Isabella Franchi | Staff Writer | ifranchi@mail.smcvt.edu
Matt Akins with Marshall Murphy,’24, at the Block M ceremony last May.
Recently hired Director of Athletics Matt Akins has established a new plan that follows the three C’s. “We want to be successful in the campus, the community, and the classroom. No one is more important than the other,” said Akins.
St. Michael’s College’s former Director of Athletics, Chris Kinney, changed roles and now serves as the executive director of Stewardship and Leadership Giving. This position change allowed Akins to step up into a bigger role as Director of Athletics.
“He opened my eyes in a lot of different ways, on how to lead and how to be there for coaches and our student-athletes. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to work for him and continue to work with him in a different capacity,” said Akins.
Currently, Akins is working long hours and weeks to figure out his new job, with some challenges along the way. He has many hopes for the future of the athletic department. One is “to provide a platform for our students to continue to excel while keeping who we are at Saint Mike’s,” said Akins.
One of the challenges Akins is working through is filling missing spots. The athletics department has had staff part ways, and it is put on Akins to fill the voids for now and permanently. Akins is actively looking to fill those jobs and positions to complete the department.
“That is probably one of the biggest things I am working through right now, just trying to be there and make sure you as a student-athlete have the same experience as you would have if we had all been here,” said Akins.
In the coming weeks, Akins will announce the names of the candidates he is bringing in for these positions via email and social media.
While the department searches for new staff, Akins is left to take on the tasks the missing staff would usually handle. This spreads his time thin, however, this has not stopped his commitment to showing up and supporting each team.
While Akins does a lot behind the scenes for athletes, his main goal is prioritizing athletes’ needs. Makayla Blake, ’25, a fifth-year on the women’s basketball team, has seen a lot through her time and is excited for a fresh start for the athletics department.
“Matt Akins has a lot on his plate, but has never not been willing to help us as student-athletes and people first,” said Blake.
Akins was always around athletics growing up.
“I just enjoyed playing sports,” Akins said. He played soccer at Le Moyne College in the NE10 conference so he had always been familiar with St. Michael’s College from his collegiate career.
Akins started his coaching career as an assistant coach at Lincoln Memorial, a Division II college in Tennessee. He later moved to North Carolina to continue with a head coaching job at Barton College. He was also part of the Administration, and Compliance, then moved up to Assistant Director of Athletics.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) forced him to choose between coaching one team or an administration job.
“I just knew I wanted more,” said Akins when asked what made him decide administration over coaching.