Troy Mattern was already an accomplished football coach with a 58-21 record and two North Dakota Class 3A state championships when he took the Fargo Shanley football coaching job. He began his tenure at Sid Cichy stadium in 2017. His primary mission was to restore Shanley's status as the best football program in the state. To achieve this, Mattern knew he had to instill belief in the Shanley community that they could compete at the highest level in North Dakota.

During his first two years at Shanley, Mattern impressively compiled a 21-1 record. Under his guidance, the Deacons reached two state title games and clinched a State Championship in 2018. With this momentum, Mattern aimed even higher. In 2019, he spearheaded the move to elevate Shanley to the highest classification in North Dakota, even though this meant competing against schools that were 4 or 5 times larger. His leadership paid off, in 2022, Shanley won a State Championship at the highest level, followed up with a Dakota Bowl appearance in 2023, falling on a last second field goal to Minot High School 38-35.

Prior to Shanley, Coach Mattern spent 13 seasons as a member of the Fargo South coaching staff, the last 7 years as Head Coach. During his time as Head Coach, Coach Mattern led the Bruins to the 2010 and 2013 State Championship.
 
Coach Mattern and his wife Jamie have four children, Cooper, and Lydia, Shanley graduates in 2021, Jax who will be a Junior at Shanley and Ily, who will be an 8 th grader at Sacred Heart.