For a little over six years, Matthew Hayes worked for Nortis, a biotech firm in Woodinville, Washington. It isn’t a stretch to say the product the company makes — microfluidic chips that mimic human organs for the purpose of biomedical research — could change the world for the better.
Yet during that time, Hayes also worked as a quality-control coach in two college all-star games, as a summer intern for the Philadelphia Eagles and as director of operations for pro football’s version of a startup — the XFL’s Seattle Dragons.
“It’s one thing to make money. It’s another thing to be happy,” said former Bellevue (Washington) High School coach Butch Goncharoff, for whom Hayes worked as a volunteer coach for five years. “If you can do both ...”
At 39 years old, Hayes has arrived at a place where he can enjoy the best of both worlds. His parallel career tracks have converged at the University of Arizona. He is the associate athletic director of football operations for the Wildcats — the overseer of the operations side of the program first-year coach Jedd Fisch has reconfigured over the past two-plus months.
“He’s kind of my right-hand guy,” Fisch said.
Hayes’ story is similar to Fisch’s in some ways. Both have worked their way up from the bottom, fueled by an unbridled passion for football.
It’s different from Fisch’s — and just about anyone involved in the sport — in most respects. Those who know him and have worked with him believe those experiences will set up Hayes for success at Arizona and whatever comes next.
“He’s an endless worker,” said former NFL quarterback and coach Jim Zorn, who befriended, mentored and ultimately hired Hayes with the Dragons. “He follows through. He’s the kind of guy you really want in your football program.”
‘Growth mindset’
Hayes grew up in the Boston area in a working middle-class family. He was a classmate at Xaverian Brothers High School of Nathanael Hasselbeck, the youngest of three football-playing brothers. The older two, Matt and Tim, would become NFL quarterbacks.
Hayes played receiver at Xaverian and at nearby Bridgewater State, an NCAA Division III school. Unlike the older Hasselbeck boys, Hayes knew playing football wasn’t his future. He was a backup in college, catching four passes for 83 yards and two touchdowns in 2003 and ’04.
The Hasselbeck brothers attended Boston College. Nathanael subsequently moved from Boston to Seattle, where Matt was playing for the Seahawks. Nathanael invited Hayes to visit him under the guise of helping him make friends and comparing résumé notes.
Little did Hayes know that Nathanael had been networking on his behalf and hoped he’d join him in Seattle.
Hayes figured it would be a “cool experience” and “something different,” so he decided to give Seattle a shot. An insatiable sense of curiosity — which Hayes calls his “growth mindset” — has guided many of the key decisions he has made in his life.
Hayes took a job in financial operations with Parmenter Homes, which builds custom homes in Washington, and helped the company navigate the financial crisis of 2007-08.
In the meantime, Hayes became curious about daily-deal websites, a relatively new concept, so he decided to launch one from scratch. He also helped a friend, former NFL offensive lineman Mike Wahle, start a company. Oh, and in 2008, Hayes began volunteering at Bellevue High School.
This would become a pattern for Hayes — taking on multiple tasks, pushing himself into new areas and learning along the way.
“The more tools you can collect, experiences, the more well-rounded you are,” Hayes said. “It gives you perspective. It gives you a different way to approach things. It puts you in a mindset for growing.”
Hayes chose to volunteer at Bellevue because Goncharoff ran a version of the wing-T offense.
“He was fascinated by it,” Goncharoff said. “He was always trying to learn different versions.”
Goncharoff attended clinics run by then-Oregon coach Chip Kelly to try to expand the offense. Goncharoff would take Hayes along.
“Matt just ate it alive. He loved it,” Goncharoff said. “Then he’d want to talk about it for the five-hour drive home.”
‘A crazy grinder’
Around 2012, Hayes realized that he wanted to make football his career, whether in operations, personnel or coaching. He was too far removed from college to become a graduate assistant. Matt Hasselbeck suggested that Hayes reach out to some of the contacts he’d made in the NFL. So began Hayes’ relationship with Zorn.
Hayes assisted Zorn in tutoring quarterbacks. Zorn helped Hayes learn a new language.
“He took me under his wing and said, ‘I’m gonna start teaching you NFL football. We’re gonna go to another level,’” Hayes said. “He taught me all about quarterback play and drills and how to break down film.”
Zorn had been Hasselbeck’s QB coach in Seattle from 2001-07 and worked in the NFL through 2012. He coached the West team in the 2015 East-West Shrine Bowl and was able to get Hayes on the staff. Hayes worked under Ken Flajole, a longtime defensive assistant in the NFL.
Flajole then became the linebackers coach for the Eagles. He brought Hayes back east as a training-camp intern in 2017, ’18 and ’19. Hayes was working for Nortis full time at that point, but football’s pull remained irresistible.
“Matthew’s level of involvement with the company was about 80 hours a week. This guy is a crazy grinder,” said Ryan LaRock, one of Hayes’ former colleagues at Nortis. “How in the heck do you ... bounce across to the other side of the country, go through training camp and still find time to manage the entire operation at Nortis? He did it without even missing a beat.”
LaRock said he sometimes would connect with Hayes remotely and he’d have “four different screens up.” Or Hayes would be eating dinner at midnight.
“But he was able to manage it and juggle all that stuff,” LaRock said.
Then-Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was so impressed with Hayes’ work ethic that he asked the intern to speak to the players. Schwartz then took it a step further: He let Hayes call a defensive series in the Eagles’ 2019 exhibition opener against the Titans. Hayes didn’t take the opportunity lightly.
“You might have thought he was calling a two-minute drive in the Super Bowl,” Flajole said. “He took it as serious as you could. He probably didn’t get a lot of sleep the night before.”
Then again, when did he ever?
Dragons, Wildcats
The year before, 2018, Hayes decided to pursue an MBA at the University of Washington.
“Why not, right?” Hayes said.
He was still working at Nortis, still interning with the Eagles and still making it all work.
Then, in 2019, a new opportunity arose. The XFL, which had rebooted in ’18, launched a franchise in Seattle. Zorn became the head coach. He hired Hayes as the Dragons’ director of football operations.
“I needed somebody strong in that area,” Zorn said. “He fit that bill over and above.”
But it took some convincing. There are only so many hours in a day, even for a master multitasker like Hayes.
“I actually said no to him three times,” Hayes said.
He eventually said yes, and the job was everything he expected it to be — and more.
“Every day there was something new, something that we had to field,” Zorn said. “That was kind of fun. And hard.”
The degree of difficulty rose when offensive coordinator Mike Riley had to step away from the team on the eve of the season because of a family matter. The Dragons also lost an offensive quality-control coach around that time.
Zorn could take over the play-calling duties, but he needed someone else he could trust to help out on offense. He tapped Hayes.
“It added more to his plate,” said Goncharoff, who coached the Dragons’ running backs. “It threw him into the fire. He’s not scared of the heat.”
Hayes somehow figured out a way to juggle yet another job while continuing to work at Nortis and finishing his MBA. The XFL folded during its inaugural season last March. In September, Hayes got married. Zorn officiated and hosted the ceremony in his backyard.
A few months later, Fisch took over at Arizona and went about restructuring the football operation. It was the job Hayes had been working toward for years.
“I always used to kid him: ‘Your SAT score is a lot higher than mine. What the heck do you want to coach football for?” Flajole joked. “You’ve got a stable job. You’re making a pretty good income. Why do you want to do this?’
“Like a lot of guys, it’s because that’s what his passion was. He loved the game. He liked being around the players. He loved the challenge.
“He continued to pursue it. Eventually, it worked out to where now he can make a living being involved in the sport. I’m happy for him.”
