On September 20, head coach of men’s soccer, Matthew Webb, reached a milestone of 100 wins in the victory against the Nazareth College Golden Flyers. Since the win, Webb said, “It’s been fun to reminisce and think about some of the guys who have come through the program all of these years.” Athletic Director Skip Lord said, “Anytime you have the milestone wins, in part it says something about longevity…but it’s longevity with excellence, longevity with success.”
Webb has been coaching for twenty-two years. He started his career at Houghton working in the Student Life Office in Student Programs and served as an assistant coach for women’s soccer for four years alongside current head coach, David Lewis. Then, under Coach Hornibrook, he was an assistant coach for the men’s soccer team for seven years. Now, he is in his eleventh season as the head coach of men’s soccer who are currently 4-3-2 overall and 1-0-1 in the Empire 8 conference. In addition to coaching, Webb is the Associate Athletic Director for the college and the men’s soccer chair for the NCCAA division. Over the years, Webb has provided leadership for the intramural sports program, served as a former Empire 8 conference chair, taught classes at Houghton, taught as an adjunct at other institutions such as Global Leadership for St. Bonaventure’s master’s program, and has been a member of board of elders at the Houghton Wesleyan Church.
Webb always sets high goals and standards for his team every season. Specifically, they want to win the Empire 8 conference, qualify for and win the NCCAA national tournament, and have a team GPA of over 3.2 with no individual GPAs below a 3.0. “I think if goals are not set at a high enough standard, they aren’t worth striving towards but they need to be attainable…something [we] can build towards,” said Webb. Additionally, as a team they want to support other sports teams on campus by attending at least one of their games. Webb thinks it’s important for his team to be disciplined academically, athletically, and spiritually. Because he desires to see spiritual development among his players, the team has mandatory devotions early on Friday mornings
With regards to coaching, Webb said, “The most rewarding thing is building those relationships with the players, seeing guys graduate from our program. Becoming husbands, becoming dads.” The success Webb has had is largely a result of the time he takes to relate to his players. Senior Matt Munkittrick said, “[He] makes a good effort outside of the soccer field to get to know the players and that helps in practice and in the games as well.” During preseason, the entire men’s soccer team is invited over to the Webb’s house for a picnic which lets his players know they are always welcome at his home because they are his “extended family.” Webb is often described as a “player’s coach” because he cares about the kind of men his players become and stays in contact with them after they graduate to see how they’re doing. Lord said, “One of the ways you can tell the impact of a coach has on their student athletes is how many weddings they’re invited to.” Usually, his summers are booked with plenty of former players’ weddings for his family to attend, so it’s safe to say Webb has made a large impact on many of the players he’s coached throughout the years.