Matt Akins enters his second year as Saint Michael's Executive Director of Athletics with the 2025-26 school year after serving the prior three years as an Associate Director of Athletics, a role he previously held at former Northeast-10 Conference counterpart The College of Saint Rose for four years. He was responsible primarily for NCAA compliance and sport supervision while an Associate Director of Athletics.
Akins has represented the College on the NE10 Sport Administration Council and the NCAA Division II National Baseball Committee, and served as director of the 2024 NCAA Division II East Regional Men's Basketball Championship. During his stint at Saint Rose, he oversaw compliance and the athletic department budget in addition to staff and coaching supervisory responsibilities. Akins was involved with countless committees, including the Golden Knights Golf Outing Committee, Life Skills Programming Committee, AOD Programming Committee, Golden Knights Club Committee, College Compliance Committee and Athletics Recruitment Committee.
Between 2007 and 2017, Akins worked at Barton College in Wilson, N.C., serving as the men's soccer head coach while also gaining experience in athletic administration. Off the pitch, he initially served as Athletic Admissions Coordinator, operating as a liaison between the Office of Admissions, Financial Aid, Athletics and prospective student-athletes. He later served as the Assistant Athletic Director and Compliance Coordinator between January 2015 and his departure. In 10 seasons leading the men's soccer team, Akins turned the Bulldogs into a consistent contender, highlighted by their first NCAA Tournament bid in 2014. They went 41-31-3 overall and 25-14 in Conference Carolinas play between the 2011 and 2014 seasons, reaching the league final in 2012.
Akins served on numerous committees while at Barton, including the United Soccer Coaches Southeast Regional Rankings Committee while working as a site representative for the first and second rounds of the 2015 and 2016 NCAA soccer tournaments. He was also involved as a member of the Student Conduct Board, Strategic Planning Committee and Professional Development Committee at the college. Locally, Akins was on the Wilson Chamber of Commerce - Beyond 21 Leadership Team, served as North Carolina Olympic Development Program soccer head coach for nearly eight years, and was the director of coaching and a board member with the Wilson Youth Soccer Association for almost seven years.
Prior to his time in North Carolina, Akins spent two years at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn., assisting the men's and women's soccer teams while teaching kinesiology as an adjunct professor. The Railsplitter men were a combined 30-5-4 between the 2005 and 2006 seasons, advancing to the NCAA Division II Final Four his second fall. The women were 16-3-1 overall and 9-1 in the Gulf South Conference in 2005, winning the league tournament and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. Between Akins' four seasons as an assistant coach, Lincoln Memorial's teams were 55-14-6.
Akins' familiarity with the NE10 dates back to his undergraduate years, as he completed his degree in psychology at former league member Le Moyne College in 2002 before earning a master's degree in sports management at the University of Kentucky in 2004. During a dual-sport career at Le Moyne, he played one season with the Dolphins' Division I baseball program and four with the men's soccer team. Akins' brothers Andrew '06 and Dean '11 both played soccer at Saint Michael's.
