Murray State University

"Matt Lodge is very knowledgeable about the game of soccer, but he is quite verbally abusive to the girls he coaches. He has been heard numerous times talking down to or negatively about players. He would often singles players out in front of other teammates. He definitely has favorites on the team and they often get special consideration when it comes to missing practice or the way they are treated overall. Many times the "favorites" are seen making numerous mistakes on the pitch and nothing is said to them, when a non-starter makes a mistake they are immediately pulled from the game never to see the pitch again. (Check the minutes played by each player on the Murray State Soccer website). Lodge has single-handedly lost games due to this coaching mentality. He will have players that are on the bench and not use them the whole game and run his favorites into the ground usually losing the game in the last minutes. He especially doesn't care much about the mental health of his players and he never checks in on his girls that may be struggling. Sometimes it seems as if looks down on them. His compassion and empathy is non-existent. The team is very cliquey and if you are not a "starter" or one of Lodge's top 11 you are left out of everything. We were told by Lodge that Murray State Soccer has a mentoring program to help with girls transition but this was not true. If you child opts to play soccer for Murray State please check on them frequently because there is a poor culture being developed by Lodge. Oh by the way...we are still waiting for that mentoring program. "

"Lodge knows the game very well, but he is extremely verbally abusive. I was frequently told I wasn’t good enough or tough enough to play college soccer and that I should contemplate why I was there. I was singled out and made a fool of more than once in front of my teammates. I was actively discouraged from playing. Very much has favorites and doesn’t appreciate hard work at all. Never in my two years did I get any positive feedback, even though I had very much improved as a player and had been pushing for a starting spot. Doesn’t care about mental health and sure as hell doesn’t check in with his players about it. Our team culture was decent, but cliquey, and that was caused by him having favorites."

"Although he is very knowledgeable and honest, he is one of the most abusive coaches I’ve ever had. I was frequently singled out and told I was never built to play college soccer. I struggled with injuries and was ridiculed every time I picked up a new one because he thought it was fake and made the whole team think it was fake. I was overworked so much that I picked up injuries immediately after getting over others. Doesn’t care about your body and overworks players like crazy, picks favorites, and cares about fitness a lot more than technical ability. All of the good qualities of this coach are taken away by the classic “grind til you die or get out” mentality that he projects. Mental health doesn’t exist I guess."

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"Great coach to play for. Cares about everyone in the team and tries to be just and fair. Dialogue always possible and he values the players opinion a lot. Committed and passionate about his job. "

"Dedicated coach that cares about his team individually and collectively. Positive minded, always coming up with new ideas and open for communication. Inspiring in some areas and you’d love to fight for the colors of the university and for your coach. "

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"He always pushes us to succeed and to never back down. He is understanding and helps us learn to better our skill on and off the field. Always pushes us to work harder for what we want. "

"I really like my coach. He's really made me better as a player and I'm so happy he's gonna coach me the rest of my years at Murray state"

"He's a great coach, understanding, trustworthy, talented and believes in us. He's not afraid to say what's on his mind and is straight up with us. "

"He was brutal, had zero knowledge of the game or his player, and constantly lost his composure when the game starting getting to crunch time, hindering his ability to make sound decisions. He played more favorites than any coach I've ever played for."