At Harding
Craig Kirchgessner became the seventh head men's and women's tennis coach for Harding in June 2025.
Before Harding
Kirchgessner came to Harding after serving as the Head Men's and Women's Tennis Coach at Hendrix College since August 2019. During his tenure at Hendrix, he significantly elevated both programs, landing the highest-rated men's recruiting classes in school history in 2019 and 2024. Academically, both the men's and women's teams excelled, maintaining average GPAs of 3.5 and 3.7, respectively.
Prior to his time at Hendrix, Kirchgessner served as the Assistant Men's and Women's Tennis Coach at Centre College from January 2016 to 2019. While at Centre, he played a key role in the women's team achieving their first-ever SAA Tournament victory and their best-ever SAA conference regular-season finish (second place). He also coached Centre's first-ever year-end nationally ranked doubles team (2017) and helped recruit the largest and highest-rated men's and women's classes in the program's history.
Kirchgessner's experience also includes serving as the Head Professional at the Duke Faculty Club and as a Tennis Professional at Ocean Reef Resort in Florida. He also spent several years as the Assistant Director of Junior Camps at Sewanee Tennis Camp.
Playing Career
As a player, Kirchgessner was a four-time all-state high school tennis player in Indiana and was the number one singles and doubles player at NCAA Division-I Western Kentucky University.Â
Education
He holds a B.S. in Secondary Education (Social Studies) from Western Kentucky University and an A.A. in Liberal Studies from Florida College.
Family
Kirchgessner is married to the former April Behle of St. Charles, Missouri. The couple have a son Otto Graham and a daughter Monroe Estella.
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