Matt Hine has been named the new head varsity football coach at Southern Wayne. He spent last season as the team’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. (Submitted photo)
DUDLEY — The interview panel selected to find a new Southern Wayne head football coach required three critical criteria — teach kids in the right manner, stress accountability and build character.
Matt Hine is their choice.
The Saints’ defensive coordinator and linebackers coach last fall, Hine succeeds Frank Coston, who was dismissed last November.
“When the job came open, I saw it as an opportunity to work in a place that I’ve already grown to love and my kids love,” said Hine, who is the ninth head coach in program history. “The progress I saw the kids make this past year just kind of fueled the fire within me that this is a program with a lot of potential. I’m super excited to get working with the kids.”
Southern Wayne finished 3-7 last fall, including a season-ending victory over county rival Charles B. Aycock. The five-point triumph snapped a 41-game skid in conference play that dated to 2016.
Hine said the focus is to expand on last year’s success.
It’s also a challenging task.
The Saints have experienced only one winning campaign since they claimed the Eastern Carolina 3A championship outright in 2007. The 2011 team finished 6-4 and advanced to the postseason.
The program’s past history doesn’t concern Hine.
Instead, he’s interested in grooming coachable student-athletes into high-character young men who know how to conduct themselves in and out of the classroom.
“[They’re] kids who say ‘no sir’ and ‘yes sir,’ and take their grades serious … kids you think about who would make great captains,” Hine said. “If you want to be a high-quality football player at a place where the competition level is high, you need to make sure you love it and approach it like you would anything in your life that you love and have passion for.
“That means doing the little things over and over day by day, doing the work it takes to get good grades, make sure you’re in the weight room and take advantage of the opportunity to take another step forward next year compared to the step you took this year.”
Southern Wayne, according to Maxpreps.com, is projected to return more than 60 percent of last year’s roster for the 2023 season.
Hine plans to meet with the players this week.
“Time to hit the ground running and get moving,” Hine said.
