Coach Profile: New Iowa State Women’s Soccer Coach Matt Fannon

A new era is beginning for the Iowa State Women’s soccer team. Previous head coach Tony Minatta resigned on October 29th. His record over his six seasons as head coach was 33-71-6, with a conference record of 7-40-4. The team has only been to the big dance one time which was all the way back in 2005, in hopes of reviving the program, Iowa State has decided to hire Matt Fannon from Bowling Green in hopes of turning things around.

Figuring out the Fannon

What is Matt Fannon going to bring to the program? If we take a look at his past three seasons at Bowling Green, it looks like a whole lot of dubs. Fannon went an impressive 41-18-7, with a conference record of 26-6-1. Needless to say, that is eye-popping and should get Cyclone fans excited.

With those wins came some hardware. Fannon won Coach of the Year all three years in his tenure at Bowling Green, boasting three conference tournament finals appearances, two of which ended in victories, and two NCAA tournament appearances. He brought them lots of success and he brought it FAST.

How quickly the success came is impressive if you’re starting out a well set up program, but that wasn’t the case at Bowling Green. Before Fannon the Falcons last winning season was all the way back in 2008! To take that kinda of program and turn them into a back to back conference tournament winners is outstanding.

This shows Fannon is no stranger to a rebuild, and is able to bring results in quickly. This shows a lot of promise of bringing another Cyclone sport into the spotlight, with loyal fans and a growing soccer presence in the state of Iowa in general. this could be the perfect storm to get this program back on track and into the win column.

From what I’ve been able to gather from watching interviews with Fannon, hes got a great mind for the game, a solid motivator and is someone who’s aware of what he’s up against. It will be no small task to bring the Cyclones into the soccer promise land in the Big 12, only three teams posted records under .500 this year in the Big 12. However I believe this is a great hire for the Women’s soccer program and a big get for the Iowa State community as well.

If I could ask Matt one question, it would be a question I’ve pondered for many years. Why on earth are Bowling Greens colors orange and black, when the word green is already right there in the universities name? Anyways, here’s to a successful future and more to come from the Iowa State Women’s Soccer team

If you haven’t already, go show Coach Fannon some Cyclone love, and what it’s like to be part of the best fan base in the country.