Earning Their Stripes Video (YouTube)
Chad Eisele is in his ninth year as the Director of Athletics at Hampden-Sydney College during 2025-26. He retired as the head golf coach following 2024-25, after serving in the role for eight years, but will remain with the program as an assistant coach. He was named the College's AD on June 20, 2017, after serving in the same position at his alma mater, Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, since 2006. Eisele also served as the head football coach at Knox for three years (2010-12), and as head men’s tennis coach for two years (2006-08).
Eisele oversees 10 intercollegiate sports at H-SC as well as club and intramural sports, including a highly successful club rugby program. The department’s staff, including administrators, coaches and sports medicine personnel totals over 35 individuals. Eisele also serves as a member of the College’s senior administrative team, manages the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame and has administrative oversight of fundraising efforts for the Tigers, including the sport-specific Gridiron Club, Roundball Club, Big Hitters Club and Face-Off Club. Chad was appointed as a member of the NCAA Division III Championships Committee, beginning August 1, 2023 and continuing through January 22, 2028.
H-SC Golf finished 2024-25 ranked 20th in the final SCOREBOARD powered by clippd NCAA Division III Men's Golf rankings, including ninth in the extremely strong Region IV that included seven of the Top 10 and 11 of the Top 25 teams in the country. The Tigers averaged 296.33 per round through 10 tournaments and 27 rounds, posting two Top Five among seven Top 10 finishes overall, including third at the 2025 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Championships. H-SC was ranked 19th nationally in the final Bushnell/Golfweek DIII Coaches Poll. Eisele has been named the ODAC Jack Jensen Coach of the Year and the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) College Division Coach of the Year three times each (2018-19, 2019-20, 2021-22).
H-SC Golf finished 2023-24 ranked 21st in the final SCOREBOARD rankings, and ninth in Region IV. The Tigers averaged 298.19 per round through 10 tournaments and 26 rounds, posting one win (74th VSGA Intercollegiate Championship) and five Top 10 finishes among 10 Top 15 efforts overall, and placed second at the 2024 ODAC Championships on April 28-30 in Williamsburg. H-SC was ranked 20th nationally in the final Bushnell/Golfweek Poll.
H-SC Golf finished 2022-23 ranked 45th in the final Golfstat NCAA Division III Team Rankings. The Tigers averaged 303.29 in their nine tournaments and 24 rounds of competition, posting two Top Five among four Top 10 team finishes, including a runner-up effort at the Port City Invitational. H-SC placed fifth at the 2023 ODAC Championships on April 23-25 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
H-SC Golf completed a season to remember during 2021-22, finishing as National Runner-Up at the 2022 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships on May 10-13 at the Mission Inn Resort & Club in Howey-In-The-Hills, Florida. The Tigers posted a school-record, 72-hole score of 296-293-296-291--1176 to finish just eight shots out of first place. It’s the best team and individual finish at the National Tournament since 1975, when H-SC was the National Runner-Up. The Tigers also posted a 54-hole score of 282-281-283--846 to win the 2022 ODAC Championship on April 29-30 at the Old Trail Golf Club in Crozet. It’s just the third-ever ODAC Championship in the sport, and the first for the program since 1996. H-SC was ranked No. 2 in the final Bushnell/Golfweek Poll, and 11th in the final Golfstat Top 25, while also ranked sixth by Golfstat in Region 4 that included 11 of the Top 25 teams. The Tigers averaged 296.14 per round, 17th-best in DIII and fifth-best in the region, with six Top Five finishes among seven Top 10 overall efforts. H-SC played its finest golf at the end of the season with four consecutive top three team finishes, including three-straight first or second place efforts.
H-SC Golf was ranked 21st nationally in the final Bushnell/Golfweek Poll for 2021, and 23rd nationally in the final Golfstat Top 25. The Tigers were ranked 11th by Golfstat in the South Region that included five of the top eight teams nationally. H-SC averaged 300.81 per round in its six tournaments, 15th-best in DIII and seventh-best in the region, with two Top Five finishes among four Top 10 overall efforts. The Tigers placed second at 2021 ODAC Championships, just two shots behind Guilford (NC), who went on to finish third at the 2021 National Championship.
He led the program to Top 10 National Rankings in both the Bushnell/Golfweek Poll (fifth) and the Golfstat Top 25 (sixth) during 2019-20. H-SC posted one tournament win among six Top 10 (three top five) team finishes in six tournaments, averaging 289.44 per round to rank fourth in DIII and third in the region. The Tigers led DIII in first round scoring (73.37), was second nationally in par 4 scoring (4.14) and pars per round (11.11), third in average score (73.46), fourth in par 3 scoring (3.15), fifth in final round scoring (73.57), seventh in par 5 scoring (4.94) and eighth in birdies (226).
In his first year coaching the golf team at H-SC during 2018-19, Eisele led the Tigers to Top 15 National Rankings in both the Bushnell/Golfweek Poll (12th) and the Golfstat Top 25 (13th). The program finished 12th at the 2019 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships, while earning six Top Five finishes among eight Top 10 efforts in 10 overall tournaments, averaging 296.67 per round, 16th-best in DIII and eighth-best in the region.
At Knox, Eisele oversaw 20 intercollegiate sports, six club sports and four intramural leagues. He played a significant role in major facility upgrades and carried out the first-ever feasibility study and marketing plan for the athletic department. Eisele also led booster and fundraising efforts to support the college's athletic program and was a key part of recruiting and marketing initiatives, including the refinement of the athletic recruitment process and overseeing rebranding efforts. In addition, he served a term on the NCAA Division III Football Committee.
Eisele previously served as the head football coach at Division II Minnesota State University Moorhead (2005) and at Lake Forest College (2000-04) in Lake Forest, Illinois. He was named Midwest Conference Coach of the Year in 2002 when the Foresters established a school record with nine wins (9-2), claiming the Midwest Conference Championship (8-1), and advancing to the NCAA Playoffs for the first time in school history. Overall, Eisele was 31-20 at Lake Forest with three-straight winning seasons (24-7) before his departure. He had begun as the defensive coordinator at Lake Forest from 1997-99, and also served as the head men’s tennis coach from 1998-2002, compiling a 49-37 record and winning the 1999 Midwest Conference Championship.
Eisele was an assistant coach and defensive coordinator at Division II Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan from 1994-97. He received his Master of Arts degree in sports administration from Wayne State in 1997.
Eisele earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from Knox College in 1993, where he was a three-sport athlete in football, baseball, along with track and field. A defensive back for the football team, he was an All-Midwest Conference selection three times, and tied the school record for pass interceptions in a game (3) in 1989. Eisele was a defensive secondary coach at Knox during 1993.
A native of Peoria, Illinois, Chad and his wife, Kathleen, reside in Hampden-Sydney and are the parents of three children, Micayla, Jacob and JT, a 2023 graduate of H-SC.
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