CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston College head football coach Jeff Hafley announced on Tuesday the hiring of Phil Matusz as the head strength and conditioning coach for the football program. Matusz joins BC after a six-year stint with the Ohio State football program.
“Being able to work alongside Phil at Ohio State, I was able to see the positive impact he had on the development of our student-athletes and our football program,” said Hafley. “We could not be more excited to have Phil leading our strength and conditioning program here at BC Football and we welcome him and his wife Jillian to our BC football family.”
Matusz just completed his sixth season with the Ohio State football program after initially joining the program’s strength and conditioning staff as an assistant coach in February 2014. He was promoted to associate director, strength and conditioning, in 2017.
Matusz helped the Buckeye football program win the inaugural College Football Playoff national championship in 2014 and four Big Ten Conference championships, including three straight from 2017-19.
He came to Ohio State from the Main Line in Philadelphia where he had worked two seasons as the head football strength and conditioning coach at Villanova, his alma mater.
Matusz had two stints at Villanova; the first coming after the National Championship season in August 2010 when he was an intern in the strength and conditioning program, and the second beginning in 2011 after he returned to be the Head Olympic Strength and Conditioning Coach. He was quickly promoted just a year later to work with the football program. In between his time at Villanova, Matusz was an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at North Carolina A&T.
A native of Greenville, Pa., Matusz’s programs at Villanova covered all aspects of performance, including strength training, speed, agility, conditioning, flexibility, mobility, soft tissue work and nutrition. In addition to working with the football program, he also designed programs for men’s and women’s lacrosse, baseball, softball, volleyball and women’s soccer.
A standout on the football field, Matusz was a three-year starter on the defensive line for the Wildcats and the team captain of Villanova’s 2009 FCS National Championship team. For his efforts in 2009, Matusz was a CSN honorable mention All-American and a second-team All-CAA honoree.
In his five years with the program (2005-09), Villanova posted a 41-19 record, including a 24-4 mark in his final two seasons.
Matusz is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He also is a Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES) through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and a Level 1 Sports Performance Coach (USAW).
Matusz is married to Jillian Byers, of Long Island, N.Y.
