From left, Masey Lewis, Matt Viator and Will Bressi talk at Southland Media Day Monday in San Antonio. (Matthew Bonnette/McNeese Athletics)

SAN ANTONIO – A decade has passed since Matt Viator sat in front of the Southland Conference media and answered questions about an upcoming season.

A lot has changed since then.

No longer are the Cowboys the top dog in the league, and Viator is no longer part of the old guard.

Now, he’s again the head coach at McNeese State, but he’s trying to lead the Cowboys back up the SLC mountain, not stay on top of it.

“This has been exciting,” Viator said Monday at the Southland Conference Media Day in the San Antonio Convention Center. “I’m highly motivated not to relive the past but for the future.”

Viator returns to McNeese after nine seasons away from the program he built. His 78 wins are tied for the most in program history.

In his first 10 years as the Cowboy head coach, Viator won four Southland titles, made the playoffs five times, and was named the league’s Coach of the Year on three occasions.

None of that matters now.

“This is a great opportunity for me,” said Viator. “The McNeese program means a lot to me. The transition back has been good.”

The program has not made the playoffs since Viator left and went 0-11 just two years ago. Last year, the Cowboys bounced back to go 6-6, but they haven’t had a winning season since 2019. Viator wants that to change. 

“I want to see McNeese get back to the standard it once had,” said Viator.

The fans are excited for sure. Season ticket sales are up 70 percent from a year ago ,and the buzz is all over town.

“It is really exciting to see the fans getting involved,” said Viator. “We have a great fanbase and want to reward them.”

Viator also wanted to reward the players who elected to stay with the program.

“I wanted to give them a chance if they wanted to stay with us,” Viator said. “I’m glad the ones that stayed are with us.”

Viator brought two of his returning players with him to San Antonio, offensive lineman Will Bressi and defensive end Masey Lewis. Both have seen the difference with Viator’s return.

“We are focused much more on the details every day at work,” said Bressi. “We work on the small things to get better each practice.”

Lewis pointed out how much the defense has been through over the years and what this season means to them.

“We have been together and have been through a lot,” Lewis said. “We are a close group that can go through anything now.”

This isn’t a rewind for the coach. It is a start of an entirely new era.

“I still park in the same spot I did before, still take the same elevator up to my office, and see some of the same people,” said Viator. “But a lot has changed since I was last here and I think for the better. That’s what makes this exciting.”

For him and McNeese fans.