In winning 41 games and two District 11 football championships in his first six seasons as the head coach at East Stroudsburg South, Matt Walters has already established himself as one of the area’s most successful leaders.
But Walters is always trying to get better as a coach and learn new things.
That’s why Walters applied to participate in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Coaching Academy, which was held during the team’s minicamp in Tampa recently.
East Stroudsburg South coach Matt Walters, right, works at a Tampa Bay Buccaneers minicamp with the team’s special teams assistant Keith Tandy. (Contributed photo / Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Walters got to be around an NFL coaching staff and former Tampa Bay head coaches such as Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden.
“I had the opportunity to go down to Tampa Bay during their rookie minicamp, and the Bucs are the only team in the NFL that does what is called the National Coaching Academy,” Walters said. “You apply and they take 25 coaches, either high school or college coaches, and they bring you down, and it’s like you are a Tampa Bay coach for the week. They open up everything to you, and you are there from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. for a week. Everything was first class. It was a really cool opportunity.”
What was the No. 1 thing Walters learned?
“You have to love football to be at that stage,” he said. “The coaches that I were with made it very clear that everybody on the staff was renting. They don’t own because if you don’t do your job, you’re probably looking for another one very quickly. So you better love football for the amount of hours you put in. It was very eye-opening to see how it’s business-first in the National Football League for the players, the coaches, the equipment staff, anybody associated with the team. They know they’d better do their job because there are 1000s waiting for that opportunity.”
Walters said there were about 2,000 applicants for the academy. There was a unique interview process that followed, including videos where the coaching applicants had to watch a clip and were asked “How would you coach this?” “How would you fix this?” “Did the play go well?” “What didn’t go well?”
“So, you’re sitting there breaking down an NFL play,” Walters said. “The pros were actually there during the minicamp on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and we had interaction with them. Todd Bowles, the Bucs head coach, told us that we’re there for an opportunity, but he said you are coaches, so coach. To see that type of talent up close like that was amazing. I will never understand why people say this guy is not good. These are the best in the world. Even the backup quarterbacks are making throws that you couldn’t imagine.”
Walters said the rookies came in on Thursday for rookie minicamp for three days.
“Their No. 1 pick, Emeka Egbuka, was there and he was special,” Walters said. “Shilo Sanders was also there, who they signed as a free agent, and he was one of the hardest workers on that rookie minicamp. So look out for him. They also picked up a defensive tackle from Florida, Desmond Watson, who I believe is the heaviest player [464 pounds] in the history of the NFL. But he was one of the hardest workers as well.”
East Stroudsburg coach Matt Walters works with Tampa Bay Buccaneers players and coaches as part of the NFL Coaching Academy program. (Contributed photo / Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
On Sunday, Walters was back working with high school kids as an assistant coach during the first practice for the 54th annual McDonald’s Lehigh Valley All-Star Football Classic, which is set for 7:30 p.m. June 12 at Nazareth’s Andy Leh Stadium.
Walters is working on the Red Team [Lehigh, Carbon, and Monroe County]. The staff is headed by East Stroudsburg North coach David Laughlin, and features Pleasant Valley head coach Blaec Saeger and defensive coordinator Bill Miller, and Colten and Paul Hagadus.
Easton’s Matt Senneca is the coach for the Gold [Northampton County] team.
Walters, who was a head coach in the 2019 game, will run the Red squad’s offense in the annual game that showcases graduating senior football players for an outstanding cause — the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia which provides a home away from home for the families who have their children receiving treatment for cancer at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“Coach Laughlin gave me the opportunity to coach the offense here, and just seeing the kids from the opposition schools in the same huddle is so great to see,” Walters said. “These are such great kids. We had a lot of install on the first day, and they’re picking up the system pretty easily. And you know my philosophy is to get the ball out as quickly as we can and let them be the athletes that they are. That’s the plan for our team this year. It’s so great to have kids from like Pleasant Valley and Stroudsburg on our side this time.”
Laughlin is coaching in the game for the first time.
He has made vast strides in just two years as the Timberwolves’ coach. The North program won four games last season after winning three games in the previous seven seasons combined.
Laughlin was asked to coach the Red team by his athletic director, Chuck Dailey, who is also on the McDonald’s All-Star Classic board of directors.
“I coached in this game last year with Coach Saeger, and it’s an honor to be a head coach this year,” Laughlin said. “Being from Suburban One, I know what a great honor it was to play in the Montco all-star game, representing Abington. I got to see how great this game is last year and looked forward to the opportunity to lead this team this year.”
Laughlin said his team has amazing kids who have shone on EPC gridirons the last several years.
Osmany Guzman, who quarterbacked Parkland to the District 11 6A championship last fall, will be a key member of the Red team’s offense. Charles Capers from East Stroudsburg South and Zachary Martinez-Deresky, who played for Laughlin at North, will also be featured.
“The kids are coming from programs with great coaches, and they have been trained well,” Laughlin said. “You give them different plays and different formations, and they pick it up like that. They’ve got it in two minutes, and they’re ready to go on to the next thing. It’s a lot of fun to coach kids like that.”
Originally Published: June 2, 2025 at 5:00 PM EDT