Few families are as synonymous with athletic good luck as the Tuiasosopos of Woodinville, Washington. In the Husky culture of the Pacific Northwest and, specifically, at the University of Washington (UW), the family legacy remains unparalleled.
All with patriarch Manu Tuiasosopo, a first-round pick out of UCLA in 1979 via the Seattle Seahawks. After five years in Seattle, he continued his defensive lineman career in San Francisco for another four years, earning a coveted Super Bowl ring with the 49ers. in 1985.
Manu and his spouse Lisa settled in Woodinville, a suburb of Seattle, where they raised their “team” of five gifted sports children. Married for more than 40 years, they still live in the suburbs, following and supervising their grandchildren.
Growing up like Tuiasosopo didn’t mean spending time on the couch. The priorities have been religion and family, studies and sports. From the beginning it was clear that young people enjoyed and excelled in the sport, occasionally achieving good fortune in two sports. Extraordinarily talented, all of them have become champions in their respective sports fields, while remaining strong and humble.
No family circle embodies the Husky Nation like the Tuiasosopos. All Matt, who signed with the Seattle Mariners right out of school, enjoyed prolific athletic good luck at the University of Washington.
The soft-spoken fourth of five children, Matt vividly remembers watching his brothers compete.
“I can’t forget being in elementary school when Leslie first enrolled at Washington to play volleyball and went to Hec Ed (Hec Edmondson Pavilion) for her matches,” she said of her older sister. “Yes, and then Marques went there. ” , and Zach. Et seeing them at Husky Stadium, it was a lot of fun.
Matt is a notable football player and may have accepted a football scholarship to the University of Washington. Instead, he came out of the top school by way of the Seattle Mariners in the first round of the 2004 amateur draft and accepted a $2. 29 million signing bonus. But he still considers himself. a proud member of Husky Nation, and it’s easy to see why.
The older sister, Leslie (Gabriel), a standout volleyball player at the University of Washington who, after graduating, committed herself for two decades to the team as an assistant coach. He won the 2020 AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year award. After 22 years, one national championship (2005) and five Final Four appearances, she was named the team’s head coach in 2023.
Then, Marques, a dual-threat football and baseball star, was drafted through the Minnesota Twins after finishing top school. He switched to football and, as a quarterback for the University of Washington, was named Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year in 2000 after throwing for 2,146 yards and 14 touchdowns, while rushing for 394 yards and six touchdowns. In 2001, he coached the University of Washington’s Rose Bowl-winning team.
After college, Marques played 8 seasons in the NFL with Oakland (2001-06, 2008) and the New York Jets (2007) and, like his father, was inducted into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame.
Prior to his current position as offensive coordinator at Rice University, he coached at Cal, UCLA, Washington and USC.
Brother Zach was also a football star at each of the state’s top schools, as well as a starting shooting guard and captain of the Huskies team from 2001 to 2004. He signed through the Oakland Raiders and spent several seasons on teams NFL practice session.
Finally, Ashley, the youngest, is also a risk in two sports, softball and basketball. He won an NCAA softball championship with the Huskies in 2009 and, in his senior year, won the Allison Mick Most Inspirational Award.
She began her post-college career as a girls’ basketball coach at Monroe High School (Everett, WA). She is now the school’s athletic director, math instructor and fastball softball coach.
While it’s hard to give up the Husky family’s college experience, Matt made the most of his baseball career.
The 38-year-old played 15 professional seasons, adding five seasons in the Major Leagues: three with Seattle, one year with Detroit and a cup of coffee with Atlanta. A career batsman Array206, is the first to admit that his career in the game is adequate. but not exceptional.
However, it was as a minor league manager for the Atlanta Braves and now a major league coach that the former App player made his impact on the game.
“I was able to play for this organization for two years in Triple-A (Gwinnett) and I enjoyed it,” he said. “And I was looking to stay in the game. So I contacted them and told them that I had stopped betting in 2018. They took me to the pedagogical league for an interview and the following month I was hired to manage our class A team.
The opportunity to play with the younger players of the Rome Braves appealed to him and brought back his own memories of the Minor Leagues. Starting at the lowest level, being alone for the first time and managing the stress to perform, Matt was able to draw on his own reports to help his players adapt to his new environment.
He revered that inaugural season with the Bobby Cox Award as the most productive minor league manager in the Braves system.
