Transition game has been seamless for Matt Flowers at Muhlenberg

It generally takes a few seasons for an incoming coach to change the culture within a program.

Matt Flowers did it practically overnight.

He inherited a Muhlenberg program that built its success on 3-point shooting and a wide-open offense and immediately emphasized the other side of the game.

“I told them up front: You don’t play defense, you’re not playing,’ ” Flowers said on a recent episode of the Mike Drago Sports Podcast. “I don’t care how many 3’s you shoot, I don’t care how many dunks you can do, if you’re not gonna play defense you’re not gonna play. That’s the biggest change from last year.”

The Muhls still shoot 3’s and run the floor well but their first priority is now defense. They wouldn’t have become the only Berks team to beat Reading High this season without excelling on that end of the floor.

Flowers, considered a defensive taskmaster during 11 seasons as an assistant coach at Reading High, was named Berks County Coach of the Year by his peers Sunday.

He is the first rookie coach to earn that award since 1995, when Reading High coach Kirk Singleton was named co-Coach of the Year along with Central Catholic’s Snip Esterly.

The Muhls won their second straight Berks Conference Division II title this season and knocked off Fleetwood to advance to the Berks semifinals. They’ll take an 18-6 record into Tuesday’s District 3 Class 6A opener against Cedar Cliff.

Flowers was grateful for the recognition from his peers. In typical fashion he passed along the credit.

“It’s very special,” he said of the award. “I’m honored. This is not just a Matthew Flowers Coach of the Year award, this is a Muhlenberg/Reading/Muhlenberg award . . . to all the kids I’ve been blessed to coach over my 15 years. . . all the coaching staffs I’ve been on. I have learned something from everybody that I’ve been with.”

Flowers never had designs to be a head coach. When Rick Perez, his former Muhlenberg teammate and lifelong friend, began coaching the AAU Reading Roadrunners with Brian Ellison, Flowers joined them. He didn’t think, at the time, it would lead to anything like this.

Later he was an assistant at his alma mater under Tom Sload and then with Richard Reyes at Reading High. When Perez became Red Knights head coach in 2011-12 Flowers became his right-hand man. He coached the JV team and acted as the program’s defensive coordinator and strength and conditioning coach.

He worked hand-in-hand with Perez to develop the culture that has seen Reading High win three district titles and a pair of PIAA championships in the past six years.

Flowers said building a family atmosphere within the program was critical, and he has continued that at Muhlenberg.

“We did everything together,” he said. “Our kids didn’t just see us as coaches: They saw us as fathers, as mentors, as supporters. They would come to our houses and see us with our own kids, with our wives outside of basketball.

“That was the biggest thing for us. We would have a family cookout and our players would be there, like they’re part of the family. Our family embraced them. That’s where our building blocks started.

“It wasn’t about just playing basketball; basketball was the little part of it. Building the family and loving each other and trusting each other and staying loyal, that was the biggest piece.”

Now you see Muhlenberg players doing the same things the Red Knights have become known for: They’ll hustle to help a fallen teammate off the floor. They celebrate big plays going into timeouts with high-flying chest bumps. They’re locked arm-in-arm when the National Anthem is played before each game.

“At Muhlenberg, I’m doing to same thing,” Flowers said. “You’re not just my basketball player, you’re my son, as well.”

Muhlenberg had success before Flowers got there; lots of it. Tyrone Nesby did his own quick rebuilding job after being hired in 2017. He took over a team that went 5-17 and had them in the District 3 Class 5A championship game two years later. The following year they won the program’s first district title.

Last season, their first at Class 6A, they went 15-4 — all the losses coming to Wilson or Reading High. They were eliminated in districts by the Red Knights.

Flowers has taken advantage of the interest created by Nesby and is channeling it in a different direction.

“Coach Flowers definitely has them defending really hard,” said Cedar Cliff coach Tigh Savercool. “It’s reminiscent of how Reading High competes defensively.”

Flowers has brought along the work ethic — in season and out – that he and Perez established at Reading. Conditioning is just as important as skill work.

He also continues to work on the mental side of the game.

“Programs who don’t experience winning championships settle for second place,” he said. “The biggest hurdle for us (this season) was instilling in these young men that they’re good enough to win championships. That’s been our motto: We’re not sitting back, we’re not going to be the second-place game, we’re going to be the main event. And our kids have been working for that.”