The California Lutheran University Kingsmen Football team hired Assistant Coaches Milton Knox, John Austin and Matthew Sciumbato in preparation for the 2023 season.
So far this season, the Kingsmen have posted a 2-4 record in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and a 3-5 overall record under the guidance of Knox, Austin and Sciumbato.
Knox, who coaches the wide receivers, began his career at Shaman Island High School. He then taught Kinesiology at LA Valley Community College and Bakersfield Community College.
“I was just nervous because I was coaching a position I had never coached. A lot of the players have been all in…they bought into what I was telling them and teaching them,” Knox said.
Knox said as a unit, the Kingsmen have a lot of chemistry and are willing to learn how to improve. According to Knox, the goal for the receivers is to be the top recoverers in the SCIAC.
Austin began his coaching career at Valley Community College and currently coaches the cornerbacks.
When he first arrived, Austin said there was a lot of raw talent on the team, but not many experienced players. However, he said the Kingsmen have understood their roles and game plan now that they are into the season and they are executing “pretty well.”
“Making that jump to university has been a great experience. The brotherhood between the players and the connection with the coaches has impressed me,” Austin said. “The overall experience, from the home games to the traveling…just everything has been pretty good, I enjoy this program.”
Austin said he has improved as a coach and learned to build relationships with the players, and his main goal for the team is to put their best foot forward.
“Honestly, just effort and having good, positive energy around them in the locker room and the coaching staff; that’s the game plan…just continue to keep the guys motivated and ready to play football week in and week out,” Austin said.
Sciumbato attended Cal Lutheran from 2016 to 2020, where he played on the Kingsmen baseball team. Sciumbato started working at Cal Lutheran as a student assistant approximately three years ago and has now become a paid assistant.
“It’s awesome coming back, being on staff, and being a part of something where I was in the community for so long. It’s really cool to be out here coaching when I was sitting in the stands watching games,” Sciumbato said.
Sciumbato said he is very grateful to have gone from watching the games as a student to now being a paid assistant coach for the Cal Lutheran football team.
“Our special teams, I have been proud of them for the last few games. They’ve been giving a ton of effort and doing things right…I think the next kind of goal we wanna step forward is to get another score going forward,” Sciumbato said.
Sciumbato said he was also helping with recruiting, and looks for players that “bring some energy to the coaching staff, bring energy to the football team, and bring that swagger”, while also ensuring “to bring in the right guys who are a Cal Lutheran fit.”
“I’m excited for the team [and] for the future, because the sky’s the limit for this team,” Knox said. “I think we have a lot of great guys coming in for the next year. We [the coaching staff] are very young, but we also are very experienced. I’m excited to see what we will do for the upcoming year here at Cal Lutheran.”
The Kingsmen football team will next face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at home in the penultimate SCIAC game of the season on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m.
