Manny Matsakis enters his second season in 2019 with the Purple and Gold.

Matsakis comes to Defiance with an extensive football background ranging from high school to NAIA, Division III, Division II, FCS, FBS and the Canadian Football League.

Matsakis spent the last three years at Division III Widener University as the offensive coordinator and director of academics. The 2017 season culminated with a 7-4 record and a berth in the Centennial MAC Bowl Championship.

The Ohio native also served as an offensive coordinator for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Canadian Football League) working closely with Mike Kelly and the Blue Bombers offense. He spent three seasons at Texas Tech University as the Assistant head coach and Special Teams Coordinator under Mike Leach. While spearheading the Red Raider special teams, he also coached Wes Welker to national prominence as a punt returner. He then transitioned to Texas State University as the head coach and his offense was rated the top in the Southland Conference; ranked first in the league and seventh in the nation in 2003, averaging 443.4 yards per game and 26.2 points per game. The Bobcat offense went on to set 17 school records.

Matsakis’ collegiate coaching experience also includes stints at the University of Wyoming, Emporia State University, Kansas State University and Hofstra University. While at Kansas State, Manny worked closely with Hall of Fame coach Bill Snyder who steered the Kansas State program to the greatest turnaround in college football history.

He also found success outside of coaching serving as the founder and CEO of American Football Monthly, a trade journal that was created to help coaches improve in the profession.

Matsakis attended Capital University where he was a three-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference performer. He went on to be drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1984 and was awarded the Young Alumni Honor by Capital University in 2001. He graduated from Capital in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology and holds a Master of Science degree from Kansas State University.

Manny and his wife, Elizabeth will bring their six-year-old son with them to Defiance. Coach Matsakis has two older children, Meredith who lives in New York City and Michael who is a student at Duquesne University.