The news broke out at 8:43 a.m. Thursday with a tweet by Texas high school football journalist Matt Stepp. Head football coach and campus athletic director Matt Swinnea is retiring at the end of the 2024-25 school year. .
“I’ve just talked to the staff this morning and honestly I have yet to talk to the kids,” Swinnea said. “But I mean that’s just the way social media is.”
Swinnea began his coaching career at Littlefield High School in Lubbock where he spent 14 years. He then moved to Seminole High School where he worked with former Liberty head football coach, and current Frisco ISD Assistant Athletic Director, Christopher Burtch.
When Burtch got the Redhawks job, he hired Swinnea as his defensive coordinator and then when Burtch’s moved to the FISD athletic department, Swinnea was hired as head coach in 2019 with his six years as head coach making him the longest-serving head coach in Liberty history.
“I’ve known Coach Swinnea for over 30 years, and he is a man of outstanding character and integrity,” FISD Athletic Director Christopher Burtch said. “We’ve always aimed to have leaders like him—coaches who not only excel at the game but also bring strong values to our programs and staff. No matter the challenge, he consistently puts forth his best effort and true passion.”
Having been a part of the Texas football culture for decades, Swinnea decided it was time for this chapter to close.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, so 35 years started when I was 21 and you know I’ve had a good ride,” Swinnea said. “I finally got my first grandkid, and it’s just time to let somebody else have a shot at it. Ride off into the sunset.”
Senior running back Khaleb Cooper has known Swinnea for four years, and cannot thank him enough.
“I’m happy he’s retiring and that we got a dub for him,” Cooper said. “I am sad though because the younger kids ain’t gonna be able to have a great coach like him. He’s always helpful and was there when you needed him. He and his wife, they’re both will help you through anything, even classwork. I’m grateful for that”
Even though his time as a head football coach is done, Swinnea will finish out the rest of the 2024-2025 school year at The Nest continuing his athletic director duties.
“After, my wife and I will probably end up back in West Texas, probably in Lubbock,” Swinnea said. “That’s where our granddaughter is, and so our two daughters are there and that’s probably what we’re doing.”
Now the process begins to find a new head coach for Redhawks football.
“It’ll be different from someone that’s been here for so long,” offensive line coach Evan Bolt said. “Somebody new will come in, there’s a lot of change. I think the team will take it well, they’ll adapt, and you know we’ll get it going.”
Swinnea can already feel the impact of his time as a coach with former athletes and coaches reaching out to congratulate him.
“I think the legacy really is what I experienced today when the news broke, my phone has been blowing up constantly, and it’s been coaches that I’ve coached with and the second one is former players,” Swinnea said. “Just thanking me and we’re sharing some memories of what we’ve been through and a little piece of what I helped along their path. Ultimately that’s what it is, legacy is not what you leave behind it’s actually what goes ahead of you.”
But after 11 years at The Nest, there’s one special game among many that stands out.
“There are a ton,” Swinnea said. “Nothing against say our win against Wakeland in 2019 at the end of the year, or this year’s win over Memorial, but it’s really hard to beat winning at Lovejoy there at the end, national TV. Yeah, I’ll remember that forever.”
