Tom Matukewicz Position: Assistant Coach/Linebackers Experience: 2nd Season at NIU Alma Mater: Fort Hays State, 1994

Linebackers' coach Tom Matukewicz begins his second season at Northern Illinois and his 10th year as a member of Head Coach Jerry Kill's coaching staff in 2009.

In his first year in DeKalb, "Coach Tuke" was part of the defensive coaching staff which turned the Huskies' into the number one scoring and total defense in the MAC, and one of the top 20 units in the country after ranking near the bottom of the league defensively in 2007.

The Huskies boasted the second-most improved scoring defense in the nation in 2008 as they allowed 18.0 points per game, down from 30.8 the year before. NIU also led the league and ranked 17th nationally in total defense and was fifth in the country in pass defense.

Matukewicz spent seven seasons at Southern Illinois with Kill from 2001-07. He was honored as the 2007 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association after helping turn the Salukis into one of the stingiest rushing defenses in the country.

SIU held its opponents to a rushing average below 135 yards per game every year from 2002-07, as the Salukis had three of the top 10 rushing defenses in program history during that time.

Matukewicz has coached an impressive group of student-athletes who excelled both on and off the field. In seven years at SIU, Matukewicz's linebackers earned all-conference honors nine times, while five garnered all-academic recognition.

Matukewicz's pupils included Bart Scott, Royal Whitaker and Brandin Jordan. Scott earned All-America honors at SIU in 2001, and enters his eighth season in the National Football League in 2009, having moved from the Baltimore Ravens to the New York Jets during the offseason. Whitaker started four seasons for Southern Illinois, and earned all-Gateway honors three times. Jordan, the Gateway Conference's 2006 Newcomer of the Year, ranked third on the team in tackles in 2007, garnering second team all-conference accolades.

That season, Jordan was joined on the All-Gateway team by Chauncey Mixon; the team's leading tackler earned Sports Network All-America status.

Matukewicz's most prolific linebacking corps played in 2004, forming the heart of a defense that gave up only 101.7 rushing yards per game, led the nation in scoring defense and allowed just 13.2 points per game. His 2005 group was also notable, helping SIU rank 13th in the country in rushing defense.

Before coaching at Southern Illinois, Matukewicz coached at Emporia State, where he acted as the defensive line coach in addition to responsibilities as the marketing and promotions director. He has also made stops at Butler Country Community College, Coffeyville Community College and Pittsburg State, where he earned his master's in sports management.

A native of Silver Lake, Kan., Matukewicz completed his undergraduate work at Fort Hays State, receiving his bachelor's degree in physical education in 1997.

Matukewicz and his, wife Lenna, have one daughter, Georgia (2).

ABOUT MATUKEWICZ

College
M.S., Pittsburgh State, 1998
B.A., Fort Hays State, 1997

High School
Silver Lake (Kan.), 1992

Birthplace
St. Joseph, Mo.

Birthdate
August 5, 1973

Coaching Experience