Matt Pulford

Biography

Pulford enters his eighth season overall at WKU in 2025 and his fourth as a Quality Control – Special Teams coach. Working alongside Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Andy LaRussa, Pulford has helped coach some of the top special teams units in CUSA and nationally since joining the staff. That group includes WKU's first CUSA Special Teams Player of the Year, Lucas Carneiro, who claimed the award in 2024 after going 17-for-18 on field goals with 17 straight makes. The 17 made field goals are the longest streak in program history, and included an impressive six-for-six on field goals of 50-plus yards. There were two makes of 54 yards, which were tied for the second-longest makes in program history, and a game-winning kick against Jax State in the regular-season finale that sent the Hilltoppers to the CUSA Championship Game. Carneiro became the only CUSA kicker to go 6-for-6 from 50-plus yards in a season since 1996, while only four others have gone at least 3-for-3. Carneiro finished the 2024 season fourth in the league in scoring, second in the league in scoring by a kicker, second in the league in field goals made and first in the league in field goal percentage. He was named CUSA's Special Teams Player of the Week three times, he was a First Team All-CUSA selection and he was the only kicker in the league that was named a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award. In 2024, Pulford also coached long snapper Rex Robich, who was a Second Team All-CUSA selection, and pun