Why Did North Florida’s Driscoll Step Down to Take a Backseat Role at Kansas State?

Change is the heartbeat of college basketball, and this week brought a seismic shift from sunny Jacksonville all the way to the heart of Manhattan, Kansas. Matthew Driscoll, the longtime captain steering the ship at North Florida for 16 seasons, has stepped down from his head coaching role to join forces with Jerome Tang as his associate head coach at Kansas State. These two basketball minds go way back—over two decades, in fact—sharpening their craft side by side under Scott Drew at Baylor. Driscoll isn’t just any coach; he’s the architect behind three Atlantic Sun regular-season crowns and that memorable 2015 NCAA Tournament run with the Ospreys. Now, at 60, he’s swapping the helm for a powerful assistant role, eager to help elevate Tang’s program by weaving his offensive wizardry and player development chops into the Wildcats’ fabric. There’s something compelling about this kind of career pivot—leaving the lead to plant new seeds in fertile ground—which, frankly, might just pay dividends in ways we can’t yet imagine. Curious to dive into the full story and what this means for both programs? LEARN MORE

MANHATTAN, Kan. — North Florida coach Matthew Driscoll resigned after 16 years with the Ospreys on Thursday and accepted a job as the associate head coach on Jerome Tang’s staff at Kansas State.The 60-year-old Driscoll and Tang have known each other for more than two decades, spending six seasons together on Scott Drew’s staff at Baylor. Driscoll left to become head coach at North Florida in 2009, and led the Ospreys to three Atlantic Sun regular-season titles, the NCAA Tournament in 2015 and the NIT the following year.“I know some will wonder why I would leave being a head coach to become an assistant coach, but this was a no-brainer in every aspect for us,” Driscoll said. “We all know that work brings profit and if you have studied Coach Tang and his program, that’s what they do. My responsibility will be to continue to nurture, encourage and expound upon this foundation.”Driscoll also has been the head coach at the high school level and at La Roche, a Division III school in Pennsylvania, along with an assistant at Slippery Rock, Wyoming, Clemson and Valparaiso.North Florida finished 15-17 last season.“Coach Driscoll is a proven program builder and an exceptional teacher of the game,” Tang said in a statement released by Kansas State. “His ability to develop players and implement high-level offensive systems is second to none.”