For all of us who have played sports, we know that there are different kinds of coaches. There’s the coach who yells at every mistake you make. There’s the coach who coddles you and doesn’t provide any feedback. Then there’s Matt Brunet, associate professor of sport management and assistant softball coach at Union University. Brunet is unlike any other male coach I’ve ever been around.
Brunet grew up in Michigan and went to college at Indiana Wesleyan University. While in college, he met his now wife, Marie. After he graduated, he went to Wayne State University in Detroit to get his master’s degree. That same year, he and Marie got engaged. After graduating with his master’s, Brunet started applying for jobs all over the country. He knew that he wanted to work in athletics and with college students.
Union was the first college to offer him an interview. He flew down for the interview and decided he wanted to take the job as Union’s wellness director.
Just a few days after their honeymoon, he and Marie packed their belongings and moved to Jackson, Tenn. Brunet thought he would only work at Union for a year or two and then move back north. However, his plans changed. He fell in love with the mission of Union, and he has been here for over 15 years.
Since coming to Jackson, the Brunet family has gained three members. Maddox, the oldest, is 11. Madelyn is seven, and Maverick, who Brunet and Marie adopted last year, is almost one and a half.
In November 2012, Heather Hall, former softball coach at Union, emailed Brunet and asked him to assist her in the upcoming season.
“It was a shock to me,” said Brunet. “I never thought of coaching girls. I never thought of coaching softball. It wasn’t even on my radar.”
He decided to pray about it and to ask Marie what she thought. He eventually decided to take on the job.
Brunet assisted Hall that season and the next, after which he became the head softball coach for Trinity Christian Academy in Jackson. He coached there for two years and then decided he wanted to take a break so he could coach Maddox’s baseball team.
In 2018, Brunet was on Union’s search committee for a new softball coach. He was in the interview with Mackenzie Sher, who would eventually become the new coach. He remembers feeling that Sher was going to do something really special with the program if she got the job.
After Sher got the job, Brunet began asking God if He wanted him to be a part of what Sher had in store for the softball program. He let her know that he was there if she needed anything, and a couple of weeks later, she called him and asked him to be an assistant coach.
Before starting his second stint as assistant coach, Brunet was able to be with his family consistently. He was just teaching, so he was able to go to Maddox’s baseball tournaments and Madelyn’s gymnastics competitions without any problem. He felt comfortable with where he was at in life. However, he realized that being comfortable isn’t always a good thing.
“I think so many times in our lives as Christians when we’re comfortable we’re probably not being very effective,” Brunet said.
He saw coaching as a ministry opportunity and felt that it was important for his kids to see him involved with ministry and following God even when God requested something difficult. Even though being a coach takes away some of the time he has to spend with his family, he still makes time to be there for them and to do things with them.
It’s all about being more intentional with it. Maddox goes to most of the softball practices so Brunet can spend time with him even while working. Brunet spends time with Madelyn at home and takes her on dates and movie nights. When possible, he has a date with Marie once a week.
Brunet says that coaching would not be possible without Marie’s support. He even asked her recently if she wanted this season to be his last, but she didn’t. She realizes that coaching is her husband’s ministry.
Brunet acknowledges that he has not always been the coach that he is now.
“Early in my career, when I first started coaching females, I was a yeller; I was a screamer,” Brunet said. “I was always trying to bring the toughness and intensity to practice and games, and I went way too far with it.”
He realized that he would have to change his coaching philosophy if he wanted coaching to be a ministry. After this realization, he started to become more encouraging and more patient.
Now, having learned how to balance the intensity with encouragement, Brunet has become a much-loved figure among his players.
I am fortunate enough to be part of the Union softball team and see first-hand the impact that Brunet makes. He’s not the coach that’s going to scream when I make a mistake, but he’s also not the coach that’s just going to ignore my mistakes. He points out what I need to work on with love and grace. He is always thinking of ways that we can get better at our individual positions and as a whole.
My teammates and I affectionately refer to Brunet as “dad” because it’s obvious that he truly cares about us. He sees us as people before he sees us as athletes. His main desire is to see us grow in our faith and grow as individuals. He is also really intentional with us like his own children.
Sher sees this intentionality and how relatable Brunet is.
“You never feel like he’s coming at you [like] ‘I’m better than you,’” Sher said. “He always meets you where you’re at.”
Brunet is definitely one of the best coaches I’ve ever gotten to play for. He’s one of the best because of his knowledge of the game, but also more importantly, because of his genuine care for his athletes.
“I’m just trying to love on them in a Christ-like way while coaching softball,” Brunet said.
Photo courtesy of Union University
