BYU Football: Getting to Know New O-Line Coach Eric Mateos

Over the past seven season’s BYU Football has had a quarterback get injured in six of them. Granted, many of those are not the offensive line’s fault, but it shows the importance of having a good O-Line Coach.

There will be some new faces joining the BYU Cougars football team in the 2019 season. Some could be new freshman or returned missionaries. However, the Cougars made one big coaching change that could have a big impact on the Cougar offense.

After offensive line coach Ryan Pugh left after one season to become the offensive coordinator at Troy, BYU found themselves in need of a new position coach. The decision to hire former Texas State offensive line coach Eric Mateos to replace him.

Mateos has made previous coaching stops at both LSU and Arkansas, among others. He says he is excited to be at BYU and called the decision to come to BYU a “no-brainer.” Mateos, who has had prior experience with Offensive Coordinator Jeff Grimes, said he was excited to work with him again and has heard great things about Head Coach Kalani Sitake.

Mateos said that BYU has a reputation on the national level of being “tough and mature.” He also mentioned that although most of the incoming freshman don’t start at age 18 like most schools, BYU has a lot of “smart 20 year old Freshman” that he will be able to work with.

As for his offensive lineman, he said their goals are going to be to play with confidence, play fast, and to always know what they are doing which appears to once again be getting away from the pro style offense that BYU ran a few seasons back. He mentioned that the offensive and defensive lines are where games are won, so he will be ready to take charge once the season begins.

Mateos was impressed by the depth of the BYU offensive line. They return three starters who played and started in all 13 games last season in Brady Christensen, Tristen Hoge, and Freshman All-American James Empey. They also return players like Thomas Shoaf, Keanu Saleapaga, and Chandon Herring, all of whom got a good amount of playing time last season. Coach Mateos said that right now the line could go “nine, ten, or even eleven deep.” That is encouraging especially for an offense that is hoping to be faster than last year’s.

Last year, the Cougars ranked No. 79 in the nation in sacks given up. You can bump up the Cougars when you take out teams like Air Force, Georgia Tech and Navy who never throw the ball. Among teams who actually throw more than 30% of the time, BYU ranked 41st among P5 teams, which is not awful but in the bottom third.

Overall, the offensive line has experience, depth, and a coach who was excited to come to BYU. He said right now they will just be looking for the best five guys to play. Look for the offensive line to be one of the strengths of this team come August. And let’s just hope they are good enough to protect Zach Wilson so he can play the entire season.