LAKE CHARLES – It's a new era in McNeese football, one that some might say is a "Back to the Future" moment, but to new head coach Matt Viator, who was named the 19^th head coach in school history and was officially introduced on Wednesday in front of hundreds of fans and supporters, it's an opportunity to start a new standard of McNeese football with resources the program has never seen in school history.
 
Viator comes to McNeese after spending three seasons assisting the staff at Louisiana-Lafayette, and before then, as the head coach at ULM.
 
"I was fortunate enough to build on standard that was set a long time before I got here by great coaches and great players (his first stint as head coach from 2006-15)," said Viator who was also the 14^th head coach in school history. "What I'm interested in doing is starting a new standard, in other words, hopefully the same results but setting a new bar for us and moving this thing forward with what we have here now."
 
Viator's top priority is putting together a staff of high-quality coaches that will be able to communicate to and teach the players, and emphasized he's not looking for just McNeese people.
 
"I heard the other day that I'm just going to hire McNeese guys, that's not true," he said. "Do I like to hire McNeese guys? Absolutely. No question. But if you go back and look at the staffs we had here that I worked on, for every Lark Hebert, for every Lance Guidry, for every Slade Nagle, and those guys what they did for this program was phenomenal. We had Manny Michel, we had Broderick Fobbs, we had Landon Hoefer, we had Arte Asselta. Go down the list. Chris Hampton, who's the DC at Oregon now. What I try to do here, which has been passed down from Coach Keasler to Coach Bruchhaus and Coach Tate, what we've all tried to do is, I want somebody that actually has a regional knowledge and a regional presence and they appreciate what this place is about. They appreciate McNeese and Lake Charles more than 'you have to be a McNeese graduate'.
 
"What I've done the last couple of days is putting together a football staff, that to me, is the number one priority of a head football coach. I'm so blessed through the years to have been able to work with some remarkable people. That's the starting building block for me is to put a staff together. I want someone with high character and understand it's about the players and not about them (coach). Second, they understand about the culture here at McNeese and will embrace it. Number three, I've always tried to talk to people and get a good feel of people because you have to have good communicators. You have to have people who can teach. But more than that, you have to be able to take young men, or a recruit, and be able to communicate and be able to bring the message to them. Last thing I always look for is what do they know about football. I've always thought, if you don't have those first several things, it doesn't matter what you know about football.
 
"I'm going to go out and try to get the best people we can. I want people to embrace McNeese and Lake Charles and feel what I feel about this place."
 
Viator stated he has talked to current members of the football staff and will continue to do so and met with the players on Tuesday and challenged the team to have an open mind about the change and to take a little time before coming to a conclusion about their future.
 
"Obviously we're going to have to manage the transfer portal," said Viator. "I told them this yesterday, I want everybody in this room to come back. They're McNeese football players, and when I signed the line with (McNeese President) Dr. (Wade) Rousse on Monday saying I'm the McNeese football coach, they are my players. The notion of 'I gotta get my players', these are my players and I'm going to do everything I can with those guys. I also challenged them and asked them 'how many people in here think there are going to be a few changes?' You have to be willing and change and do a few things different and as long as you're willing to do that, I want you to stay here and I will do everything I can to give you a shot and make this happen."
 
Wednesday was also signing day for college football and the Cowboys signed three players – wide receiver Kevin Rideau Jr. out of Westlake High School, offensive lineman Eric Aschenbeck from Blinn Community College, and defensive back Jared Quenga out of American River Community College.
 
"The coaches here did a phenomenal job, their professionalism and what they've done with this process. What I did was get on the phone. If we have promised somebody that they could sign today, then we signed them. We reached out to the kids that McNeese has talked about and talked to. I appreciate the staff. I appreciate Aaron Ingram and all the coaches for their professionalism and the process we went through in the last couple of days."
 
Viator stated current players that have entered the portal also attended Tuesday's team meeting.
 
Matt Viator McNeese Fast Facts
• 2007, 2007, 2015 SLC Coach of the Year.
• 2006, 2015 Louisiana Coach of the Year.
• 2006, 2007, 2015 FCS National Coach of the Year Finalist.
• 78-33 won-loss record during previous stint, tying with Bobby Keasler as most wins in school history.
• 78 overall victories tied as 3rd-most in Southland Conference history.
• 54-18 all-time Southland Conference record.
• .703 winning percentage 7th-best all-time in Southland Conference.
• .750 SLC winning percentage No. 3 all-time in league history.
• 54 SLC wins are a conference record.
• 2 Undefeated Regular Seasons (2006, 2015).
• Ranked in FCS Top 25 poll in 85 of a total of 108 weeks and received votes in 17 of the other 23 weeks.
• Ranked in the Top 10 in 42 weeks and the Top 5 in 12 weeks.
• Highest ranking was No. 2 in the final two weeks of the 2-15 season.
• Coached 36 All-American selections.
• 135 All-Southland Conference selections.
• 54 All-SLC 1st Team selections.
• 46 All-Louisiana selections.
• Coached the 2006, 2007 and 2009 SLC Player of the Year.
• 2008 and '13 SLC Offensive Player of the Year.
• 2008 and '15 SLC Defensive Player of the Year.
• 2010 SLC Newcomer of the Year.
• 2015 Louisiana Defensive Player of the Year.
• 2009 Louisiana Offensive Player of the Year.
• 2009 Louisiana Newcomer of the Year.
• Won 10 or more games in three of his 10 seasons and never had a losing season.
• Averaged over 8 wins a year.
• A 2021 McNeese Hall of Fame Inductee.
 
