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As he enters his seventh campaign at Northern Illinois, Ed Mathey is the NIU baseball all-time coaching victory leader and has produced the four winningest teams in school history along with 21 professional players. Along the way, Mathey has led the Huskies to a bevy of unparalleled team accomplishments and individual accolades. Mathey's 2008 squad 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 Justin 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. Four Huskies also received pro contracts in 2008 starting with Bobby Stevens (16th Round Baltimore Orioles) and Trevor 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 Jeff 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 recruinting class which was the best among MAC and Illinois schools. The 2008 class figures to be a key component to this year's team. Last season was full of great accomplishents as Mathey became the school's career coaching wins leader on March 22 with a 10-3 triumph over Buffalo. Andy 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. The Huskies also continued their success against Illinois opponents and own a 24-8 record against intrastate foes over the past three seasons. 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 six seasons at the school. In addition, Mathey has coached 25 MAC Player/Pitcher of the Week honorees, 15 All-MAC selections and three Freshman All-Americans during his six 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. In 2007, Jordin 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 the 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. 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 six seasons, the Huskies have won over 70 percent of their games against Land of Lincoln foes, including a 24-8 mark against Illinois' Division I teams over the past three 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 and Florida Atlantic. This year's opponents include more collegiate baseball powers with games against Mississippi State, Arizona State, Oregon State and Missouri. 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 37 baseball players have been recognized by the university as Victory Scholars or Huskie Scholars and the Huskies have produced four Academic All-MAC honorees. 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, 13-year-old Patrick and 11-year-old Michael, and a daughter, ten-year-old Juliet. THE MATHEY FILE
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WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT ED MATHEY "Playing for Coach Mathey during my collegiate career was a great experience both on the field and off. He was a mentor to me on the field and helped me off the field with academics and with my personal life. Coach Mathey was always there for me 24 hours a day and not just when we were on the field and between the lines." - Matt German, NIU All-American pitcher currently in the Philadelphia Phillies organization "I played for Coach Mathey for four years (at NCC and NIU) and he has helped me tremendously during my time playing for him and afterwards. I can honestly say I would not have had the opportunity to play professionally without him. What I learned from him has helped me be successful both in college and in pro baseball He is one of the most loyal coaches you will find in Division I baseball." - Joe Piekarz, former NCC and NIU pitcher and former Oakland Athletics farmhand "Coach Mathey has an excellent rapport with his players and institutes an excellent mentor program among the members of his team that really aids individual player development. He does a great job in making use of each of his players and their individual skills. He utilizes all the players on his roster by getting them productively into games." - Bob Szymkowski, Area Scouting Supervisor, Philadelphia Phillies "It is always a pleasure to see Coach Mathey's teams play. They are certainly well prepared and have a winner's mentality and an edge to them that you know the game is never over. I have had the privilege of meeting some of his players and I know his kids respect him greatly and he has a great relationship with them. I am confident in recommending anyone there." - Pat Murphy, Arizona State Head Coach "When you play one of Ed Mathey's teams you face a team that is well-coached in all areas of the game and has an approach that shows that they enjoy playing. They play hard, will come after you and are not intimidated. Coach Mathey does a great job with his team and his players do the things you want them to do - pitch well, play good defense and enjoy playing the game. Playing his team is always a good test for us because they won't come in and roll over. " - Larry Hays, Texas Tech Head Coach
MATHEY YEAR-BY-YEAR
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