Craig Matthews takes over as boys head coach at Grand Oaks High School in Spring.
Craig Matthews has already opened up one soccer program in Montgomery County.
After unforeseen circumstances at Grand Oaks, the first-ever Porter girls soccer coach now has the opportunity to do it again with the Grizzlies boys team.
Grand Oaks’ original boys soccer coach, Steve Allan, had to step down from his post before the new year for medical reasons. Shortly thereafter, athletic director Mike Jackson turned to Matthews, who was an assistant coach for the Grizzlies’ girls team.
Matthews is now the second coach at Grand Oaks who has previously opened a program, joining volleyball coach Morgan Rogers, who opened Tomball Memorial.
For Matthews, the opportunity to open another program didn’t feel like a coincidence.
The new boys coach said he was able to work with the team on fill-in duty last November. Until a couple weeks ago, that was the only opportunity he had to coach them.
Matthews says Allan laid a good foundation before he had to step down.
Now at the top of the program, Matthews is working on installing his philosophy. After last weekend’s third-place finish in the inaugural Grand Oaks Cup, he believes there is still work to be done.
The Grizzlies are not playoff-eligible this season, so there is more time than usual for Matthews and his players to become acquainted with one another.
In its inaugural season, Grand Oaks will play a schedule made up mostly of junior varsity games. The schedule will include contests with current members of District 20-5A, the field the Grizzlies will join next season. Those games will provide an early look at how the new team will fit in once it is playoff-eligible for the first time.