After stepping away from the head coaching ranks for five years, Thad Matta is ready to get back on the sidelines. The former Buckeyes leader recently took the job at Butler, a gig he had for one season before moving on to Xavier and, eventually, Ohio State.

Matta stepped down in the summer of 2017, citing health concerns behind his decision to resign. Last year, he got back into basketball by serving as an associate athletic director at Indiana. Now, he feels prepared to return in a head coaching role.

But before the job at Butler became available, Matta said other opportunities to present themselves after stepping down at Ohio State. None of them felt quite right, though.

Sports Betting in Big Ten Country

With the launch coming on January 1, 2023, Ohio sports betting apps are almost here.

FanDuel is now giving users a $100 bonus for Ohio pre-registration. Go pre-register now.

21+ and present in OH. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

“I was (close to taking other jobs),” Matta said on the College Hoops Today podcast with Jon Rothstein. “Yeah. I was very close. It’s funny — I got to see a lot of different situations. A lot of different opportunities presented themselves. But in the end, it was weird — something never felt right, just in terms of, as a coach, you go to a campus, you look around and people have always said, ‘How do you know you can be successful there?’ And it’s almost like a gut feel, if you will.

“And when this situation here at Butler University came up, it happened really quick and it just felt like this was the one for me. … I’m just here because it feels right and this place is, obviously, very, very special for me.”

Matta spent 13 seasons at Ohio State and was incredibly successful while leading the program. In that span, the Buckeyes compiled a 337-123 record and made 9 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Ohio State also won 5 B1G regular season titles, 4 B1G Tournament championships and reached the Final Four twice.

In his lone season at Butler, Matta’s Bulldogs posted a 24-8 record and reached the Round of 32 in the 2001 NCAA Tournament. He followed his time Indianapolis by spending three years at Xavier, where he led the Musketeers to three March Madness trips.