GC’s Swanson moves into permanent role
Matt Swanson had the chance to learn about his team and players on the fly this season when he took over as interim head coach midway through the year for the Gordon Central girls basketball program. Now, he’ll get a shot to lead the program on a more permanent basis.
Swanson was officially named the head coach of the Lady Warriors recently and will lead the program going forward. The veteran coach took the reins midway through the season after the resignation of former head coach Erick Hopper, who was in his fourth season at the school, and impressed his superiors enough to warrant the full- time hire.
“We are excited to announce Coach Matt Swanson will return next year as our head girls basketball coach,” said Gordon Central High principal Doug Clark. “His time with our girls this season was a win-win for both our program and our girls. He was able to build on the foundation built over the past few years, and our athletes gained trust in the process as the season progressed. I believe he is the right person for our program at the right time, and I look forward to seeing where he leads our program over the next several years.”
Swanson has coached basketball for 18 years, including a stint as LaFayette High girls head coach from 2004-2012. He said he looks forward to the opportunity to lead the Lady Warriors.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to be the head coach at Gordon Central,” said Swanson. “Taking over in January gave me a chance to really assess the situation. The first thing I noticed was how great the girls are. They play really hard and were really accepting under a very difficult circumstance. I became their biggest fan.”
Swanson credits two coaches with having a big influence on his philosophy. He said his time working with Craig Parrott, who was the head coach at UTC previously, and also his time working with Jay Williams, who is now at Ooltewah High (Tenn.) He said they taught him the importance of getting players to play hard and appreciated everyone that plays for him, works with him or has a child playing for him.
Swanson said his players should expect him to have a positive attitude and outlook as they aim for success with a new plan going forward into next season.
“I think the players should expect me to be ultra-positive,” said Swanson. “The team and style will look a lot different than the last month. I learned what they knew because that made the transition easier. Next year we will push the ball more and be a little more aggressive on the defensive end of the floor. I believe in order to be successful we have to practice hard, play hard and have high expectations. We have to compete every day we are on the floor. I want the girls to enjoy playing basketball and to expect to be successful.”
The Lady Warriors finished the season with a 8-15 record. They have won 34 games over the last four seasons. Swanson said he believes the program can be turned around in the near future and become playoff contenders, but that starts with building the program up starting with the players and a young age.
“My goal is to build the Lady Warriors basketball program into region contenders and State qualifiers every year,” said Swanson. “In order to do that, we have to be on the same page with our feeder school and really work together as a Lady Warrior program. I feel that I have a great relationship with (Ashworth Middle Girls) coach (Melanie) Moore, and I look forward to building the program together.”
Swanson is married to Kesha Swanson and has two sons, Landon and Hayden. He said one of the biggest things he wants to instill in his players is respect others and treat people well, which is what his parents have taught him.
“I want to win more than anyone, but if I can teach my players those two character traits and encourage them to be great students, then I feel that I have done a great job.”