Matt Kennedy returned to OBU in 2011 after serving for three seasons as the head women's track & field coach at Friends University in Wichita, KS. Kennedy, a three time Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, guided the Friends University women's team to the first KCAC Track & Field Championship in school history in 2010 and a second title in 2011.

Before his transition to Friends University, Kennedy served as the men's and women's assistant track and field coach at OBU and was part of two National Championship teams in 2007, the women's indoor title and men's outdoor title. Responsible for leading OBU's jumpers, Kennedy coached athletes to numerous NAIA National Championship appearances and All-American certificates.

Kennedy moved to OBU in 2006 from his alma mater, Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, where he assisted with the women's cross country team during the 2005 inaugural season.

Prior to Midwestern State, Kennedy served for three seasons as the head track and field coach and two years as the Athletic Director at Wichita Christian High School in Wichita Falls, Texas. Arguably the most successful teams in the school's history, Kennedy's squads finished among the top eight at the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools State Track & Field Championships each of his three seasons. During this time, Kennedy's athletes brought home 13 individual state titles along with numerous other top-five awards.

From 2003 to 2007 Kennedy was responsible for the resurrection of the Wichita Falls Track Club. During this five year period, the club's enrollment increased from 28 to a record setting 92, with 105 athletes enrolling the following year. In addition, the number of athletes qualifying for the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation Track and Field State Championships more than doubled. This includes a historic 32 state qualifiers in 2007 and the club's first TAAF Local, Regional, and State Athlete of the Year.