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Buchholz vs. OpponentsTJ Buchholz begins his fifth season as head coach at Southwest Minnesota State in 2015 and is the fourth head coach in program history. Buchholz begins the 2015 season with a record of 38-32-5, including 29-24-5 in conference play. He was named head coach on April 19, 2011.
Buchholz has quickly turned the program around, highlighted by the 2013 season. SMSU opened the year with a program-record 11 straight wins, appeared in the Top 25 for the first time in history and went on to finish with school record 16 victories. Buchholz also was named the 2013 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Coach of the Year.
In 2013, SMSU—which qualified for the NSIC tournament for the first time since 2007—also reached new heights by earning a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history. The Mustangs not only made the tournament, but earned two victories—including defeating No. 1 seed Minnesota State—to snap the Mavericks’ 36-game home winning streak and advanced to the NCAA region championship game.
SMSU had six players earn All-NSIC honors in 2013, including Brienna Dehkes earning NSIC Goalkeeper of the Year accolades. Miranda Cadena was named the Daktronics NCAA Division II Central Region Player of the Year and also became the program’s first ever All-American. SMSU had a total of five players earn all-region honors in 2013.
Buchholz laid the foundation during his first two seasons on the sideline, producing a 5-10-1, 4-8-1 record in 2011, the program’s highest victory total since 2004 and improving again in 2012, finishing with a 7-9-1, 5-9-1 mark.
Buchholz, who has 12 seasons of head coaching experience at the collegiate level, came to SMSU after spending one season (2010) as assistant women’s soccer coach at NCAA Division I California-Riverside.
Prior to UC-Riverside, Buchholz spent two seasons (2008-09) as the head women’s and men’s soccer coach at Wartburg College (Iowa) and seven seasons (2001-07) as head coach of the men’s program at Northwestern College (Iowa). He also served one season as the Northwestern head women’s soccer coach (2007).
His career head coaching record in women’s soccer is 76-47-9 in six seasons and 99-69-7 in nine seasons as a men’s head coach.
During his two seasons as Wartburg’s women’s head coach, the team compiled a 31-5-4 overall record and won the program’s first-ever conference championship in 2008 and achieved the program’s first-ever national ranking in 2009. He led the Wartburg men’s team to a pair of conference tournament championships, two NCAA tournament appearances and an overall record of 31-10-2.
Prior to arriving at Wartburg, Buchholz was at the helm of the men’s soccer program at Northwestern College (Iowa) for seven seasons recording a record of 68-59-5. During his tenure, the Red Raiders won one conference title, advanced to four NAIA region tournaments, including winning the 2007 championship and advancing to the NAIA national tournament. He was named the 2007 NAIA Region Coach of the Year.
Buchholz began his coaching career in 2000, spending one season as the assistant men’s coach at Northwestern. He also served as the head women’s soccer coach at Northwestern during the 2007 season leading the team to a 7-10-1 record.
Buchholz is a 1999 graduate of Northwestern College in sociology and earned his master’s degree in sports management from California University (Pa.) in 2008.
TJ and his wife, Candace, live in Marshall with daughters, Season, Chloe and Sophie.
TJ Buchholz Year-by-Year
| Year | School | Overall | Conference | Conference Finish |
| 2011 | SMSU | 5-11-1 | 4-8-1 | 11th |
| 2012 | SMSU | 7-9-1 | 5-9-1 | 11th |
| 2013 | SMSU | 16-4-2 | 11-2-2 | 5th |
| 2014 | SMSU | 10-8-1 | 9-5-1 | 6th |
| 2015 | SMSU | 0-0 | 0-0 | -- |
| Overall | 38-32-5 | 29-24-5 | |
Buchholz's Coaching HonorsSoccer2013 NSIC Coach of the Year
2007 NAIA Region Coach of the Year
