Love of the Game: Law enforcement veteran Curtis Matthews finds passion coaching Mount Carmel softball
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
The player-coach relationship Curtis Matthews enjoyed with his daughter Gabrielle was diminished because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there’s no denying the impact she had on her father’s pastime outside of his career in law enforcement.
The 2020 season was to be their first together at Mount Carmel in New Orleans, where Curtis Matthews has been part of the school’s softball staff, where he coached the eighth-grade team and served as an assistant with the varsity team.
The season was cut short after 13 games – a 7-6 record – where seniors such as Gabrielle Matthews had their dreams of advancing to the state tournament and playing for a state championship dashed by the cancellation of the majority of the season.
Gabrielle, the only child of Curtis and Juli Matthews, has since graduated from Southeastern Louisiana and attends LSU’s physical therapy school in New Orleans.
The sport of softball, though, has remained a constant in Matthews’ life, where Mount Carmel (14-4, 4-0) looks to close out the District 9-5A championship at home Tuesday at 5 p.m. against Dominican (7-10, 3-1).
“We were pretty much in the same situation last year and had a couple of major injuries, and we hit a nine-game losing streak,” Matthews said. “We pulled it out to go to the semifinals. We want to be one at the end of this year.”
Mount Carmel has won 62% of its games (98-63) since Matthews took over as head coach, reaching the state tournament twice and playing for a state championship in 2021.
When he’s not watching film after practice and constructing lineups, Matthews is also celebrating his 32nd year with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Department. The former 19-year-old cadet under famed Sheriff Harry Lee has enjoyed a passion for public service that has included time in both the narcotics and sex crimes divisions.
A series of promotions has followed his exemplary work to the point that now Matthews is a deputy chief in charge of the Special Investigations Bureau for sheriff Joseph Lopinto.
“My passion is law enforcement and helping people, solving crimes,” Matthews said.
Matthews attended Archbishop Rummel, where he played football for coach Marc Martin, who was hired as the school’s sixth head coach in 1991.
The Raiders were a program that reflected Martin’s ideals, with teams that played the game the right way and played for each other.
Matthews never forgot that approach when he aspired to get into law enforcement. The value of teamwork was always apparent from his time at the police academy to his first five years spent on the road.
Matthews was part of the SWAT team, a group that further relied on a close-knit bond during turbulent times, and that type of camaraderie has remained of paramount importance in his career.
“He pretty much taught me the team concept,” Matthews said of Martin. “Even though we had it in us, he stressed team, and I really learned a lot from him that I carried over into my job. You become close with those guys. As with any job, you have to work as a team. Everyone at the sheriff’s office works as a team. We put our best foot forward every day. It’s not just me. Everybody that we work with is great.”
When Gabrielle was born, Matthews was part of the Sheriff’s Department narcotics division, but later received a promotion that created additional family time.
By the time his daughter turned 9, Matthews began coaching her in softball, although he wasn’t the most equipped person for such a job.
A self-proclaimed fan of the hometown New Orleans Saints, Matthews was an avid sports fan who ardently watched LSU athletics, such as baseball, but admittedly had very little knowledge of softball when it came time to convey the rudimentary elements of the game to his baby girl.
“Anything sports related,” he said. “I’m a Saints fan, an LSU fan, and you try and be there for your family. I love to sit and watch LSU baseball, but I’ll take a softball game any day.”
Part of his job with the sheriff’s department was being observant of others, a trait that came in handy when it came to picking up on a sport that would play such a vital role in his life.
“That’s what I do for a living, people watch,” he said.
A neighbor, Pete Dares, was a softball coach with a daughter who would attend Nicholls State. Dares worked with Gabrielle, and Matthews also sought out another friend, Matt Uhle, who was a pitching coach who worked with his daughter.
“He was a pretty big influence, too,” Matthews said of Uhle. “I started to learn and paid attention to other coaches and fell in love with it.”
Matthews’ background gave him a wealth of first-hand knowledge to positively influence a group of female teenagers unaware of some of life’s pitfalls.
