MOORHEAD, Minn. —It's official. Chris Coste is now
the head coach of the Cobber baseball team. Coste, who was named
the successor to Hall of Fame coach Bucky Burgau in the fall of
2013, officially becomes the 17th coach in the history of the
program.
Coste steps into the role of head coach after serving three
seasons as the Cobber assistant coach and associate head coach. It
is the first time the former World Series champion has been a head
coach.
Coste was the MIAC MVP for Burgau's team in 1995 and finished his
Cobber career as a three-time MIAC MVP and also earned three
consecutive All-American honors. He then went on to play
professional baseball for 16 seasons and was a member of the 2008
Philadelphia Phillies team which won the World Series title.
Burgau coached Concordia for 36 seasons and amassed a
record-setting 711 career victories. Burgau finished his career
12th on the list of wins by active NCAA Division III coaches. He
was also 25th in overall wins by any coach in Division III. Burgau
earned the MIAC Coach of the Year honors on four occasions.
Coste takes over a program that has won 55 games in the past three
seasons and advanced to the championship game of the MIAC
Tournament in 2013. Last year Concordia went 18-16 overall and
finished in a tie for sixth place in the MIAC standings. CC ended
the 2014 campaign by beating Division I University of Minnesota in
Burgau's final game of his outstanding career.