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Ed Mathey continues to leave an indelible mark on Northern Illinois baseball as he comes into his eighth year at the helm as the program's all-time coaching victories leader (186-203-1) and has produced the four highest win totals in school history, along with helping 21 former players earn professional contracts since 2003. In his collegiate coaching tenure, Mathey is on the brink of his 400th win (391-374-3) and has led the Huskies to a legion of unprecedented team accomplishments and individual accolades, as he has helped produce 54 all-conference selections, 18 all-region players and four All-Americans in 16 years of coaching. Despite the fact that his 2009 squad narrowly missed the 20-win mark for the first time in his seven years as a Huskie, Mathey led an injury-riddled team to a 19-34 record, while he continued to compile impressive accomplishments and accolades. The first big win for the 2009 Huskies came in an 11-10 decision over host Mississippi State on Feb. 21, marking the first time in three tries since 1992 that NIU has defeated MSU. A week later, the Huskies knocked off a ranked opponent for the first time since 2001 by defeating Baseball America No. 15 Missouri, 5-2, on Feb. 28 at Arizona State's DeMarini Invite. The Huskies also continued their success against Illinois opponents by going 5-3 against intrastate foes, and own a 29-11 record over the past four seasons. Under Mathey, several Huskies peaked in weekly stretches to earn five Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week awards. The lone all-conference (second team) player from 2009 Jordin Hood took home two weekly honors and set career-highs in batting average, runs, hits, doubles, homers, RBI and steals. He also finished his junior campaign ranked in the top ten in several categories of the NIU record book. Hood produced one of the most prolific seasons in school history, tying for third on the single season all-time list with 76 hits, while also finishing fifth in runs scored (57), eighth in RBI (46) and tied for 10th in homers (10). Because of injuries, Mathey took advantage of the opportunity to give some freshmen valuable playing experience, as both Tom Barry and Jake Hermsen earned wins in their first career starts, while Troy White enjoyed a stellar season at the hot corner, and was even honored at Wrigley Field on April 15's Jackie Robinson Day. Rookie infielders Alex Jones and Alex Beckmann also exploited the opportunity for playing time to have solid seasons and gain great experience. Another rookie who relished in his new role due to injury was junior transfer Chuck Lukanen, who led the team with 79.2 innings pitched, 61 strikeouts and seven wins, which rank in a tie for eighth on the NIU all-time single season win list. Two veterans also made an impact on the field and in the record book last season, as they completed their careers under Mathey. Justin Behm finished his career ranked in a tie for second in home runs (25), he ranks fourth in walks (87), seventh in RBI (113), eighth in games played (178), and 10th in runs (122), while Pat Minogue finished his career ranked second in at-bats with 761, third in games played with 206, fifth in hits with 202, ninth in runs scored with 116, and he is tied for fifth with 37 doubles and seven triples. Mathey also introduced the Huskies to a whole new audience in 2009, as NIU played its first ever game in the Rockford, Ill. area on May 12 at the Rockford RiverHawks' Road Ranger Stadium. The first Division I collegiate contest at the three-year-old stadium was highlighted by two tape measure home runs off Hood's bat. Additionally, the 2009 team excelled in the classroom to keep pace with the rest of the NIU sports, as they helped extend NIU student-athletes' streak of consecutive semesters with a 3.0 or better cumulative GPA to nine. Mathey's 2008 team came within one victory of winning the Mid-American Conference West Division while matching the 2007 school record for Mid-American Conference wins (16) and posting the program's highest MAC winning percentage (.615). The team equaled NIU's best finish at the MAC Tournament with two wins, taking third-place and the Huskies' fourth-place overall finish in the MAC was their highest in 31 years.
Four Huskies earned All-MAC accolades last season as Behm earned a first-team selection while Andy Deain, Trevor Feeney and Jeff Thomas garnered second-team honors. Additionally, Adam Holdenrid was one of nine Division I recipients of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, a Huskie first. Four Huskies also received pro contracts in 2008 starting with Bobby Stevens (16th Round Baltimore Orioles) and Feeney (31st Round Detroit Tigers), who were both selected in the 2008 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. Matt Jernstad signed with the Joliet Jackhammers of the Northern League and Thomas signed with the Ottawa Rapidz of the Can-Am League. During the 2008 season, Mathey helped replace the four pros by inking the nation's No. 63 ranked high school recruiting class which was the best among MAC and Illinois schools. The 2008 campaign was full of great accomplishments as Mathey became the school's career coaching wins leader on March 22 with a 10-3 triumph over Buffalo. Deain led the MAC with 10 saves and topped the league with a school-record 35 appearances. The team led the conference with 83 stolen bases and set a school-record with a .963 team fielding percentage. Another significant feature from 2008 was breaking the NIU baseball attendance record as 4,600 fans turned out at U.S. Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, on April 16 vs. No. 29 Notre Dame. In conjunction with the White Sox, Northern Illinois raised over $65,000 for the NIU February 14 Scholarship Fund. Mathey's 2007 squad was the most decorated team in Northern Illinois history, notching a school-record 34 Division I wins and 16 MAC victories while equaling the overall school season record for wins and finishing in third-place at the MAC Tournament, just one win away from a championship berth. Individually, closer Matt German became the school's first Division I All-American (second-team ABCA and Ping Baseball) player and first national baseball award finalist, when he was one of five pitchers up for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award. He also earned a unanimous All-MAC selection, ABCA All-Mideast Region honors for the second consecutive season and finished his career as NIU's all-time saves leader. During the 2007 campaign, Mathey's team established several statistical records. While doubling as the team's pitching coach, Mathey mentored a staff that posted a Modern Era record for team ERA at 4.65, the lowest mark in three decades, and established the top team strikeout total with 398. Mathey made an immediate impact at Northern Illinois with