10 Questions with Washington Co-Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach Matt Lubick



Matt Lubick grew up in a football family as the son of Sonny Lubick, the former head coach at Montana State and Colorado State. The younger Lubick joined Coach Petersen's staff this offseason as the Huskies' new wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator. He was born in Bozeman, Mont., and played at Western Montana, where he was an NAIA All-America defensive back. Among others, he's coached at Oregon State, Arizona State and Oregon in the Pac-12 Conference.

You grew up with a college football coach as your father. Do you recall a time when you realized that this was unusual?

"It was an awesome deal, as my dad always made it a point of including me in everything he did as a way to spend time with him. I enjoyed sports, hanging out in the locker room, going on road trips. It was good family. I wouldn't say it was unusual because I didn't know anything else."

When did you figure out that you'd like to coach?

"I went to school to be a dentist, and the last year of my pre-dental school, I was getting burned out and wanted to give coaching a shot."

What stands out about the UW so far?

"Great people, a positive atmosphere and just how welcoming people are."

What impact do you think your time in Montana had on you?

"There are a lot of great people in Montana. It's very close-knit. People are very friendly. A lot of great coaches have come out of Montana. The family values carry over to football — work ethic, finishing jobs and not taking things for granted."

How does playing defensive back in college, and having coached them, impact how you coach receivers?

"It's huge in terms of understanding how to attack an opponent. When you're teaching offense, you're teaching how to attack other teams' defenses, and vice versa. There's huge carry-over from one side to the other. I recommend that every coach get experience on both sides of the ball. It helps tremendously from a game-plan standpoint."

You have two veteran returners in Dante Pettis and Chico McClatcher . What do you think of them so far?

"They're great kids. I knew from watching them on tape that they were great football players, but they're even better people. They work hard. They're very attentive. They're hungry to get better. That's the key to improvement."

You were on the staff at Oregon State when current Husky offensive coordinator Jonathan Smith was playing quarterback. Have you kept in touch or followed his career closely?

"I loved him as a player. He won a lot of games at Oregon State. You could make an argument that he's the most successful quarterback in the history of Oregon State. He's one of those guys you knew was going to be a great coach, because he was a coach on the field. He was our team leader. You're only as good as your team leader and he was as good as it gets."

What about this position attracted you to it?

"The people. The reputation of Coach Petersen and the comfort of knowing Coach Smith and being able to trust him. I've always admired Coach Petersen's program and how successful it's been. He's very organized, which I kind of assumed before I got here. He's very driven; one of the more driven coaches I've been with in terms of always looking to find ways to get better in every aspect. And that's every day. He has a unique way of not only motivating players, but motivating coaches, too."

What do you think of Husky Stadium, now that you see it from the home-team side?

"I'd never really had the chance to experience what's around Husky Stadium, how beautiful the campus is. And, the actual facilities — they did everything first-class. I thought we had excellent facilities at Oregon, but this is as good as it gets, especially in terms of how convenient and functional it all is. You couldn't have a better situation as far as getting to meetings and the game field and having everything right there."

What's your favorite thing to eat at Sonny Lubick Steakhouse (Fort Collins, Colo.)?

"My favorite thing is the salmon. They have great steaks, but I'm really a salmon guy."