and his wife, Melissa, reside in the Twin Cities with sons Brady, Brett and Ethan, and daughter Amy. Brady is a first-year student at Augsburg, following his father's footsteps as a member of the men's wrestling team.