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Paul Koelpin

After spending more than 25 years on the sideline of the soccer pitch as the head coach of the Martin Luther College men’s team, Paul Koelpin took over as MLC’s head tennis coach in 2023 and will begin his fifth season in 2026-27. From 2010-2013, Koelpin filled a role as an assistant tennis coach for men's and women's tennis. Since 2025, he has served as the men’s head coach and an assistant with the women’s team.

Koelpin considers himself an “accidental coach” since he never aspired to be a coach. That said, he has had a long connection with MLC athletics and has been privileged to work with many fine student-athletes who have excelled both on the field/court and in the classroom. His goal has always been to field competitive teams and to help athletes grow from the experience of competition and teamwork.

Koelpin graduated from Northwestern College (Watertown, WI) in 1985, and was a member of the school’s first varsity soccer team. He also played college tennis and was a three-year varsity contributor to the team. He is a 1990 graduate of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and served as a mission-planter in Maryland prior to teaching.

Koelpin teaches general education and elective courses in the area of Western Civilization at MLC, as well as a seminar course in historiography. As part MLC’s theology curriculum, Koelpin teaches the “Biblical History & Literature II” course.

He and his wife Rebecca have two daughters and two sons, all of whom are married and live out of state. They enjoy travel opportunities to see their family, which now includes eleven grandchildren.