In an effort to “keep his hair from graying from root to end” as an undergraduate, Matt Scoggin chose to switch majors. Then again. And finally, inspired by Becca Culver — his then-girlfriend, now-wife — Scoggin switched one more time and took the plunge into social work.
“I just noticed that every day, at the end of the day, [Becca] was in a good mood,” said Scoggin, laughing as he admitted his final major switch brought him to a good mood as well.
Now, more than 35 years later, Scoggin uses his social work degree and the lessons he learned in social work every day – as a swimming and diving coach for both the Texas Longhorns and the United States Olympic team.
Scoggin, who competed in the 1992 Olympic games in Barcelona as a diver, is fresh off coaching in his fifth Olympics on behalf of the United States. He was a leader in helping the United States win 29 total swimming and diving medals in Paris and is returning to coach the Texas Longhorns diving program for a 30th season.
In his career, Scoggin has been highly decorated, and commended as one of the top diving coaches in the country. He’s a two-time United States Olympic Committee’s National Diving Coach of the Year, and as director of the Longhorns’ men’s and women’s diving program, Scoggin’s divers have claimed 23 individual NCAA championships and 114 individual conference titles.
And the reason behind his success? Scoggin credits the worldview that social work gave him, and how social work paved a smooth path into his coaching career.
Social work as a coaching method
There are many similarities between coaching groups of young adults and providing direct client care just as a social worker does, Scoggin said. Beyond the ever-changing dynamics and necessity of patience needed for college athletes or social work clients, both paths encourage personal advocacy and growth.
Much like a social worker, a coach has to encourage their athletes to improve themselves, realize their best selves, and prioritize their well-being as part of human flourishing.
And in a way, Scoggin started that coaching path with a social work lens early.
During his BSW, Scoggin spent his senior year practicum internship with the Legal Aid Society of Texas, which bestowed a further sense of community and empathy in him. While there, his daily tasks included working directly with clients by providing transportation to and from court appointments and supervising child custody visitation.
The “eye-opening” experiences that Scoggin learned from played a role in his coaching style, and he often got the opportunity to apply those social work lessons immediately as a coach.
Before completing his degree, Scoggin began his coaching career as an assistant for the Longhorn Diving Club. Less than a decade later, Scoggin was leading the official diving program at The University of Texas at Austin.
Encouraging the unusual path
Though his education and career path weren’t a conventional or linear path, Scoggin said he regrets none of the time he spent learning what he truly wanted to do.
“I would encourage people that if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing and you’ve got the time to make the switch, it’s better to make the switch when you can,” he said.
Once he started social work classes, particularly with Dr. Diana DiNitto as a professor, he realized that aerospace engineering, economics, nor petroleum engineering were not his callings.
Instead, he learned about social work, and used those lessons to become one of the top diving coaches in the world.
And at the end of the day, it still leaves him in a good mood.