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After graduating from MTSU in 2007 with a degree in political science, Matt became the director of basketball operations at Louisiana Tech before spending five seasons as an assistant coach for the Kentucky Wildcats. He helped lead the team to four NCAA Tournaments, three Elite Eight appearances, and several top-25 finishes. During this time, he leaned into one of his many gifts \u2014 seeking out and recruiting dynamic, well-rounded players who blazed a trail both on and off the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am very passionate about growing my players in three areas \u2014 socially, academically, and athletically. When a coach only worries about the sport, he isn\u2019t doing the player any justice. The one thing I hope my players remember me for is that I became an extension of their family and that I grew them in these three areas. This world is ever-changing, and there will be a day when they can\u2019t dribble the basketball. Who they are on that day is just as important as who they are as a basketball player.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matt continued to set \u2014 and break \u2014 records while coaching for Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi. On Nov. 23, 2014, Matt\u2019s Ole Miss Rebels came head-to-head with his dad\u2019s team, the Lady Raiders. Matt had been an assistant coach when the Wildcats played the Lady Raiders, so this was the first time in our nation\u2019s history that dueling head coaches in Division I women\u2019s basketball were father and son. Both Sports Illustrated and Fox News reported on this historic event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Matt longed to return to his roots in Middle Tennessee, so in 2018, he accepted a position as an assistant coach at his alma mater. His father, Rick, became his boss. Before becoming the head coach at MTSU, he compiled a 775-148 record over 28 seasons at SCHS. He won 10 TSSAA Class AAA state championships and earned four national coach-of-the-year honors. Over the course of his career, which spanned 48 seasons, he amassed 1,264 wins with 313 losses. He earned dozens of honors, including Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year, and was inducted into multiple halls of fame. He also helped launch the professional careers of at least five WNBA draft picks. If anyone could help Matt continue to find success on the sidelines, it was his father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI first began coming to MTSU in 2005 when my dad was hired to be the women\u2019s basketball coach. I was in school at the University of Tennessee and transferred back to be here with my family. I fell in love with the Blue Raider community while growing up in Shelbyville. This community \u2014 this university \u2014 from day one of our family getting here has made us feel at home,\u201d Matt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Four years passed quickly, and Matt was promoted to associate head coach at MTSU in 2022. The Lady Raiders advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2021, 2023, and 2024, along with a Women\u2019s National Invitation Tournament semifinal run in 2022. With the combined leadership of the Insell dynamic duo, the 2023-24 team finished 30-5 overall, sweeping the Conference USA regular-season and tournament championships and advancing to the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Raiders beat Louisville, earning the program its first end-of-season ranking since 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy coaching philosophy is very similar to my dad\u2019s, but different,\u201d Matt said. \u201cI want to be more pressing, up-tempo. I try to cause a lot of chaos with defense by turning defense into offense. I take bits and pieces from every place I\u2019ve been, and I work toward compiling my own system of how I would like to do things. That\u2019s how I\u2019ve evolved over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After Matt settled in at MTSU, he married his wife, Autumn. They have a son, Clark, and a daughter, Evie. After 21 seasons at MTSU and more than 500 wins, Rick announced his retirement at the end of the 2025-26 season. On Tuesday, March 24, 2026, a formal ceremony was held to introduce Matt as the head coach of the MTSU women\u2019s basketball team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can\u2019t wait to get started,\u201d Matt said. Matt will always be one of our own. As he begins his first season as head coach this November, we will be rooting for him from the sidelines. GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Matt Insell grew up on the sidelines of the basketball court at the Shelbyville Central High School (SCHS) gym. As the son of Rick Insell \u2014 the \u201call-time winningest coach\u201d in the history of Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) \u2014 the thrill of the game pulses in his veins. \u201cMy love for basketball was sparked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":25498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[6,75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-shelbyville"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/08\/3-3-1024x683.jpg\")
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