TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama volleyball head coach Rashinda Reed has announced the hiring of Nathan Matthews as an assistant coach on the Crimson Tide staff following three seasons as head coach of the Wittenburg Tigers men’s volleyball team.

“It did not take long for Coach Reed to get me fired up about what the future holds for this program,” Matthews said. “The support offered to student athletes at Alabama is unmatched. Beyond that, I have been blown away by just how special the entire Alabama family is. I am so grateful to Coach Reed for this incredible opportunity and I cannot wait to prove what we can do. LANK!”

At Wittenburg, Matthews was responsible for creating a dramatic turnaround for the men’s volleyball program, giving the Tigers its first back-to-back 15+ win seasons since the program’s start in 2016. For his efforts, Matthews was named as the MCVL Coach of the Year in 2023 and 2024 in his second and third years, respectively, as coach of the Tigers.

In 2023, Mathews led the Tigers to its first MCVL Regular Season Championship and the team received votes in the AVCA Top 15 Coaches Poll for the first time since 2016. Last year, Matthews brought the Tigers to an undefeated conference record for the first time in school history, earning a second straight MCVL Regular Season Championship.

Before his time as a head coach, Matthews spent two seasons as a technical coordinator with Kentucky women’s volleyball where he was in charge of video breakdown and analytics, contributing to the Wildcats’ 2020 National Championship run.

As a player for Wittenburg, Matthews was a part of the first ever men’s volleyball team in school history in 2016. The Ohio native was able to close out his playing career with the first conference regular season title in program history.