TCNJ

12 The College of New Jersey Magazine Ahead of the game The 2025–26 athletic season saw four new coaches for TCNJ. Meet them here and know what to look for next season. FOOTBALL TYLER MOODY When Moody kicked off the 2025 season, more than half of his players had never met each other. "I was trying to learn 60-plus names of guys, and they were trying to get to know me," he says. "We were all new, and in it together." One thing he did to help everyone connect was start a weekly tradition of a senior player delivering a message to the team. "Just a favorite quote to inspire or to talk about a struggle they've had," he says. "There's a certain level of vulnerability in that, and our seniors demonstrated such maturity. It helped with our success and getting things off the ground." Moody hopes to continue that tradition next year and build on this year's winning season of six wins, four losses. "We have guys on this team whose fathers played for Trenton State. There's an appetite for football to be good here. I believe this is a premier place to play Division III college football." Bio skim: Grew up in Cincinnati, played at Centre College in Kentucky. Assistant coach at Amherst College and UMass Amherst, and offensive coordinator at Stonehill College. Team mantra: Tough together. "But I also say, 'Run fast, hit hard' a lot." Field goals: To be the best team in New Jersey and to win an NJAC. "You can win by developing relationships and playing for one another." 6–4 SEASON RECORD, GIVING LIONS BACK-TO-BACK WINNING SEASONS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2004 MEN'S SOCCER STEVE DeMATTEO Even before DeMatteo arrived on campus, something about TCNJ soccer stood out to him: tradition. "This program has a lot of history behind it," he says. "It's one of only 21 programs in the country that has won a national championship. So there's a championship pedigree here." He also notes that the team is in an inter- esting time, as 2026 is the 30th anniversary of TCNJ's national championship year. A proud New Jersey native (he grew up in Piscataway watching Rutgers soccer games), DeMatteo is excited about "putting TCNJ back on the map nationally in the soccer realm." In his first season, DeMatteo seemed to set that turnaround in motion. The team won its first nine games. (The year prior, they had only two wins all season.) They went to the NJAC final for the first time since 2010. He and the team are looking to the 1996 national championship team as inspiration. "We have to pay it forward to that group of guys," says DeMatteo. "This team has taken ownership of that." Team mantra: Progress via process. "We're really centered on getting a little bit better each day." Why they win: DeMatteo came to TCNJ after six years as assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania. "I know what it is like to work with high-achieving students. You can't just go in as a coach and say, 'We're doing this.' You have to get them to understand and believe in the why we're doing this." 1st TRIP TO THE NJAC CHAMPIONSHIP SINCE 2010

• Cover