Mike Vukovcan Back on June 14th of 2024, Matt Mottes saw his role with the Hopewell High School football team drastically change.
Originally, Mottes was hired by then head coach John Rosa to become Hopewell’s defensive coordinator. That changed later in the summer as Rosa was hired to become athletic director at Winchester Thurston High School.
Now, instead of just worrying about how to try the opposing offenses and coming up with a gameplan to do it, Mottes was now in charge of running the entire program.
Considering this was his first head coaching position and although he still received plenty of assistance and valuable advice from Rosa, Mottes was learning on the job.
All things considered, 2024 was a success as Hopewell came within a game of qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2012 and Mottes and his staff laid a solid foundation and a culture for future teams.
With the start of Hopewell’s season just 29 days away, Vikings Sports Now spent some time last night with Coach Mottes and asked him about a number of topics that we’ll be writing about in the upcoming days.
First thing we discussed was his situation entering year two as a coach and how he’s different, what he learned and the direction of the Hopewell Vikings football program.
“Last year, I was hoping that our team would be competitive,” said Mottes. “This year, I fully expect us to be competitive. We lost some games last year in the second half and two or three of those we could’ve, not saying we should’ve, but could have won. This year, when we get in a tight game, I’m going to expect us to win those types of games.”
Team aside, I followed up by asking how is Matt Mottes the head coach different today then he was a year ago?
“Obviously, I have to adapt to my players. I’ll pick up a little of their personality and hopefully they pick up a lot of mine. As far as how strict I am, I don’t know if I’ll change, I might be a little stricter and harder on them because we have a big bullseye on our back this year. People are expecting us to be good and to be honest, we haven’t really done anything to deserve that type of credit.”
“But I also know the kids better. I know which ones need a hug and I know which ones need a kick in the rear end. That’s something that is different than last year because this year I know the players I’ll need to put my arm around.”
Coaching football is nothing new to Mottes as he’s served as an assistant for plenty of years with different programs. Being a head coach and the man in charge was a change and a learning experience for Mottes.
“It’s important to surround yourself with good people, trust them, listen to them because they only have your best interest at heart. If it’s the boosters, your assistant coaches or the leaders on your football team, you have to trust them.”
2024 was also different for Mottes because it didn’t end with a team that he was part of winning. Being a former Aliquippa player and as an assistant with various other programs, winning has always followed and it’s in his DNA. After laying the groundwork last season, Mottes is looking forward to what’s in the future for Hopewell Vikings football, not only this year but in the years to come.
“Believe it or not, I liked to fly under the radar, I like to shock people,” said Mottes. “I’ve had different conversations with different coaches and all I hear about is how good we should be. That’s great and I’m glad everyone else has that expectation for us. Hopefully we meet our goals, and we can play up to our expectations and what everyone’s expectation are for us and the ones we’ve set for ourselves.”
The Hopewell Vikings will open the 2025 season on the road when they travel to Riverside (August 22nd), which will be followed by the home opener on August 29th against New Castle.
