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Matt Akins...Head Coach
Akins, 28, was hired this week as the successor to Gary Hall, who resigned last month as soccer coach after 18 seasons at Barton. “I am very excited about the opportunity to come to Barton and Wilson,” Akins said. “It is a great opportunity to come into an established program. Coach Hall has made a very good name for the school, so I hope to excel from there. I think our chances for success are very high because the people I am going to work with in the athletic department at Barton are already very successful.” Akins comes to Barton from another NCAA D-II school, Lincoln Memorial University (TN), where he was an assistant coach for the men's and women's soccer programs for the past two seasons. He helped lead the LMU men to a 30-5-4 record during his tenure, including a trip to the D-II Final Four in 2006 and the Gulf South Conference Tournament Championship in 2005. The LMU ladies were 25-9-2, winning the Gulf South tourney title in 2005 en route to the NCAA Tournament. The previous two seasons, Akins was an assistant at the University of Kentucky , where he was a volunteer assistant coach for men's teams that went a combined 23-12-5, winning the Mid-America Conference championship in 2003 and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. He was earning his master's degree in Sports Management while coaching at Kentucky . “I am extremely pleased that Matt Akins will be joining our staff,” said Hall, who has retained his duties as the school's Director of Athletics. “He will perform two very important jobs for Barton as our new head men's soccer coach and our athletic admissions coordinator, a new position which will greatly enhance our overall recruiting efforts. He emerged from a pool of 60 applicants and had a very successful interview on campus.” Akins was a midfielder at LeMoyne College (NY) from 1998-2002 and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and a minor in Business Administration. He also played baseball in 1998-99 for LeMoyne, traveled with the LeMoyne soccer team on the England Summer Tour in 2001 and played for the Adirondack soccer team in the New York Empire State Games in 2000. Akins holds his United State Soccer Federation (USSF) National “B” Coaching License and is currently pursuing his “A” License. He has coached several Olympic Development and Classic level soccer teams and has directed the Wadhams Hall Seminary College Catholic sports camp in Ogdensburg , N.Y. , since 2004. Akins has also served as an adjunct professor in the Physical Education department of LMU for the past two years. “The players I met while at Barton were very good kids,” Akins said. “I am really looking forward to working with them and the rest of the staff on a daily basis. It is a good atmosphere with a very good all-around athletic program, so I want to be a part of that family.” Akins is thankful that Hall had already signed a solid recruiting class so he had hit the ground running. “I plan to bring a lot of energy, along with knowledge of the game, to Barton,” Akins said. “My strengths will be my youth and energy level. Plus, I have played for and coached teams at the top of the Division II level, so I am excited to work with a team of this caliber. Recruiting is mostly done, so I just want to develop a trust with the players right away and make this transition as smooth as possible.” Akins and his fiancée, Bridgette, made their visit to Wilson together and fell in love with the city. Their wedding is scheduled for July 28. “Bridgette and I are very excited about coming to Wilson and beginning our life together there,” he said. “ Barton College and Wilson are places we felt we belonged right away.” “Matt had a number of things that we were looking for regarding this coaching/admissions position,” Hall said, noting all the experience Akins has had at the ODP, Classic and collegiate levels as a player and coach. “He was able to meet with a number of our current players as part of his interview and established a good rapport with that group. “After coaching this team for 18 years, it is very important to me personally who I would pass this baton to, and I feel very good about the fact that Coach Akins will be the person to lead our Bulldogs.”
Onyeador moves into an assistant coaching position with the Bulldogs on the heels of five years on the team. Including medical red-shirt year, he played four years for Barton and won the job as the team’s starting goalkeeper in 2001. Injuries kept him out of action in 2002 and he eventually made the transition to playing in the field. He led the 2005 team in assists from the left back position. He was a Dean’s List student at Barton and was named to Who’s Who Among American College Students in his senior year.
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