Minnesota State University-Moorhead has elected to not renew the contract of head swimming and diving coach Todd Peters. His name no longer appears on the MSU-Moorhead roster.
The MSU-Moorhead athletic department replied to SwimSwam’s request for comment with this statement:
“Todd Peters is no longer the swimming and diving coach at MSU-Moorhead. His contract was not renewed by the school.”
No further information is available as to why Peters won’t be coming back to coach the Dragons next season.
Peters was the only head coach in MSU-Moorhead’s swimming/diving program history, having led the team for 21 straight seasons. The program was established in 1997, the year he began coaching there. Prior to helping start the swimming/diving program at MSU-Moorhead, Peters was a high school coach from 1991-1997, coaching the Moorhead High School boys team and the Fargo South High School girls team.
Additionally, Peters was involved in club swimming, serving as coach for both the West Fargo Flyers and the Moorhead Marlins, before starting work at MSU-Moorhead.
MSU-Moorhead sponsors only a women’s team, which competes in NCAA’s Division II. The Dragons finished 5th at the 2018 NSIC Championships out of the 7 teams competing.
About time! Disappointed it took this long….long live his legacy of disillusioned athletes and broken swimming careers. He was not there for love of the sport or athletes. Looking forward to better days to come for the program!
Concerned Coach,
It takes dedication to build a team from scratch, and I don’t mean to take anything away from that. However, over the years Todd has lost the ability to create a positive atmosphere on the team. He believes pinning athletes against each other will make them swim faster and more successful, but the way in which he does this creates contempt between athletes. Not only does this affect the athletes directly involved, this negativity is spread through the rest of the team. At meets he has been known to talk negatively about his athletes to coaches while in earshot of other athletes. How are his athletes expected to trust him knowing this? These actions among numerous others… Read more »
Not only trash talking about his athletes to other coaches in front of the team but also trash talking their parents in front of the team.
Todd Peters was a great coach and friend to many fine women and swimmers. I wish him the best in the future.
I believe there were numerous people within and around the team that may not have brought the best attitude or perspective to what it takes to be a successful student athlete at MSUM.
The coach can recruit you and coach you to the best of their ability but it is up to the student athletes to make the best if what they are provided. If anyone is was disillusioned by there experiences at MSUM you may want to see what YOU put into the experience before blaming anyone else.
Good luck to Todd Peters. Good… Read more »
Just because Todd accepted you, doesn’t men others had the same luxury. Don’t you dare try to blame the team for this. It would be one thing if one single swimmer felt negatively towards Todd, but it seem there are many from many different years. A coach is not meant to be a friend, they are meant to be leaders and set an example for those under there coaching. Blaming the swimmers for the poor card they were dealt is unfair. No one is perfect but I hope MSUM will find someone who is more compassionate and understanding.
As an ex swimmer of Todd Peters, I am not surprised or upset by this news. Todd was controlling and his favoritism caused all sorts of problems within the team and in his decision making skills. He took credit for your success and blamed you for your “failures”. He killed my passion for a sport I once thought the world of and gave everything to. I haven’t touched a pool since and I don’t see myself jumping in a pool anytime soon. Thank you MSUM for seeing he just wasn’t right for the job and taking action. I wish nothing but the best for this program and the future dragons and can’t wait to see it flourish under the new… Read more »
Preach it sister!!! As a four year member of the dragon swim team, I couldn’t agree with you more.
Todd has done an exceptional job developing the Women’s program at MSU-Moorhead. While he has done an exceptional job there, he was also very influential in providing leadership for D2 Swimming and Diving with his role in the rules committee, among other things.
One of the biggest hats he has put on during his tenure at Moorhead, was in the implementation of a swim school that currently nets hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue annually. His ability to create such a successful program has led to the College Swim Coaches Association of America to give him the floor as a speaker at this years convention on that specific topic. I wonder if that revenue stream coming in to the… Read more »