UMD Athletics

Nat Wagner became the softball program's fifth head coach in August of 2024, and will guide the Bulldogs to open up his UMD coaching career in 2025.


Wagner comes to the Bulldogs with a wealth of coaching experience under his belt, including having spent the last two seasons at the University of St. Thomas, where he helped the program transition from NCAA Division III to Division I. With the Tommies, Wagner was charged with compliance, recruiting, and preparing the team for competition. As a defensive coach, he helped the UST defense improve from eighth to the third highest fielding percentage in Summit League play this past season. Wagner also served as the primary academic liaison to the Center for Student Success, and helped the team record the highest UST team GPA of 3.65.

Prior to joining the Tommies staff, Wagner served for three years as head coach at Minot State University. In Minot, he helped the Beavers to three consecutive winning seasons and an NSIC Tournament berth in 2021. MSU also led the nation in stolen bases in 2021 and 2022, all while the Beavers led the NSIC in All-Academic Team honorees and won the Beaver Cup for outstanding team culture in 2022.

Wagner spent three years at another NSIC member – Augustana University – from 2016-2019 as an assistant coach where he was named both the NFCA 2019 Assistant Coach of the Year and to the NFCA 2019 National Coaching Staff of the Year. That season, Wagner helped lead the Viking program to consecutive NCAA Regional Tournaments and a 2019 National Championship. As a hitting instructor and first base coach, he helped lead the team to school records in most major offensive categories, including slugging, home runs, runs and stolen bases.

An assistant coach at Valley City State University from 2015-16, Wagner was the head coach at New Prague High School from 2012-2015 and Named the Conference Coach of the Year in 2014 and the Section Coach of the Year in 2015. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach for the Tommies for one season, helping them to a 2012 MIAC Conference Championship.

From 2007 through 2016, Wagner was also the President and Director of Player Development for the Minnesota Renegades/Midwest Speed, a softball club in Minnesota that competes perennially at national levels in U-13-U-18 age groups. Wagner led teams to PGF Premier and Platinum Nationals for six straight years, finishing as high as second and ninth in the country.

Wagner graduated from Carleton College with a Bachelor of Arts in Latin and English, and has earned a Master of Arts in Classical Languages from the University of Michigan. He also has Master of Arts in English from both Middlebury College and Minnesota State University, Mankato.