When legendary North Carolina women's field hockey coach Karen Shelton decided it was time to hang up her whistle after 42 seasons, she left behind some incredibly big shoes for her successor.
The Tar Heels had just won their fourth national title in five seasons, and Shelton (who is the winningest coach in the history of the sport) led UNC to all 10 of the program's national titles. Recognizing the icon of the sport that they had in Chapel Hill, Shelton's name is attached to the stadium forever.
So when North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham set out to hire someone new to run the nation's most elite field hockey squad, he admits he had his sights set on sitting head coaches initially and even interviewed three.
However, who he ended up deciding on is something that we will almost surely never see in football, and perhaps will never again see in college (or maybe even high school) athletics.
Cunningham tabbed a former Tar Heel player who had her jersey retired after leading the program to an undefeated season.
The reason that's noteworthy?
Matson is just 22-years old, and that undefeated season was less than 90 days ago. She took off her jersey for the final time as a Tar Heel 75 days ago after leading the program to a national title. She owns all kinds of North Carolina records and was voted the top player in the sport three times in her five seasons.
“I didn’t ever think I’d hire a 22-year-old,” Bubba Cunningham shared with Sports Illustrated. “But I also didn’t think I’d hire a 67-year-old football coach, either."
In the article on SI, Pat Forde points out that Cunningham acknowledged the risk involved with hiring Matson, an undeniable legend in her own right, with the search committee, but added "if we support her, I think that risk is minimal."
It's hard to imagine the same type of hire happening in football, where college standouts have the ability to turn pro and go make a lot of money - a luxury not afforded to a lot of other sports.
That would be like Tim Tebow, or Stetson Bennett jumping right from player to leader of a major college football program at its peak. Inconceivable, right?
I suppose it could logically make sense for an NFL player to retire after an outstanding career and have all the perceived characteristics of a good head coach to slide in for a retiring coach (especially if that happens with Jim Irsay's Colts in the future...I kid.)
Sure, there was talk about Peyton Manning being able to hop in as a head coach as his retirement got closer and closer, and the Texans were absolutely roasted last January after they interviewed and flirted with the idea of veteran quarterback Josh McCown who was just a few years out from playing with zero coaching experience. Maybe Jerome Bettis could have stepped in for a retiring Bill Cowher.
All those are so hard to picture when put in a football context.
The most difficult thing for Matson in this new role may have nothing to do with what many would expect for the first-time head coach. It may be the same type of challenge that players in all sports encounter when they decide to go into coaching right away and have to transition from being a friend and kicking it with their teammates on the weekends to being in staff meetings and having to make tough decisions, or assist in making those decisions.
That's where this quote from the SI piece sticks out and it certainly seems that Matson is wise beyond her age and up to the challenge that lies ahead.
“It’s my responsibility and my job to set those boundaries, but I’m not coming in here to boss people around,” she shares.
“That’s not my job. I’m not here to sit and manage and bark orders. I’m here to convey my knowledge and help them discover it themselves. It’s all about how we can do that together. I need them to step up the game now that I’m stepping mine up. It’s going to take some time. We’re going to go through this together and see how it looks."