In 2021, he was named coach of the Gwinnett Stripers, becoming, at age 35, the youngest captain in team history and the first former Gwinnett player to lead the team.
His coaching philosophy focuses on building meaningful connections with his players.
“I like connecting with other people and in training you have to be able to connect with other people,” he said. “I looked at it like I could pass on the things I learned in the game offensively, defensively and mentally. And then just with the mindset, the technique that you adopt with your thoughts, sharing your emotions and handling things off the field.
With four years of minor league coaching experience under his belt, the next logical step in Matt’s career path is a spot at Truist Park with the major league club. When he was named third base coach before the 2024 season, he thankfully met with Brian. Snitker, his former manager at Gwinnett.
Snitker, 68, has managed the Braves since 2016 and has a 2021 World Series victory and the 2018 National League Manager of the Year award on his resume.
ATLANTA, GA – JUNE 28: Manager Brian Snitker of the Atlanta Braves watches the fifth inning. . . [+] against the Minnesota Twins at Truist Park on June 28, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo via Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
“I liked Snit when I was in Triple-A,” Matt said, citing honesty, transparency, respect and empathy as hallmarks of Snitker’s controlling style.
“He understands how complicated the game is and is committed to excellence. He knows how complicated it is and everything that this task entails, on and off the field. And that’s why he supports me.
Matt, a considerate man, tries to emulate this calm demeanor and balanced disposition.
“I’ve never seen him panic. He’s cool and calm and he just trusts his guys and he believes in his guys.”
A third-base coach wants to have a thick skin and a short memory.
Matt, whose daily task also includes running with the infielders, explained: “You know, you’re not going to be the best and you’re not going to please everybody. When you arrest someone, they yell at you. You have sent them. When you send them and they’re out, you haven’t sent them.
It takes confidence and wisdom to make split-second decisions about who shows up and who stays.
“Just accept it as truth with your eyes and make sure you’re ready,” he explained. “You know the defensive corps of workers that are there, you know their strengths, you know their weaknesses and, based on what your eyes tell you, you make your resolution and no matter what happens, you live with it. ”
It’s no surprise that Matt has good reviews about the school sports landscape. He remains an unwavering supporter of the University of Washington and laments the demise of the Pac-12 conference. He is also very supportive of the name, image and likeness (NIL) system. , nor the moving portal.
UW was one of four founding members of the convention in 1915, and the move to the Big Ten left legions of enthusiasts feeling an emotional loss of traditions and rivalries.
“It’s going to be a very complicated conference,” he acknowledged, “and the timing will be challenging. “
He’s torn by the fact that school athletes don’t make money, worried about the disparities this can create within teams and how complicated it is for coaches to manage locker rooms with so many variables.
But he reserves his harshest complaint for the adjustments that now make it so easy to move from one establishment to another. He sees Americans doing what’s most productive for themselves rather than committing to a college and their teammates. According to Matt, players can learn more by preparing and fighting for a starting position, than by surrendering and jumping into the move portal.
“And now it’s like, ‘Well, I’m not approving to begin with, I’m just approving to transfer, or I’m just approving to move on to this school because they’re approving to offer me more cash or, you know, or my coaches are old-fashioned. They move to a position for a year and then get a bigger deal,” he said dismissively.
Fidelity is probably absolutely optional, as is the preference for persevering through difficult times. This is not the Tuiasosopo method.
“Where is the pride of ‘this is our team, this is our school’?” he asked, referring specifically to players withdrawing from bowl games. ‘Before it didn’t matter if you didn’t participate in a Bowl Championship Series (BCS). ‘You’re proud, let’s win this Bowl. ‘ Let’s finish what we started and end on a smart note. ‘ »
Matt currently has little time for the future of college athletics, as he continues to be taught that his craft and his support lead the Braves to the postseason.
At the same time, he also keeps a promise he made to his mother when he opted for baseball instead of college. She is just a year away from earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a field he finds useful in dealing with the myriad personalities on a baseball team.
You’ll be in the middle of the Pacific Northwest and still miss the stunning scenery. He especially enjoyed the Braves’ road break to face the Mariners earlier this year. It was his first time returning to T-Mobile Park since 2013, and he appreciated the warm welcome he got from enthusiasts who still cherish Tuiasosopos’ legacy. Of course, the full, extended circle of relatives was there, so large that they needed a suite to accommodate them all.
In fact, it is a special meeting.
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