More on Matt Viator
On Monday, McNeese Vice President and Director of Athletics Heath Schroyer announced the hiring of Cowboy Football legend and Hall of Fame coach Matt Viator to return as the head coach for the Cowboys, a position he held from 2006-2015 and recorded a school record 78 wins, four Southland Conference titles, and five playoff appearances.
    
He was selected Southland Conference Coach of the Year on three occasions. Viator also was named a finalist for National Coach of the Year honors three times.
    
During his tenure as head coach, McNeese averaged nearly eight wins per season and never finished with a losing record. His 78 wins are tied with Bobby Keasler for the most in program history. Viator produced an impressive 54-18 record (.750) in Southland Conference games during his 10 seasons, and his 54 league wins are the most in SLC history.
    
In 2015, Viator led the Cowboys to a 10-0 regular-season record and an appearance in the second round of the FCS Playoffs against Sam Houston State. It marked the fifth time in McNeese history that a team had posted a perfect regular-season record and the fifth time a squad had produced double-figure wins in a season. Viator, who led the Cowboys to a perfect 9-0 record in Southland Conference play, was named the league's Coach of the Year. He also was a finalist for both the Eddie Robinson and STATS FCS National Coach of the Year awards.
    
A total of 13 McNeese players were named All-Southland following the conclusion of the 2015 regular season. During his tenure in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Viator had a total of 97 players earn All-Southland accolades, including 53 named first-team all-conference selections.
    
The three-time Southland Conference Coach of the Year helped develop three SLC Players of the Year, two SLC Offensive Players of the Year, two SLC Defensive Players of the Year, one SLC Offensive Lineman of the Year, one SLC Newcomer of the Year, and two SLC Freshmen of the Year. Viator also had a total of 28 student-athletes earn All-Academic honors from the Southland Conference and five earn Academic All-America recognition.
    
McNeese nearly pulled off a monumental upset in the 2014 season opener at No. 19 Nebraska, but the Cowboys fell just short as Ameer Abdullah scored on a 58-yard touchdown reception with 20 seconds to play in a 31-24 Cornhusker win. The 70,000-plus in attendance gave a standing ovation to the visiting team.
    
The 2013 season saw the Cowboys post their second 10-win regular season under Viator at the time, eighth in school history, when they finished 10-3, including a 6-1 record in the conference. And for the second consecutive year, McNeese defeated an FBS opponent when it clobbered South Florida, 53-21. It was the first-ever win for McNeese over a BCS conference opponent. That win set a NCAA record as well as the 53 points scored by the Cowboys were the most-ever scored by an FCS team over a BCS team while the 32-point margin of victory also was an NCAA record.
    
His teams were ranked in the Top 25 in six of the last eight seasons and climbed to as high as No. 4 in the national polls for a couple weeks late in the 2013 campaign.
    
His offenses led the league in scoring five times, and in 2013, McNeese set school single-season records for total points scored (520) and ended the regular season ranked No. 4 in the nation in scoring offense, averaging a league-best 42.5 points per game. The Cowboys also set a school single-season record by scoring 50 or more points in five games.
    
Viator took over head-coaching duties four games into the 2006 season and led the Cowboys to a 7-5 record as they captured the Southland Conference title and appeared in the FCS Playoffs. He served as the team's linebacker coach in 1999 before assuming offensive coordinator duties in 2000.
    
Viator launched his coaching career at the high school level, first as an assistant coach for two seasons at Sam Houston High School from 1986-88. He spent 10 seasons as a high school head coach, including stops at Vinton (13-9 record from 1989-90), Jennings (38-12 from 1991-94) and Sulphur (30-16 from 1995-98). Viator won nearly 70 percent (81-37) of his games as a high school head coach, winning one state championship and five league titles while averaging more than eight wins per season. He was twice named Louisiana High School Coach of the Year (1992 and 1998).
    
His late father Nolan Viator was a three-time letterman (1959-61) at quarterback and two-time captain (1960-61) at McNeese. As a senior in 1961, he was named team MVP after leading the Cowboys to a 7-2 record and the Gulf States Conference Championship. Nolan, who later served as the backfield coach for the Cowboys for five seasons from 1982-86, was inducted into McNeese Hall of Fame in 1998.
           
Viator and his wife Schantel are both McNeese graduates.