TEMPE, Ariz. – The all-time winningest head coach in Division III women’s tennis history had just notched the 700th win of his storied career without even realizing he’d done it.
The texts started pouring into Jon Carlson’s phone just minutes after the Gustavus Adolphus Women beat Hope (Mich.) at the annual Midwest Invite on April 4. On the surface, it was an early spring win for the Gusties to kick off a seven-team tournament in Madison, Wisconsin.
But the messages Carlson got, now in his 35th season as the head coach at Division III Gustavus Adolphus, suggested otherwise.
“Congrats on the milestone!” the first message from a friend read.
Carlson was puzzled. Milestone? Sure, Hope was always a tough opponent for his Gusties, but was the win enough to warrant the milestone billing?
“I had no idea,” he said, “but the texts started coming in that it was my 700th . No one had ever kept track of 100, 200, 300, 400, nothing like that, so it was like, oh, all right, OK, cool.”
Such modesty has been the backbone of Carlson’s decades-long tenure in Saint Peter, Minnesota, serving as the Gusties’ women’s tennis coach and also the men’s and women’s swimming coach for more than three decades now. It has never been about accolades or milestones for Carlson, but more centered around the development and experiences he could provide to his athletes.
“I don’t lose sight of the fact that I’ve scored zero points in all of these matches. My players are the ones who are winning these matches. I’m just trying to help them the best I can.”
Even after being made aware he’d just won No. 700, Carlson’s mindset shifted to the next match. It was a quick turnaround after the victory against Hope, where his team was slated to see No. 21 Whitman (Wash.) hours later in their second match at the Midwest Invite. How he’d navigate the Gusties to his 701st win was the more pressing matter.
Returning from Madison allowed Carlson to reflect and reminisce on a decades-long career that’s seen him become the first Division III women’s tennis head coach to cross the 700-win mark.
“I just think that nobody does this stuff alone, I just happen to have my name on top of it. The wins belong to the players, and I’m just fortunate I get to try and steer the ship in the best direction possible,” he said. “I guess I’ve thought that I’ve been doing this for a long time and how lucky I am to have coached such talented tennis players over the years.”
A former student-athlete himself at Gustavus, Carlson played for the men’s tennis team before graduating in 1988. He grew up watching his father, a Gustavus alum himself, coach both tennis and swimming at the high school level and knew from an early age he was suited for a similar career path.
In the fall of 1989, while working at a country club in Florida, Carlson learned of the vacant women’s tennis job at Gustavus, a dream opening at a place that already meant so much to him and his family. It took little consideration to leave The Sunshine State and a deal was soon in place to make Carlson, no more than 23 years old, the next man to lead the Gusties. His starting salary was $3,000.
“I also had a full slate of teaching and was trying to get my master’s at the same time. But, I thought I was in heaven, right? I wasn’t married. This is what I enjoyed doing. I was doing exactly what my dad did at the high school level, but at the collegiate level. It was a dream come true.”
The 35 years to have followed have felt like a blur – and for good reason. He led the Gusties to the 1990 NCAA Championship title as a rookie head coach and has since added five top-four finishes at the national tournament. Under Carlson’s tenure, Gustavus has also won the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 24 times and has picked up an NCAA Tournament bid in all but seven seasons. He’s a 10-time MIAC Coach of the Year and a two-time ITA Division III Coach of the Year. He’s also sixth among all women’s tennis head coaches for wins in NCAA history.
“Things went really well that first year. I just knew I wanted to be a coach. I didn’t have a clear vision except just trying to help them become better tennis players. I was 23, so I wasn’t thinking about life lessons at that point. I think I kind of thought the sport was going to take care of that on its own. I just went into it and tried to work at it as hard as I could and help the players get as good as they could be and create a good team atmosphere.”
The Gusties recently claimed the 2025 MIAC Women’s Tennis regular season championship title, thanks to a perfect 10-0 record in conference play. It’s now the 50th regular season title in Carlson’s tenure – 25 for both his tennis and swimming and diving programs. He ranks second among MIAC coaches all-time for most championships won.
It’s been a complete team-effort for the Carlson family to get Gustavus to where it is now. His wife, Heidi, has been the team’s assistant coach for the past 29 seasons. Their oldest daughter, Calleigh, is now in her seventh season as an assistant coach. Both are Gustavus alums.
What Carlson has crafted over the years is something he could’ve never envisioned. No coach sets out on their career with 700-plus wins in mind, certainly not a 23-year-old first-year who didn’t know where exactly this profession would lead him to. But somehow, someway, Carlson arrived there.
He’s now in a league of his own as the only women’s coach in NCAA history to win 700 matches at the Division III level.
When he calls it a career, whenever that may be, Carlson will point to a pair of things he’s most proud of, two pillars that’s allowed him to thrive at his dream job.
“Two things: One, that I got to work with so many amazing student-athletes and great kids. You may have a ton of different views on different subjects, but I promise you everybody in this room is worth getting to know. It’s one of the very first things I say . I get to watch that bonding go on. It’s really special to try and nurture and be a part of that. I think that’s one of the things.
“The other thing is when I’m done, I know I worked as hard as I could and tried to get these players as good as they could possibly get, regardless of their ability coming into our program. My motto is, I never want to be the limiting factor as to how far someone can get in my program.”