a school record 34 victories in 2003 during his first season as skipper after taking the reins of a program that had never produced more than 28 wins in a season. The following year, Mathey led his squad to 31 wins, totaling a school-record 65 victories over a two-year span, while rewriting the school record book in several offensive categories. For his efforts, Mathey was named the 2004 Collegiate Coach of the Year by the prestigious Pitch & Hit Club of Chicago. Mathey's track record for developing players is illustrated by the 21 Huskies who have signed professionally and seven players who have been selected in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft during his tenure. At least one NIU player has signed a contract with a MLB team following each of Mathey's seven seasons at the school. In addition, Mathey has coached 21 MAC Player/Pitcher of the Week honorees, 16 All-MAC selections and three Freshman All-Americans during his seven seasons at NIU. The class of 2007 produced three pros, including German and fellow pitcher Mark Badgley, who both inked contracts with MLB teams following completion of their eligibility. Senior first baseman Scott Simon, the MAC's career hit king and a former Freshman All-America, also signed professionally. In 2004, a school-record four Huskies were selected in the MLB Draft. Following Mathey's first season, infielder Joe Mazzuca was a 12th round choice in the 2003 Draft. Mathey's players have earned recognition throughout his tenure while increasing the visibility of the Northern Illinois baseball program on the conference, regional and national stage. Last season, White was honored as a scholarship recipient on behalf of the Jackie Robinson Foundation at Wrigley Field on Jackie Robinson Day last April. In 2008, pitcher Holdenrid earned NIU's first ever Rawlings Gold Glove award. In 2007, Hood became the third Huskie player under Mathey to earn Freshman All-America honors and joined German and Jesse Seykora on the All-MAC team. In 2006, German became NIU's first ABCA All-Mideast Region selection and went on to repeat that achievement in 2007. During the 2006 summer season, Brandon Copp was the first Huskie in nearly two decades to play in the prestigious Cape Cod League. Additionally, the Huskies have received great exposure at the pro ranks as Mathey's teams have played at least one game at a professional stadium in each of the last five seasons, posting a 4-3 mark. The venues that NIU has played at include the Kane County Cougars' Elfstrom Stadium, the Frisco RoughRiders' Dr. Pepper Ballpark, the Chicago White Sox's U.S. Cellular Field and the Rockford RiverHawks' Road Ranger Stadium. Under Mathey's leadership, the Huskies landed nationally-ranked recruiting classes in consecutive seasons as tabbed by the Collegiate Baseball rankings in 2005 and 2006. Mathey has attracted some of the top talent in the Chicago area and has expanded past the state boundaries to sign athletes from across the Midwest. Success against intrastate competition has been a staple of the Mathey era at Northern Illinois. Over the last seven seasons, the Huskies have won 68 percent (51-24) of their games against Land of Lincoln foes, including a 29-11 mark against Illinois' Division I teams over the past four years. Despite fielding a team that had just five seniors, NIU posted an amazing 11-2 record (a .846 clip) against intrastate competition in 2006 and defeated each opponent at least once to claim the "state championship." Mathey is not shy about scheduling top-notch competition across the country. Northern Illinois has hit the road to take on nationally-ranked teams including Arizona State, Nebraska, Texas Tech, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Mississippi State, Oregon State, Missouri and Florida Atlantic. This year's opponents include Arizona State, CSU-Bakersfield, Cal-Poly and UC-Santa Barbara. Under Mathey, NIU players have exemplified the term student-athlete. Simon, a two-time Academic All-MAC selection, was selected as one of 30 candidates for the 2007 Lowe's Senior CLASS Baseball Award presented to the nation's top student-athlete. A total of 47 baseball players have been recognized by the university as Victory Scholars or Huskie Scholars and the Huskies have produced four Academic All-MAC honorees under Mathey. Mathey, who earned his 300th career coaching victory in 2006, spent nine seasons as head coach at North Central College in Naperville, Ill., before coming to Northern Illinois. At NCC, Mathey compiled a 205-171-2 mark and was twice named College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Coach of the Year while he and his staff produced Division I caliber teams at the Division III level. Under Mathey's guidance, the Cardinals won three league titles and earned a NCAA Central regional runner-up finish and No. 15 national ranking in 1998. Mathey coached 38 all-conference selections, 16 all-region honorees and three All-Americans at NCC and seven of his players signed professional contracts. A former All-CCIW pitcher at North Central, Mathey spent five seasons as the pitching coach at his alma mater under Tom Purcell from 1989-93. In addition to his duties as an assistant, and later head coach, Mathey served as a physical education instructor and had stints as assistant athletics director and director of intramurals. Mathey graduated from North Central in 1986 with a B.A. in marketing and business management and a minor in computer science. He went on to earn his master's degree in athletic administration from the University of Illinois-Chicago in 1991. Following his playing career at North Central, Mathey worked in the Cincinnati Reds organization as a recommending scout, where his duties included assisting area scouts with camps and tryouts while endorsing players he had seen during the season. Mathey landed his first coaching role as a player/coach for the Newport Rams Baseball Club in Melbourne, Australia, from Sept. 1988 through April 1989, before returning to North Central as an assistant coach. A graduate of Thornton High School, Mathey's commitment to Illinois baseball goes beyond his own team with active involvement at the high school level. North Central's Alumni Field, for which Mathey had a major hand in fundraising and designing efforts, has served as the site of the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association's summer championships for the past 19 seasons as well as the host facility for five of the past seven area code tryouts for Major League Baseball scouts. Mathey is married to the former Colleen Byrne of South Holland. They have two sons, 14-year-old Patrick and 12-year-old Michael, and a daughter, 11-year-old Juliet. The Mathey File:
Coaching: Education: M.S., Athletic Administration.
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT ED MATHEY
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