Matt Botsford, ranked ninth nationally among active Division I coaches in career winning percentage, has been named UCF volleyball’s 10th head coach, Vice President and Director of Athletics Terry Mohajir announced Saturday.
Botsford spent the past 11 seasons at Florida Gulf Coast where he led the Eagles to four consecutive Atlantic Sun Conference Championships, including four consecutive, and five NCAA tournament appearances. He also guided the Eagles to their first NCAA First Round win (in its first appearance) in 2018.
“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Matt and his family to Knight Nation,” Mohajir said. “As one of the winningest active coaches in Division I volleyball, Matt brings a proven track record of success that will elevate our program to new heights. His strong recruiting background at the highest collegiate levels, combined with his international coaching experience, will serve our program well as we compete in the Big 12. His accomplishments at FGCU and deep understanding of the regional and national recruiting landscape made him an ideal fit and we are excited for the future of UCF volleyball under his leadership.
“I want to acknowledge Chris McFarlane, deputy AD, our search committee and Katy Young Staudt (Turnkey Search), for conducting a comprehensive national search to identify the right fit and ideal leader for our volleyball program.”
In Botsford’s tenure as a head coach, he has accumulated a 263-78 (.771) career record and was recently named the 2024 America Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Southeast Region Coach of the Year. He has taken the FGCU program to heights it has not seen in the Division I era (2007-present), registering at least 20 wins in nine of the past 10 seasons (excluding COVID 2020) and at least 10 wins in conference play every year.
“The opportunity to lead UCF volleyball is a tremendous honor and I would like to thank President Cartwright and Terry Mohajir for entrusting me with the task,” Botsford said. “Their vision for the future is exciting and I am looking forward to getting started and contributing to that journey. UCF is a premier institution in a premier location with an athletic department committed to excelling at the highest level. I believe that combination positions us for success and opens up endless possibilities for what we can accomplish here.”
The Eagles finished the 2024 season with a 27-5 record and ranked third in the NCAA for aces per set (2.11). Botsford’s squad tallied 263 aces throughout the season, which ranked sixth in the nation.
FGCU made its fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament after cruising through ASUN conference play with a 15-1 record. His squad led the conference in nearly every statistic, including kills per set (13.66), hitting percentage (.263) and opponent hitting percentage (.168).
In his 11 seasons at FGCU, he garnered three ASUN Coach of the Year honors and mentored a total of 61 players that have earned ASUN All-Conference awards, including seven players tabbed ASUN Player of the Year. Additionally, seven have earned AVCA All-Region selections and three All-America honors.
In 2017, Botsford’s first recruit, Amanda Carroll, became the program’s first AVCA First Team All-Region selection, while also garnering First Team All-ASUN, ASUN Co-Player of the Year, ASUN Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year and CoSIDA Academic All-District recognition. Snowy Burnam, who also played beach volleyball, became just the second player in NCAA history to be named her conference’s freshman of the year in both indoor and beach volleyball.
Botsford, who played at Tri-State University (now Trine University) from 1995-98, has served as an assistant coach at five different collegiate institutions, with the most recent occurring at Colorado State University from May 2012 to February 2014. While there, he helped lead the Rams to two consecutive conference championships and NCAA Tournament berths. On top of that, the program also recorded a program-best 27 consecutive wins in 2013.
Before his time at Colorado State, Botsford was the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at Notre Dame and Miami, in addition to stints at IUPUI and the University of Indianapolis. Furthermore, he served as an interim head coach at his alma mater at the age of 21 and has international and national coaching experience.
Botsford was the lead recruiter at Notre Dame from February 2008 until July 2011, and his 2010 and 2011 classes were ranked 13th and 15th, respectively, nationally by media outlets. The Fighting Irish advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2009 after winning the Big East title and going undefeated through the conference schedule (14-0). In total, he coached two All-Americans and six All-Big East performers – including the 2010 Big East Freshman of the Year Andrea McHugh – during his time in South Bend.
Prior to his three plus years at Notre Dame, Botsford cultivated relationships with players and coaches throughout Florida, as he served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Miami for nearly four years from June 2004 to February 2008. He helped solidify two of the highest-ranked recruiting classes in the relatively short history of the program, signing at least one top-100 rated player in each of his final three years and the first top-50 recruit for the Hurricanes.
During his time with Miami, Botsford coached two All-Americans and five All-ACC players. In addition, he recruited Lane Carico, who was named the 2011 ACC Player of the Year. Carico supplemented a core group of starters Botsford recruited who led Miami to three straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
Botsford got his start in coaching by serving as the interim head coach for both the men’s and women’s volleyball programs at Tri-State from November 1998 through June 1999. He parlayed his experience in those roles into an assistant position at the University of Indianapolis where he was for one year (June 1999 - May 2000). His final stop before heading to the University of Miami was as an assistant at IUPUI from May 2001 until June 2004, coaching two-time Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year Rebekah Pallikan.
Outside of the collegiate landscape, Botsford also has a vast array of experience. In the year between his stints at Notre Dame and Colorado State, he was the head coach of Lindesberg Volley as part of Sweden’s Elite Series, leading the club to a first-ever league title and automatic representation in European Cup play. While with Lindesberg Volley from August 2011 through May 2012, he coached four players who went on to play for Sweden’s National Team.
The foray into Sweden wasn’t the first for Botsford as he played professionally with the Vingaker Volleyball Club in the country in 2002-03, the final of his three professional stints. In the collegiate offseason, he also played from 1998-2003 on beach tours with both the MPVA and the EVP, the latter of which named him the league’s Rookie of the Year in 2000.
Botsford was selected as an assistant coach for the 2007 USA Select Program, which trains elite volleyball players in preparation for the U.S. National Team. In his one year as part of the program, Botsford guided his team to a bronze medal in the HP Global Championships as the head coach of the USA Silver team.
Botsford was a two-year captain at Tri-State and graduated with a degree in social studies education and a minor in general science. Botsford was a two-year captain who graduated and was the program’s all-time leader in kills, digs and blocks when he graduated. He was named an All-American Scholar Athlete as a senior and was inducted into the Tri-State Hall of Fame in 2006. He received a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Indianapolis in 2004.
Botsford and his wife, Lindsey, have a daughter, Harper and a son, Cache.