Arcanum alum Matt Macy named Trojans new head football coach
ARCANUM – Matt Macy, former Cross County Conference player of the year at Arcanum-Butler High School returns home to lead the Arcanum Trojans football program.
“I’ve lived here since 2008 when I moved back from St. Louis and I always had it in the back of my mind if it came open I would go after it,” said Macy. “I was at a point at Ansonia that I loved it. This is really the only coaching job that I would have left Ansonia for. It came open, I took the opportunity.”
Macy, a 1996 Arcanum graduate earned All-Conference honors and was Second Team All-State his senior season playing football for the Trojans.
After a year at Miami University Macy transferred to the University of Dayton where he was a three year starter for the Flyers football program earning All-Pioneer Football League honors his junior and senior year.
Macy has an impressive coaching career beginning at Chaminade Julienne as the JV football coach and varsity offensive line coach following graduation from UD.
Rock Island, Illinois’ Augustana College, home of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, Kenny Anderson was next for Macy where he coached one season.
Macy’s next coaching stop was McKendree University located near St. Louis, Missouri where he was an assistant football coach for six years followed with six years serving as an assistant coach at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana.
Macy returned to Ohio and the CCC accepting the athletic director position for Ansonia High School and the assistant coach under legendary football coach, Eugene Hoening. Following Hoening’s retirement Macy stepped into the role of Tigers head football coach for the past three seasons giving him an eight year stint at Ansonia.
“Coaching under Coach Hoening was probably the best coaching experience of my life – he’s awesom,” said Macy. “I am so glad he’s back helping Adam (Hall). Coach Hall (Ansonia alum and new Ansonia football coach) is great too. That staff is going to be hard to deal with.”
Coach Macy will be assisting Arcanum Athletic Director, Abbey Moore and will be the training and conditioning coach for all Trojans sports.
“I’m excited to work for Abbey here at Arcanum,” Macy stated. “I think she is the best AD in the conference – she’s awesome. I get to do what I really love which is the training and conditioning part of coaching. I really get to focus on that with the students in the classrooms.”
Coach Macy takes over a program that graduated a good number of seniors from the 2021 season.
“Coach Schondelmyer had the program in the right direction, had a great year last year,” he said. “Lost some quality players, obviously lost a guy to transfer. There is a ton of good players coming back and they work hard – my kind of guys.”
“I think we are going to be good up front. We’re going to lean into what they do well. They threw the ball a lot last year so we are not going to go wholesale into what I have always done. We’re going to lean into what they do well which is throwing the ball a little bit but we’re going to run the ball. We’re going to focus on creating a great run game but we’re going to be balanced. We’re going to be able to do both.”
“We have 32-35 kids right now which is perfect,” added Macy. “We’re going to be able to have a JV team. I would like to grow that but that will come with time. We’re at a great number and we’re at a great spot. “It definitely is not a rebuild year – this is a reload for sure.”
Coach Macy and his wife Heather have four children. Aiden now graduated, Mollie Erickson an Arcanum incoming senior is a returning volleyball and softball starter and is on the track and field team, MJ will be a three-sport eighth grader playing football, baseball and track and Addie will be a three-sport seventh grader participating in volleyball, basketball and track.
“I want to thank my wife for pushing me to it,” Macy said of his move to Arcanum High School. “She said you really need to consider this. She has stood behind me in this process. I also want to thank the administration here, Mr. Stephens (Superintendent), Mr. Stephan, (High School Principal), Mr. Vance and Abbey Moore. They really worked hard to make this work, to make this fit for me that I could come here and make it work for my family.”
