Matthew Driscoll () is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

who is currently

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the

University of North Florida The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sch ...

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

. Before coming to UNF, Driscoll spent twelve years as an assistant at

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

Valparaiso University Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana. It is a Lutheran university with about 3,000 students from over 50 countries on a campus of . Originally named Valparaiso Male and Female College, Valparaiso Universit ...

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

and the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

. In a May 2008

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

survey of his peers, Driscoll was rated as one of the top 10 assistants in the country.

Career

A native of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Driscoll is a 1992 graduate of

Slippery Rock University Slippery Rock University, formally Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (The Rock or SRU), is a public university in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. SRU is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The university ...

. From 1993 to 1997, he was the head coach at

LaRoche College La Roche University is a private university in McCandless, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1963 by the Sisters of Divine Providence as a Roman Catholic college and now sits on an campus in McCandless within the Diocese of Pittsburgh. History ...

in Pittsburgh. He is a board member of the

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, head men's basketball coach at the University o ...

(NABC) and a former president. His first stint as a Division I assistant was the 1997–98 season under

Larry Shyatt Lawrence Alan Shyatt (born April 8, 1951) is an American basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shoot ...

for the

Wyoming Cowboys The Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Wyoming, located in Laramie, Wyoming, Laramie. Wyoming is a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW) and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 17 ...

, which resulted in a trip to the NIT. He then followed Shyatt as an assistant for the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...

from 1998 to 2003. While at Clemson, Driscoll help lead the Tigers to the 1999 NIT finals and three wins over the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

, including one when the Heels were ranked number 1 in the country. In 2003, Driscoll spent seven weeks with Scott Drew at

before Drew accepted a job with the

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only two private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior to j ...

, and Driscoll followed. At Baylor, Driscoll's primary responsibilities included on-court development, scouting, recruiting, and administrative duties.Matthew Driscoll Profile - Baylor Bears Official Athletic Site - BaylorBears.com
/ref> In his six years there, Driscoll helped revive the program from tragedy and NCAA sanctions. Baylor went from struggling under NCAA sanctions for his first several years, to making the NCAA tournament for the first time in twenty years in 2008. In 2009, Baylor lost in the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

Tournament finals to Missouri, and won four games in the NIT before losing to

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

in the NIT finals. After one of the toughest rebuilding projects in college basketball history, Baylor finished with 21 wins in 2007–08 with wins over Notre Dame, South Carolina and Texas A&M, and 24 wins in 2008–09 with wins over defending national champion Kansas, Texas and Georgetown. In 2009 Driscoll was hired as head coach of the

North Florida Ospreys The North Florida Ospreys are the athletic teams of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida. The Ospreys compete in the ASUN Conference in NCAA Division I. UNF became a full-fledged member of Division I in 2009; previously, the Osp ...

, succeeding

Matt Kilcullen Matt Kilcullen (born October 31, 1954) is an American Director of Athletics at Mercy College, formerly college basketball coach and athletics administrator at the University of North Florida. He served as head coach of men's basketball at four sc ...

. He is the team's first coach since the

completed its transition into

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

sports. In the 2010–11 he led the Ospreys to their first appearance in the

ASUN Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Divisio ...

playoffs, in their second season of tournament eligibility. They upset

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida. Located in the city's Arlington (Jacksonville), Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College u ...

and

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. Although it is part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the university is governed by an institutional Board of Tr ...

to advance to the championship game, but were defeated 87–46 by

Belmont University Belmont University is a private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporated in 1951 as Belmont College. It be ...

. During the 2011–12 season, Driscoll coached the team to a school record 16 wins in a season, and first-ever season sweep of cross-town rival

. In the 2014–15 season, Driscoll coached the team to a new school record of 23 wins. He also guided the school to the first ever A-Sun regular season championship and was named Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year. The team then won the 2015 ASUN Conference tournament and earned their first ever bid to the NCAA tournament. After the season, he agreed to a 4-year contract extension to remain the team's head coach through 2022. The Ospreys' success continued in the 2015–16 season, winning the Conference regular season championship again. Driscoll and his staff were named Atlantic Sun Coaching Staff of the Year for the second year in a row. Driscoll and his wife, Carrie, have two sons.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

Andy Katz: Matthew Driscoll is up to the task as the men's head basketball coach at North Florida - ESPNPittsburgh native Driscoll aims to beat Robert Morris in NCAA tournament - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
{{DEFAULTSORT:Driscoll, Matthew 1964 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Pittsburgh Baylor Bears men's basketball coaches Clemson Tigers men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in the United States Junior college men's basketball players in the United States North Florida Ospreys men's basketball coaches Slippery Rock men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Pittsburgh Valparaiso Beacons men's basketball coaches Wyoming Cowboys basketball coaches