Lo-Ma Football Coach Matt Straight Calls It a Career

Lo-Ma Football Coach Matt Straight Calls It a Career -

(3-9-26) – “Ground-Straight” is stepping away from the sidelines.

Logan-Magnolia Head Football Coach Matt Straight announced last Friday that will is resigning from that position for the upcoming season.

“Now is probably a good time,” Straight said in a phone interview with KNOD Monday. “I think it's a good time for me and it's probably a good time for that somebody else tries this and throws some more passion into this… anytime there's a change, there's enthusiasm. I think that's good and I think that's going to be a good thing for the football program.”

Straight has been with the Panthers for the past 25 seasons, able to coach his alma mater after leading them back-to-back State Championship Games, winning the title in 1990. He would coach them in the playoffs 18 times and including to their second State Championship in 2014.

But some of the memories he thought about were those teams that came just short of the big prize.

“Early in my career, man, we had some great teams in ‘05, ‘06, ‘07, and we just couldn't get past, a state championship St. Albert team or West Lyon team one of those years. You know, I was saying the other day, those seasons where you thought, man, we had a chance to go deep and maybe win it and we just, we just, fell short in the playoffs, probably the hardest because we had some really talented teams, especially back in there.”

Straight is grateful for the relationships he’s built, the children he’s instructed, and people he’s been in contact with over his tenure.

“I always tell the kids, I've learned just as much from them as they've learned from me because man, high school kids are really talented and they're really special and they all have their strengths and if we're not taking what they do great and trying to spread that across the team, then I think we're failing as coaches.”

Logan-Magnolia will begin the search immediately for Straight’s replacement.

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