Feb. 22, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame head volleyball coach Debbie Brown announced recently the addition of Matthew Botsford to the Irish coaching staff. Botsford will be an assistant coach at Notre Dame after serving in a similar role at the University of Miami since the 2004 season.
“I’m really excited about the addition of Matt Botsford to our staff,” said Brown. “His passion for the game of volleyball is contagious. He’s a coach who loves the sport, loves teaching, and loves the profession of coaching. His versatility in teaching any area of the game will contribute greatly to the coaching staff. He is one of the best – and hardest working – recruiters in the country and I know he will help us tremendously in this area.”
During his four-year tenure with the Hurricanes, Botsford’s primary coaching responsibilities dealt with the development of the outside hitters and middle blockers, and the coordination of off-campus recruiting and scouting.
Botsford made his way to Miami courtesy of IUPUI, where he spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Jaguars. As part of the IUPUI coaching staff, Botsford helped lead a number of players to success on the court, including two-time Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year Rebekah Pallikan.
Prior to his three-year stay at IUPUI, Botsford served as the interim head coach for both the men’s and women’s teams from 1998-99 at his alma mater, Tri-State University. He then ventured to the University of Indianapolis where he was an assistant coach during the 1999 season. He has also spent time as a coach with Circle City Volleyball Club (Ind.) and Prairie Heights High School (Ind.).
In the spring of 2003 he enjoyed a professional volleyball career with the Vingaker Volleyball Club of Sweden. He displayed his all-around skills by emerging as one of the team’s most prolific player, leading the squad in blocks and hitting percentage throughout the playoffs. Botsford helped guide Vingaker to the finals of the Swedish Elite Series and a berth in the European CEV Cup for the first time in the team’s 30-year history.
He competed on the Midwest Professional Volleyball Association (MPVA) beach volleyball tour from 1998-2003 and was named to the 2001 MPVA “Dream Team”, which was comprised of the tour’s top six players. Botsford also spent time on the Extreme Volleyball Professionals (EVP) Amstel Light Tour and was named the EVP Rookie of the Year in 2000. In 2002 as a member of the Surf City Volleyball Club, he won a bronze medal at the USAV Open Championships in Dallas, Texas, and was named to the all-tournament team.
This past July, Botsford served on the coaching staff of the USA Volleyball Girls Select A1 Team for the 2007 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Botsford graduated from Tri-State University in 1998 with a degree in social studies education. As a student-athlete for the Thunder, he led the school to its first NAIA/MIVA Championship in 1998. In each of his four-years at Tri-State, Botsford was an all-conference and academic all-conference selection. He finished his collegiate career as the school’s all-time leader in kills, blocks, and digs. Tri-State inducted him into its Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.
He received his master’s in business administration from the University of Indianapolis in 2004.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for me to have the chance to work with Debbie Brown and Greg Smith on the Irish staff,” said Botsford. “Both are coaches for whom I have a great deal of respect. I’m very familiar with the success and tradition of the Notre Dame program. I am really looking forward to working with an extremely talented team and being a part of the Notre Dame family.”
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