Centennial football coach Mike Diggins retires
Mike Diggins, who led Centennial to a Class 6A Prep Bowl championship in 2023, retires after 15 seasons as head coach.
![Centennial head coach Mike Diggins watched as his team lined up for his post-game speech following their 30-12 victory over Stillwater. ] AARON LAVINSKY ï aaron.lavinsky@startribune.com Centennial played Stillwater in a Class 6A playoff football game on Friday, Oct. 27, 2017 at Centennial High School in Circle Pines, Minn.](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com%2Fstartribunemedia%2FYTWJOCXGSG5ODMJAIVSCKNKDMA.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
The Minnesota Star Tribune
Centennial football coach Mike Diggins has retired after 37 seasons with the program, the team announced this week.
Diggins, a 1982 Centennial graduate and the school’s head football coach for the past 15 years, led the Cougars to the Class 6A title in 2023.
Recent Coverage
Centennial finished 9-2 this year, first in the Metro North conference with a 5-1 record after winning a tiebreaker over Champlin Park.
The Cougars’ only regular-season loss was a 22-16 defeat to Andover on Sept. 19. They responded with a six-game winning streak to advance to the Class 6A quarterfinals before ending the season with a 35-21 defeat to Moorhead on Nov. 6.
Diggins became head football coach in 2010, and his teams went 84-63. He described his approach in 2023, when his state champion team was chosen as the All-Metro Sports Awards Boys Team of the Year by the Star Tribune.
“If you ask our kids, ‘Who are you?’ they’ll go, ‘We’re blue-collar. We’re blue-collar kids that are going to hit you,’ ” Diggins said.
His son, Michael, has been the team’s defensive coordinator since 2017.
Mike Diggins, who coached the 10th grade baseball team since 2014, was also Centennial’s girls hockey coach from 2001-11.
About the Author
Marcus Fuller
Reporter
Marcus Fuller is Strib Varsity's Insider reporter, providing high school beat coverage, features, analysis and recruiting updates. He's a former longtime Gophers and college sports writer for the Minnesota Star Tribune.
See More
Comments