Kelso named new Terriers boys’ soccer coach

Longtime Vandebilt Catholic Terriers boys’ soccer coach Doug Hamilton resigned at the end of this past season.

Matt Kelso, who has been team trainer and assistant coach the past four years, was promoted to replace Hamilton.

The move had been planned for some time, but the school did not intend to make the official announcement until the school year began next month.

“I’m very excited and honored to be taking over such a prestigious program such as Vandebilt,” Kelso said. “There are only three or four soccer jobs in this state that I would have been willing to take, and Vandebilt is one of the best of them.”

Vandebilt Catholic Athletic Director Kathy Luke praised Hamilton, who will remain as assistant athletic director, for his 16-year tenure as the Terriers’ soccer coach.

He led the Terriers to six Division II titles in eight championship game appearances. He was named high school soccer coach of the year each time the Terriers won the state title.

“He leaves quite a legacy on our athletic program. He’s done an excellent job,” Luke said. “Other schools mimic the Vandebilt soccer program. He has made it the premier program in the state.”

She added that Kelso had the experience, character and morals the school was looking for in a head coach.

Hamilton said Kelso’s transition to head coach is a “natural progression.”

“He’s more than capable. When you have somebody so knowledgeable, you have to use his expertise,” Hamilton said.

Kelso, 34, has an extensive soccer background as a player and coach.

As a teen, the Scotland native played forward in two professional division leagues. However, he arrived in America in 1994 on a track scholarship to Nicholls State University. He was a four-time All-Southland Conference selection in the 1,600-meter run.

Kelso got back into soccer as a Lady Colonels assistant coach in 1997 and 1998. Then he became a Terrebonne Soccer Association coach for 10 years. From 2004 to 2008, he played center back and was an assistant coach of the New Orleans Shell Shockers (now known as the Jesters).

Kelso does not foresee much of a difference in how the Terriers operate because Hamilton gave him free rein over certain aspects of the team.

As a trainer, Kelso was responsible for the players’ physical, technical and tactical development. As a coach, he is now responsible for practices and game management.

“Doug may be retiring, but he’s going to be helping me out with the administrative stuff,” Kelso said. “That way I can focus on the nuts and bolts of training and game day managing.”

The Terriers ended last season with their earliest playoff exit in recent memory, a quarterfinal loss to Loyola College Prep of Shreveport that snapped its seven-year title game run.

Combined with losing six senior starters, Kelso sees his biggest challenge in the immediate future as properly motivating players so that they don’t take success for granted.

“We need to have a mentality of workmanlike effort. We’ve got to have a blue collar mindset on the field,” Kelso insisted. “We got to outwork teams now.

“There’s no point in having all the talent in the world if you don’t know what to do with it,” he added. “They’ve got to have the heart, the passion, the dedication to get to the next level.”

Luke wanted Hamilton to resign as Terriers boys’ soccer coach prior to last season when he became assistant athletic director.

But he talked her into coaching another year with Kelso taking over a bigger role in the program.

Hamilton said he had thought about resigning for years due to the various other responsibilities he had taken on.

He is also the president of the Louisiana High School Soccer Coaches Association, sits on the Louisiana High School Coaches Association Executive Council, is the father of a four- and five-year-old and is completing his Master of Business Administration.

“Kathy and I decided this would be best for the athletic department,” Hamilton said. “We have 24 teams and over 50 coaches that we supervise, the budget and all that stuff. It’s a full-time job just being assistant athletic director, and I still teach three classes (honors American government).”

Hamilton said his resignation would allow him more time to focus on the bigger picture, which is promoting high school soccer in Louisiana.

Part of that effort starts with the Inaugural LHSSCA All-Star Classic July 11 at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.

Hamilton refused to use the word “retirement” since he just turned 40 and is “too young to retire.” He said he could see himself back in the coaching ranks in the future.

“Right now, I’m going to take a coaching break to run after my young kids, and to pursue the soccer coaches association duties,” he said. “If things go the way they are, there’s always an assistant coaching job that needs to get done. I hope to always be coach Hamilton.”