| Chris Winter | |
| Current Title: | Head coach |
| Current Team: | Wartburg |
| Current Conference: | ARC |
| Current Record: | 43–6 |
| Birth Place: | New Hampton, IA |
| Player Sport1: | Football |
| Player Years2: | 2001–2004 |
| Player Team2: | Wartburg |
| Player Sport3: | Baseball |
| Player Years4: | 2001–2004 |
| Player Team4: | Wartburg |
| Player Positions: | Wide receiver (football) Third baseman (baseball) |
| Coach Sport1: | Football |
| Coach Years2: | 2004–2007 |
| Coach Team2: | Wartburg (assistant) |
| Coach Years3: | 2008–2010 |
| Coach Team3: | Wartburg (S&C) |
| Coach Years4: | 2011–2012 |
| Coach Team4: | Wartburg (DC/S&C) |
| Coach Years5: | 2013–2021 |
| Coach Team5: | Wartburg (AHC/DC/S&C) |
| Coach Years6: | 2021–present |
| Coach Team6: | Wartburg |
| Overall Record: | 43–6 |
| Tournament Record: | 7–2 (NCAA D-III playoffs) |
| Championships: | 3x A-R-C (2022–2024) |
| Awards: | 3x A-R-C Coach of the Year (2022–2024) D3football.com National Coach of the Year (2022) AFCA Regional Coach of the Year (2023) |
Chris Winter is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach for Wartburg College, a position he has held since 2021.[1] In just his second year at the helm of the Wartburg Knights, he led them to a program record 13 wins and to the first NCAA Division III Semifinal appearance in school history.
He attended Wartburg College, where he played football and baseball, earning all-conference honors in both sports.[2] He was named to the Wartburg College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.[3]
Winter was named the head football coach at Wartburg on July 1, 2021, becoming the 14th head coach in the programs history.[4] He took over the program that he was an assistant in for 16 years. In just his second season with the Knights he took the program to new heights when they reached the NCAA semifinals and reached a program mark of 13 wins. The season ended when they lost a thriller to perennial NCAA Division III power Mount Union 34–31.[5] [6] Following the 2022 season, Chris Winter was named the D3football.com National football coach of the year.[7] The 2023 season saw Winter lead his team back to the NCAA semifinals where they would drop another thriller to No. 1 North Central (IL) 34–27.[8]
Winter was born in New Hampton, Iowa. Winter and his wife Tara reside in Waverly, IA and have two children.[9] His wife Tara is also a graduate of Wartburg College where she is the head cheerleading coach and executive director of admissions.[10]