“I talk with the girls about real-life situations,” he said. “Not to scare them, but you have to work as a team because if you don’t, we won’t be successful. These are young ladies. They get it. For the past few years, we’ve had close teams. This year, they seem to be playing together as a family. Everyone’s not going to be happy all of the time, but at the end of the day, we all love each other, and we’re family.”
His work with the Sex Crimes Division under Sheriff Newell Normand enabled him to have a captive audience on the dangers of being outside alone and respecting themselves as young adults.
“My daughter being born immediately softened my heart,” Matthews said. “You have to have an on-off switch. I always remember the fact that they are kids. They’re someone’s daughter. We’re going to compete, and the best 9 or 10 players on the team will compete.
“There’s also an understanding that these are just kids and at the end of the day they go back to school, wake up the next morning worried about homework, boyfriends, and softball’s a game,” Matthews said. “That’s why I try to love them all like they’re my daughter. I can be hard on them at times, but at the end of the day, they’re going to grow up and be successful kids because of their education from Mount Carmel.”
Matthews credits the support he’s received from the sheriff’s department during his time as head coach at Mount Carmel.
“Sheriff Lopinto’s 100% behind me coaching, he loves the fact I coach Mount Carmel softball,” Matthews said. “He’s attended a couple of our games. I think I may have him hooked, too.”
In his first full season as Mount Carmel’s head coach, the Cubs (14-14) advanced all the way to the championship game before falling to state power John Curtis in the Division I select final.
Matthews has built a program that’s reached the playoffs in each of his first five seasons. Mount Carmel lost to district foe Archbishop Chappelle in the state quarterfinals two years ago, and after a nine-game losing streak following an injury to its No. 1 pitcher, Paige Reuther, rebounded to make the state semifinals against St. Thomas More.
“It was great that the girls got to enjoy it,” Matthews said of the trip to Sulphur for the state championship. “We had a great time.”
Before taking over the varsity team, Matthews paid attention to the periphery.
He wanted to create a wholesome environment, one that thrived on the kind of teamwork prevalent in law enforcement.
“I wanted to make sure these girls had a great experience that they could remember,” he said. “Some of these girls will play college ball. We wanted to have a loving program, kind of the Mount Carmel way, and have a relationship with these kids.”
Pregame at Mount Carmel softball has festive environments to further get the players’ hearts beating fast.
Matthews thought it was a good idea for players to run out to their respective positions to ‘Sirius’ by the Allan Parsons Project, the iconic introduction song the NBA’s Chicago Bulls have made famous since 1984.
“We try to give them a little bit of a college experience, which is something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives,” he said.
Mount Carmel has a pair of next-level signees in infielder Hayden Traub (Nicholls State) and outfielder Claire Murphy (Baton Rouge Community College).
The Cubs have built a strong resume this season, the No. 2-rated Division I select team, which has enjoyed a season-high six-game winning streak and has won seven of their last eight games.
Included in that stretch were wins over Division I non-select power St. Amant (5-4) and Division II state regular St. Thomas More (9-4).
This year’s team has also shown grit in a 3-2 district win over John Curtis and recently rallied from a three-run deficit against Chapelle for a 5-4 victory that kept them undefeated in league play going into the matchup with Dominican.
In the come-from-behind win over Chapelle on March 30, Mount Carmel improved to 3-0 this season in one-run games behind run-scoring hits from Saige Vichot and Emri Roussel. Reuther, whose injury contributed to last year’s late slide in the regular season, set down the final 11 batters to seal the win over the No. 1 team in the state’s power ratings last week.
“I want these young ladies to enjoy the game, enjoy winning,” said Matthews, who credited longtime assistant Kenny Brown for his role in the program’s success. “It’s always nice to see a smile on their faces after a win. The most satisfying thing is when the season’s over, and they’re gone, they stay in touch. They talk about how much fun they had, and that’s most important.
“My family benefits from me having a promotion,” Matthews said. “Like being at home a little bit more and enjoying things in life that some guys don’t come home for.”