‘Things change quick,’ says Matt Hoffert as he abruptly leaves Hamburg
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When he walked off the field following a playoff loss to North Pocono a few weeks ago Matt Hoffert figured he’d be coaching the Hamburg Hawks for years to come.
After three straight trips to the postseason the 41-year-old Hamburg native was excited about the future of the program and quickly got to work preparing for next season. He did his annual one-on-one meetings with players. Huddled with his coaching staff to make plans. Readied his offseason workout schedule.
Now he’s gone.
“I didn’t see it coming,” Hoffert admitted Tuesday evening, one day after submitting his letter of resignation.
Hoffert said his abrupt decision comes on the heels of meetings late last week with Hamburg administration and what he termed as a difference of opinion about the future of the program.
“Our thoughts for the program are going in different directions,” he said, “so I decided it was time to go.”
Hoffert didn’t want to elaborate. He lives in the community. His sons go to school there. He doesn’t want to make things difficult for his family and friends. But he’s obviously disappointed in the outcome, and by the fact he won’t be able to coach his sons at Hamburg. Madson will be a freshman next year; Slaton is in the junior high program.
They were looking forward to playing for their dad as much as he was looking forward to coaching them; he said that’s a big reason he returned to the program three years ago.
“It’s a rough one,” he said of the situation. “I was excited for the future of the program, where we were going. It’s disappointing that I won’t be able to continue. I planned on being here till my boys came through . . . things change quick.”
Hoffert noted that his entire coaching staff resigned, as well.
The Hawks finished 6-4 in the regular season and qualified for the Eastern Conference Class 3A championship game, which they lost 41-0.
It marked the fourth straight year Hamburg has finished with a winning record. That’s never happened in the 56-year history of a program that’s had more than twice as many losing seasons as winning ones.
The former Hawks lineman knows that as well as anyone. As a player his teams were always within a game of .500, plus or minus. That’s the way it’s been with the program. That’s why the Hawks’ breakout 2022 season – Hoffert’s first as head coach – was such a big deal. The team won nine games – second-most in program history – hosted a district playoff game for the first time and won it.
Hamburg finished 7-4 in 2021, Jeff Chillot’s only season there as head coach. Hoffert, a former Hawks assistant, came in and took the program even higher. That meant a lot to him, as does the 21-13 record over the past three seasons. Only once before, from 1984-86, when the late Bill Sakusky was the head coach, did Hamburg win as many as 21 games over a three-year stretch.
“I am super-proud,” he said of the three-year run. “Being a player (here), there’s been a lot of highs and lows. It’s been like a roller coaster. For us to (be) consistently on the winning side the last couple years, I’m super-proud.
“If you would’ve told me we’d have three years (like this), I would’ve been: ‘I don’t know.’ I’m very proud of how we played, the direction we were going.”
Hoffert plans to continue coaching. He’s the first Berks coach to leave but the fourth in the Lancaster-Lebanon League following John Brubaker at Penn Manor, Keith Stokes at Elizabethtown, and Brady Mathias at Columbia.
Hoffert was head coach at Kutztown from 2014-2016, pumping life into a dormant program. In his final season the Cougars went 4-6, their best record in eight seasons. Immediately after he left they endured three straight winless seasons.
As Fleetwood’s offensive coordinator in 2019 Hoffert helped the Tigers set a program record for wins during an 8-3 season that saw them finish No. 1 in the Berks Football League in total offense.
Hoffert was a Hamburg assistant from 2005-09 and again from 2012-13, both times under Joe Sinkovich. He’s also been an assistant at Boyertown, Allentown Central Catholic and Chestnut Hill College.
“I know that a lot of people are upset that I’m no longer (coaching) here, including myself,” Hoffert said. “I know my players are upset; it’s tough.”
