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Longtime Division I Assistant Baseball Coach Matt Collins has been tapped to replace legendary Coastal Alabama North Head Coach Keith Griffin when he retires at the end of the 2024-2025 season. Collins, a 37-year-old Louisiana native, was a two-year letterman at, and later assistant head coach of, the University of Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks. He will join the Coyotes mid-season to shadow Griffin, who bookended a stellar career by leading the Brewton-based North team to the NJCAA Division II National Championship in 1998 and the ACCC State Championship in 2000 and more notably winning the 2024 ACCC State Championship in his second year back with the program.
“I told them during the interview that it was the smartest thing I’ve ever seen by an institution, to hire someone before their predecessor leaves,” Collins said. “Coach Griffin is a junior college baseball legend and I’m very excited to work alongside him.
“That will be a huge factor for us to sustain our success moving forward.”
Athletic Director Daniel Head was quick to praise Griffin, who resurrected the team and led them to incredible success.
“As an alumnus of this program, and former player of Coach Griffin, I have so much gratitude for the impact he has made for the program, players and the community of Brewton over the last three decades,” Head said. “We expect great things from the Coyotes this spring!”
Collins said he will move to Escambia County within the next two weeks, followed later this year by his wife Ainsley and their three children. The family plans on hitting the ground running, enjoying outdoor activities and attending area high school football games, which he loves.
“We’ll be getting out in the community and meeting people,” he said. “We’re going to basically be everywhere you can, other than inside.”
To say athletics have played a significant role in Collins’s life would be an understatement. His grandfather is in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, Collins’s father coached football at LSU during Nick Saban’s national championship run, and his brother is a head high school baseball coach, as well.
“My whole bloodline is coaching,” Collins said. “You’d think going to Christmas would be relaxing time to visit with family, but we’re sitting there the whole time competing with each other as to who’s the better coach.”
Success is also a part of his DNA. As a member of the LSU-Eunice Bengals, he helped the team win the 2006 NJCAA National Championship, and was named to the World Series all-tournament team. He then transferred to ULM, where he won the Sun Belt Conference Championship, starting 53 of 54 games and batting an incredible .421 in the final 21 games en route to the title.
“Coach Collins is without a doubt the right person for this position,” Head said. “We were looking for someone who first and foremost is a great person, along with being passionate about the game, a relentless worker and someone who would be a great fit in the Brewton community, and Coach Collins checks all the boxes.
“His wealth of experience in the coaching world and his network of resources should allow the program to continue to excel at the highest level. He has been a part of an NJCAA National Championship program and understand what it takes to get there. We look forward to welcoming Coach Collins and his family with open arms!”
Despite his pedigree, the Coastal Alabama Community College head coaching position is Collins’s first stab at the top spot, and Collins knows there’s plenty left to prove. Which is another reason he’s so excited to join Coach Griffin in the final few months of his tenure. “Coach Griff” has long touted what he called the “fifth tool” for his team, which is player toughness.
“I’ve grown up in a football world my entire life, and I think toughness is a lost art as far as baseball’s concerned,” Collins said. “So I’m bringing a football mentality to the baseball world, and when folks come out to watch us play, they’ll definitely see that we’ll be doing everything on and off the field to win each game.”
By the time he takes the reins in Brewton, a multi-million-dollar capital improvement project will likely be completed, outfitting Coyotes Stadium with a new press box, concessions and restroom building, and stands for the fans. That level of investment impressed Collins from the start, he said.
“I have the utmost respect for (Coastal Alabama Community College President) Dr. Milner, (Athletics Director) Coach Head and the rest of the administration,” he said. “They are doing an unbelievable job as far as raising money and updating facilities, and they have a clear direction their going in with the program and everything else, which is for it to be first class in every way, shape and form.
“You better believe I’ll be working every bit as hard as they do.”