SMSU Athletics

Gary Buer (head football coach/administrator, 1979-92) helped lead Southwest Minnesota State from the bottom of the NIC to one of the top teams in NAIA during his 14-year tenure as head coach.  

Buer was head football coach at SMSU from 1979-92 and helped lead the Mustangs to a conference championship and two trips to the NAIA national playoffs.

The winningest coach in school history with a 70-69-5 record, Buer’s 1987 squad qualified for the school’s first NAIA Division I playoff appearance while his 1990 team won the school’s first ever conference championship and advanced to the NAIA national playoffs.  Possibly one of Buer’s best team’s was the 1991 squad that finished 9-1 overall, but a close loss to Moorhead State cost the team a conference title and a return trip to the NAIA playoffs.

During his tenure at SMSU, Buer was named the Northern Intercollegiate Coach of the Year in 1987 and the NAIA District Coach of the Year in 1985, 1987 and 1990.  He also served three years as the director of men’s athletics at the University from May 1989 to August 1992.