By Patrick McHugh, News Staff
The former head coach of the women’s soccer team abruptly resigned Jan. 7 after a disagreement with administrators regarding the allotment of scholarships and resources.
Ed Matz, who had coached at Northeastern since 1994, resigned from his position last Thursday after he learned his program would not receive any additional scholarships or funds following the discontinuation of the football program. He accepted the head coaching position at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst later that day.
Matz said early last week that an e-mail was circulated amongst athletic coaches at Northeastern regarding upcoming meetings with Athletics Director Peter Roby to discuss funding reallocation. Matz said he learned last Tuesday that seven other programs, which include both men’s and women’s teams, were granted extra funds left over from the football program’s budget, but that his program was not one of them.
Matz said the decision not to include the women’s soccer program in the reallocation plan contradicts what the administration told coaches previously. ‘ ‘During meetings, we were told that part of the reason for eliminating a program was to sustain excellence across the board,’ Matz said. ‘We were told that we want all of our athletic programs to compete at a national level, we want them to win championships, we want conference titles. I drank the Kool-Aid and I believed everything.’ ‘ Matz said the lack of attention and communication on the matter made the matter frustrating. ‘ ‘No one said ‘Ed, I know your program is important to you, we’re going to give some money out to these other sports first, but for reasons A, B and C we can’t give any to you right now.’ But nothing was said to me. It made me quite angry and disappointed and hurt.’ ‘ Matz said that night, in a move he admits was made out of anger, he e-mailed a person at UMass regarding its coaching position, and a coaching offer was presented to him later that evening, which he refused. Matz said UMass contacted him in July and offered him the position, which he also turned down. ‘ ‘Up until a week ago today, if you had talked to me, I would have said there is no other place I want to be,’ Matz said. ‘Northeastern is the place. If UMass would have called I would have said, ‘No, I’m perfectly happy.’ I didn’t actively pursue it before last Tuesday.’
Although the offer from UMass was made to him, Matz said he refused it because he hoped he could work something out with the administration the next day. Matz met with Roby and Amanda Braun, senior associate athletics director, to discuss the matter, in which he pleaded the case for his program. ‘ ‘I brought up the fact that women’s soccer has the least amount of scholarships in the CAA [Colonial Athletic Association]. Out of 12 teams in the CAA, we are number 12 for scholarships,’ Matz said. ‘ ‘I just thought that if you’re giving some teams two or one [scholarships], couldn’t you give me a half? Couldn’t you give me a quarter? Couldn’t you give me something, because if we are treating everyone equal, how is it fair to give seven programs something and one program nothing? It just didn’t make sense and it didn’t sit right with me.’
‘ Matz said he got up and left in the middle of his meeting, submitted his resignation papers that afternoon and accepted the head coaching job from UMass. ‘ Roby declined to speak to The News about the matter. In a press release from Jan. 7 announcing Matz’s departure, Roby is quoted as saying, ‘Ed has built our program from its creation to become one of the best programs in New England and the CAA over the 13 years of his tenure. I am grateful to Ed for his service to the university and our student athletes and wish him well.’ ‘ Matz began his career at Northeastern in 1994 as an assistant coach of the men’s soccer team, and became the team’s head coach two years later. In 1999 he also took over duties as the women’s coach and in 2000 he was named Northeastern’s director of soccer. Matz coached the men’s team through the 2004 season until Brian Ainscough was hired as men’s coach in 2005 to allow Matz to focus on just the women’s program. In 13 years as a head coach at NU, Matz has a combined record of 182-165-41 with both programs, which includes an America East title with the men’s squad in 2002 and a 2008 CAA title and NCAA Tournament appearance with the women’s team in 2008. Last season, Matz’s team won the conference regular season title and he was named the 2009 Coach of the Year in the CAA. ‘ Matz said if the situation were handled differently, that if he were told why his program would not receive funds and what future plans lay in store for his team, things may have been different. ‘ ‘I believe if that would have happened, would I have liked it? No, but would I have accepted it? Yes.’ ‘ Matz said after he resigned he had hoped he could meet with his players when they returned to campus Monday, but said he was told to call them immediately and let each player know of the decision individually over the phone. He said since his resignation the relationship between him and his players has been strained. ‘ ‘Nothing will ever be the same between us, and I hope in time they realize why I did this and what happened,’ Matz said. ‘And I hope that the next coach comes in and the first thing they [the administration] say to him is ‘here you have another scholarship.”
Matz also said he has no plans to actively recruit any of Northeastern’s players to join him at UMass and that the NU program has a lot of upside with the current group of players. ‘ ‘I would be very disappointed if this team and this group of players that we have at Northeastern now aren’t contending for the conference championship and aren’t making the NCAAs, and I’ll do everything I can to get back and watch them.’ ‘ Northeastern announced in the press release that a national search to replace Matz will begin immediately.
