Orange City, Iowa — In this, the second of a five-part preview for the upcoming NAIA Football Championship game between No.6 Northwestern vs No.3 Lindsey Wilson, we look at the two head coaches; Matt McCarty of Northwestern and Chris Oliver for Lindsey Wilson.
Northwestern Head Coach Matt McCarty was named head coach in 2015 after serving as the Raiders defensive coordinator for 11 years from 2005 to 2015, and owns a 42-14 record as head coach heading into Monday’s national championship game. As defensive coordinator, he was named AFCA NAIA Region 4 co-Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Assistant Coach of the Year in 2014 when he guided the NAIA’s #1 scoring and #1 overall defense. McCarty is the fifth head coach in program history, and has coached four straight winning seasons paired with four straight playoff appearances. McCarty’s teams have been ranked among the top 25 for 40 straight polls, dating back to Aug.7, 2017 and has led his team to a top-10 ranking in the final poll in two of the last three seasons. A graduate of Northwestern, McCarty played baseball and football for the Red Raiders from 2000-2003 and was named an NAIA All-American in 2003.
The only coach the Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders football team has ever had is Chris Oliver who is in his 11th season and started the program from scratch in 2010. As the head coach, Oliver owns a 92-33 record, and this season is the seventh straight winning season for the Blue Raiders. He has put the Blue Raiders in the NAIA Top 25 in 92 straight coaches’ polls, dating back to August 12, 2013. He was named Mid-South Conference Coach of the year three times. Prior to coaching Lindsey Wilson, he spent five years as assistant for Ohio Dominican, was offensive coordinator for three years, and graduated from the Ohio State where he also served as a student assistant coach from 2001-02.
