Change is happening in the Bluffton football program with the hiring of new head coach Matt Nardo.
Head football coach Matt Nardo in his office. Photo by Olivia Daugherty.
Nardo, who was born and raised in Ohio, found importance in returning to his home state. Before accepting the position at Bluffton, he worked as an offensive coordinator at North Carolina Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
“Coming to a place, like Bluffton, that shares my values also was very important,” said Nardo. “But also coming to a program that I thought we could be successful and that we could grow this into something very big.”
Nardo is using the acronym FAITH as a motto for the program. FAITH stands for “family over everything, attitude, integrity, toughness and humility.”
“Success is a daily choice,” said Nardo. “We all fall short of those choices at times, and we all fall off the path. There needs to be something there to pull you back and in my life those two things have been my family and my faith.”
From left to right: Blake Rine, Marvus McWright, Louden Saulbeamer, Mitch Young, Nick Perry in the Kiva. Photo by Olivia Daugherty.
The changes of the program have been felt by the players.
“The way that he runs things has brought a different energy and frequency around the program that I think has been really good for everyone,” said Nick Perry, a sophomore strength and conditioning major and linebacker for the Beavers.
“I feel like coach Nardo brings a competitive environment,” said Marvus McWright, a sophomore sports management major and defensive lineman. “When we’re in the weight room, it is ‘work, work, work.’ This is something we really didn’t have.”
Nardo is also implementing a point system, where the team is divided into nine groups called “platoons.” The point system is to teach the players valuable life lessons.
“In life there are going to be times where we are going to win and when we are going to lose,” said defensive lineman Mitch Young, a junior education major. “You need to know how to do both. It’s teaching us what the perks of winning are and how to handle losing. I feel like that is important because it is building the character of people on our team.”
Each platoon has two leaders, and the groups complete different challenges to earn points, such as earning the title “Lifter of the Week.”
“The guys work as a team,” said quarterback Blake Rine, a freshman graphic design major. “We have ‘Dress up for success Monday,’ where if you post a picture on Twitter with your professor, you earn two points.”
Nardo is also including the Bluffton community as a way to earn points.
“When the big snowstorm came through, coach Nardo texted all of us and said ‘Hey, if you guys shovel people’s driveways, for every driveway you will get 10 points,’” said Louden Saulbeamer, a senior strength and conditioning major and linebacker. “Just going out and doing community service in the community.”
According to Nardo, the future of Bluffton football is in the hands of the players.
“The future is going to be as bright as our young men want to make it,” said Nardo. “I plan on growing this program just as we’ve grown this university—as something different than what it has been. To bring new life to it and to bring a different level of excitement back to it, something our alumni can be proud of.”
