In his 31st season as head coach, George DiMatteo has molded Lewis University softball into one of the top programs in the nation while becoming one of the winningest coaches in NCAA Division II history.
DiMatteo boasts a career record of 1,009-515-6 (.661) entering the 2014 season. Prior to the 2013 campaign, DiMatteo was fourth in Division II for career wins (978) for active coaches and stood eighth in Division II history. In all three NCAA Divisions, DiMatteo stands 21st overall.
Last season, DiMatteo and the Flyers returned to the NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament as they advanced to the championship game of the 2013 Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.
In 2011, DiMatteo's Flyers brought home championship gold for the second-straight year, as Lewis captured the GLVC Tournament title and advanced to the finals of the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship for the second year in a row.
In 2008, the Flyers went 34-14 and earned hosting rights for the Great Lakes Regional, the team's eighth NCAA tournament berth. DiMatteo was named GLVC Coach of the Year for the sixth time in his career.
In 2006, DiMatteo guided the Flyers to a 39-15 record and a berth in the NCAA Regional tournament. That edition of the Flyers established new team records for batting average, runs, hits, RBI, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. The Flyers also smashed a team-record 38 home runs.
In 2004, the Flyers won the GLVC Championship for the eighth time under DiMatteo's leadership and advanced to the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional. Lewis finished the year 45-13 and won the fourth-most games in school history. In addition, two players earned All-America honors, five were named all-region and six garnered all-conference accolades.
DiMatteo guided the 2001 team to the NCAA Division II championship game where it finished runner-up to Nebraska-Omaha. Along the way, Lewis recorded 55 wins, the most in school history, and produced three all-Great Lakes Region and five all-Great Lakes Valley Conference players.
Additionally, in 2000 DiMatteo and former assistant coach Keith Grenke were selected National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region Coaching Staff of the Year after the Flyers reached the NCAA Championship for the first time in school history. DiMatteo was named Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year in 1994.
During DiMatteo's tenure at Lewis, the Flyers have advanced to ten NCAA Division II regional tournaments, won nine GLVC titles and captured the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship once. Since 1987, 12 of DiMatteo's teams have been ranked in the final NFCA national poll; the Flyers were ranked No. 2 in the 2001 final poll, the highest the program has ever been ranked.
DiMatteo, who received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Lewis in 1976, was a member of the Flyers' baseball teams that won three consecutive NAIA national championships (1974-76). He is one of the top players in team history, ranking fourth on Lewis' all-time list in triples (12) and seventh in runs (193). In addition, he was a three-time NAIA All-America center fielder.
DiMatteo was drafted by the Chicago Cubs after concluding his collegiate career. He played two seasons in the Cubs' minor league system before becoming a graduate assistant baseball coach at Western Illinois University, where he earned a master's degree in physical education in 1979.
DiMatteo was hired as Aurora University's head baseball coach in 1979 and held that position until being named assistant baseball coach at Lewis in 1983. He was selected as the Flyers' head softball coach in 1984.
In addition to his coaching duties, DiMatteo is the athletic recruitment coordinator for the Lewis athletics department.
DiMatteo's wife, Deb, is the retired head softball coach at College of DuPage and a Lewis graduate. Deb was a four-sport athlete at Lewis (volleyball, basketball, softball and track) and is a member of Lewis' Athletic Hall of Fame, Benedictine University's Hall of Fame and the NJCAA Region 4 Hall of Fame.
She led COD to four NJCAA Division III national championships in 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2004 and also was named NJCAA Coach of the Year four times. The couple have three children, Jamie (31), Justin (26) and Jon (22). Jamie works in Human Resources for Sun Life Financial in Boston, MA, while Justin is a technical support analyst at JDA Ehealth Systems in Naperville, IL. Jon is a senior criminal justice major at Lewis and is a member of the Lewis Flyers Hockey Club.
