Louie Matsakis, who served as assistant coach at the University of Kentucky Wildcats for seven years, has been tabbed as the new head coach of Caldwell University Sprint Football (CUSF) program, today Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics Mark A. Corino announced.
Matsakis takes over the program following the retirement of Jim Kelly, who guided the Cougars for the past six years. The Cougars compiled back-to-back 5-2 seasons and CSFL North Division second place finishes during Kelly’s time at Caldwell. In the last three years, the Cougars have gone 12-8 (.600).
Matsakis served as special teams analyst for Kentucky from 2016-2022. There, he coordinated all aspects of the program’s outstanding special teams unit, which, in 2019, led the NCAA in net punting yards and featured Ray Guy Award winner Max Duffy.
“We are fortunate to have someone with the background and connections within college football of Louie Matsakis to take our sprint football program to the top of the Colligate Sprint Football League (CSFL),” Corino said in a press release. “He has coached at the highest levels of the collegiate game, and we were even more impressed with him as a person, his passion for the game, and his commitment to the success of our student-athletes. We welcome Coach Louie and Cori and their three children to the Caldwell University family.”
In addition to having recruited extensively in New Jersey, Matsakis has a further connection to the state: his brother Jim is the head coach at Jefferson High School in Morris County.
Furthermore, he is feverishly chomping at the bit to make his mark on the CUSF program.
“This is an exciting time for me and my family, and I’m looking forward to getting to work right away in building on the success that the Caldwell University Sprint Football program has experienced,” said Matsakis, who will also serve as an athletics administrator for the department. “I have spent a lot of time recruiting the New Jersey prep scene, and I’m confident that we can attract many of the best student-athletes in the region and bring the program to even further heights on and off the field.”
Sprint Football is a full-contact, intercollegiate, varsity sport and has the same rules as regular college football, except that all players must weigh 178.0 pounds or less. The league has been in existence since prior to World War II.
There are currently eight teams playing in the CSFL: Army West Point, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Cornell University, Mansfield University, the U.S. Naval Academy, the University of Pennsylvania and St. Thomas Aquinas College.
— Jerry Del Priore
Photos: Caldwell University Athletic Department.
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