Matt Sparks embraces ‘humanistic’ side of coaching at Notre Dame

By RICHIE HALL
Early on during his coaching tenure at Notre Dame, Matt Sparks learned a lesson in how to be an effective leader: It’s better if you don’t try to do too much.
Sparks figured that out quickly, and is now using that knowledge as the Irish’s Hatherly-Piane Director of Track & Field and Cross Country. The Noblesville native just finished his second year as director. Sparks has the direct responsibility of coaching the women’s distance runners, then has the support of five assistant coaches who oversee the other divisions of the program. Sparks believes it’s no different than being the head coach of other sports.
“In college football, you’ve got a head coach and they’ve got six to 10 position coaches,” said Sparks. “I’m still intimately coaching 15 to 20 athletes, but I’ve got 100 athletes under my leadership.”
Sparks said he gives 100 percent of the coaching control to his assistants over their event groups. He does have interaction with those athletes, but it’s more of a “how was your day” discussion, or as Sparks puts it, the humanistic side of coaching.
“I still have oversight of the throwers, but as the director I rely on the assistant coaches with the Xs and Os,” said Sparks.
When he started at Notre Dame in 2014, Sparks was coaching both the men’s and women’s distance runners. While the Irish women were having a high level of success, cementing themselves as a top 10 team, the men were struggling to finish in the top five in their region.
“What we learned at that time was, you can’t coach 50 to 60 people and be on a national stage,” said Sparks. Another assistant coach took over the men’s distance program, and Sparks could focus solely on coaching the women.
Sparks has known about running at a high level for over three decades. He was a multiple all-state honoree in both cross country and track at Noblesville High School, where he finished in the top five in the state cross country meet three times.
After a successful career at Indiana University, Sparks stayed with the Hoosiers for three years as an assistant coach, then was an assistant at Ohio State for two years. Sparks then spent 12 years as the cross country coach and assistant track coach at Southern Illinois, where he became the winningest cross country coach in history for the Salukis, winning several Missouri Valley Conference titles and coaching 51 conference winners along the way.
Sparks found success at Notre Dame right away, as he coached a national champion in his very first season. Molly Seidel, then a junior, won nationals at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 10,000-meter run, this after earning All-America honors at the Indoor Track and Field and Cross Country championships. Seidel would win the national cross country title in her senior year, then two national indoor championships in the 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs.
More success has followed, including national championships in 2019 for the men’s track team, with the Irish winning the indoor distance medley and Yared Nuguse placing first in the outdoor 1,500-meter run. Add this to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championships and high finishes by teams in the various NCAA national meets, and Notre Dame has established a high standard over the years.
Sparks said that managing the expectations of the incoming freshmen to Notre Dame is a challenge. Many of the student-athletes that enter the university are national-caliber athletes, “the best of the best across the board,” said Sparks. And not just in athletics, but in academics as well. They’re used to being highly successful, straight-A students in high school.
Of course, college is different.
“You’re not going to get straight As in college, and 95 percent of our athletes got straight As,” said Sparks. Thus, one of the things that he might have to help a student do is navigate the experience of getting that first B. Same goes for athletics, as Sparks said the majority of the athletes on the team were state champions.
“You’re going to lose every day in practice,” said Sparks. “Learning how to be successful without winning is a challenge for athletes, because the majority of the athletes at the collegiate level were winners in high school.”
“Getting comfortable with being a role player is something Notre Dame does well,” said Sparks. “With our Catholic tradition, everyone is conditioned to be more nurturing and caring. A little bit more of a humanistic side to campus life than other places I’ve worked. Where ever you finish, you’re getting a hug from your teammates. You’re getting a high five from your coaches.”
Sparks said his coaching philosophy changes based on where he is. One difference he noted between Notre Dame and other schools at which he worked was that when students got to South Bend, they were ready for college.
“They know how to matriculate their way through a university,” said Sparks. “They’re just falling in line with the family lineage.”
Sparks said that the Xs and Os of coaching in any sport have become similar. Instead, it’s the culture that makes the program.
“What you find when you dig deeper in the program is the passion and the feelings that people have for their program,” said Sparks. “They have a circle of support that can’t be broken.”
That circle includes everyone: Coaches, parents, teammates and the university rallying behind a team.
“We’ve got such a circle of support from everything to academic support services to the medical team, to the coaching staff,” said Sparks. “Everybody’s going to do what they need to do for you to be a successful person.”
Life skills are a big part of what Sparks teaches as well, saying that young people are educated on life skills that they need to adhere to in order to be a successful college student, “then they can properly navigate the college athletic world.”
Sparks said once an athlete gets past his or her freshman year and moves into sophomore year, that’s when athletes start to see themselves develop. Freshmen usually rely on their high school experience, but at the same time they’re dealing with all the big changes that happen when they get to college.
“The anxiety of being away from home, your high school friends,” said Sparks. “Dorm life is a challenge. Everything is a challenge and everything is new.” But once athletes get comfortable with their surroundings, that’s when they being to grow as athletes, and then as people.
Sparks usually meets these young people when they are 17 and, he said, barely able to have conversation. But by the time they’ve had few years in college, “they’re initiating the conversations with coaches,” he said.
And of course, seeing a student-athlete years after his or her graduation is a gratifying experience for Sparks.
“Probably the biggest reward for me is reconnecting with them when they’re 25 of 30,” he said. “Seeing how much they can change in 10 years.”