Finland: Kuopio Steelers sign Michael Mattingly as HC
The Kuopio Steelers have announced the signing of Michael Mattingly as their head coach for Finland’s 2025 Maple League season.
Most recently, the 32 year old Mattingly served as wide receivers coach and CO/special teams coordinator for the Fehérvár Enthroners in the European League of Football joining the team for the last five games of the season following the conclusion of the Austrian Football League season.
He had been head coach of the Graz Giants in the AFL for two seasons guiding the team to an 18-6 overall record and semifinal berths in both 2023 and 2024. He took over a Giants team that finished with a 3-7 record in 2022. In his first season with Graz, the team finished with an 8-3 record (best record and most wins since 2016) and a semifinal berth. This past year, Graz finished with a 9-1 regular season record, reaching the semifinals for the second straight year.
Mattingly had spent the previous three seasons as head coach of the Helsinki Wolverines in Finland’s Maple League leading the team to the semifinals in both 2020 and 2022 and a finals appearance in 2020.
The Ashburn, Virginia native, originally arrived in Finland as head coach of the Seinäjoki Crocodiles in 2018. He took over a last-place 2-10 team and in 2019 led them to the playoffs with a 6-6 record. He then signed on as defensive coordinator of the Ingolstadt Dukes of the German Football League for the 2020 season, but the GFL season was canceled due to the pandemic
A graduate of Tusculum University, he has also served as linebackers coach and game-day analyst for Broad Run High School in Ashburn in 2018-19, helping produce the number one defense in the region two years in a row.
The Steelers finished the 2024 Maple League season with a 9-3 regular season record but were eliminated in the semifinals by the Seinäjoki Crocodiles.
Needless to say, Mattingly is looking forward to the challenge:
“I’m excited to sign with Kuopio with the team’s recent history of great success and look forward to keeping that tradition going and competing for a championship. I returned to Finland due to family reasons with my wife and I having our first child. So for the near future I plan to stay in Finland and look forward to the 2025 football season.”
