Sam Houston State's Matt Powledge to join ULM coaching staff

Sam Houston State running backs coach and special teams coordinator Matt Powledge will be ULM's new special teams coordinator and tight ends coach, according to a source.​

Sam Houston State running backs coach and special teams coordinator Matt Powledge will be the new special teams coordinator and tight ends coach for Louisiana-Monroe coach Matt Viator, according to a source.

This past season was Powledge’s second in his positions at Sam Houston State, where he helped the Bearkats’ high-powered offense finish first in the FCS in 2015 in total offense (531.7 yards per game). The program was also ninth in the subdivision in rushing offense (254.5 yards per game).

Powledge tutored Kansas transfer running back Corey Avery, who had 1,483 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns on 194 carries this past season as the Bearkats made the FCS semifinals for the second straight year. In Powledge’s first season, he helped punter Lachlan Edwards and kicker Luc Swimberghe make FCS All-America teams.

Before Powledge’s return to Sam Houston State, his alma mater, he was a defensive graduate assistant at Kentucky for a season while also serving as assistant special teams coordinator. That was after he worked as Northwestern State’s running backs coach in 2012.

Powledge was at Southeastern Louisiana from 2010–11, first as a graduate assistant and assistant offensive line coach for a season before being promoted to tight ends coach his final year. A Huntsville, Texas, product, he played for Sam Houston State from 2006–09.

The underrated Viator was hired as Louisiana-Monroe’s coach in mid-December after registering a 77–33 record in 10 seasons at McNeese State, including a 10–1 mark this past season.

He replaced former Warhawks coach Todd Berry, who was fired in November amidst a 1–9 start. Louisiana-Monroe finished with a 2–11 record this past season, including a 1–7 mark in the Sun Belt, and had one of the FBS’s worst offenses.

Berry had a 28–43 record in his six seasons with the Warhawks, which included a lone bowl appearance in 2012.