Hogs' OL Coach Eric Mateos on Signing Day

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Arkansas Razorbacks offensive line coach Eric Mateos with the media after being hired on returning to place he loved and new recruits coming in.
Transcript
00:00 All right, well, it's good to see some familiar faces.
00:04 Coach Pittman said some nice things about me.
00:07 I'm really grateful to him that had me back here.
00:11 He's a huge influence on my life, my career.
00:14 So it's an honor to be back working for him.
00:17 I'd like to thank Mr. Urechek too.
00:20 It was really good to me in the process of getting hired here and
00:23 good to my wife.
00:24 So don't have a lot to say other than it's good to be back and
00:28 excited to get going.
00:30 Want to ask you about what you've done since you've been back.
00:32 I know straight up recruiting, evaluating, counting on hand.
00:36 What's it been like?
00:36 >> Got on a 5am bird the day after we signed and
00:41 went watch transfers for 12 hours and went recruiting.
00:45 So that's been the priority.
00:47 That's the priority this time of year, everybody knows that.
00:49 And so you don't have a lot of time to do much else.
00:52 And so you mix in seeing a home here and there and
00:56 trying to sell your house somewhere and make sure your wife and
00:59 daughter are doing good.
01:00 But the priority has been just finding some guys for today.
01:03 >> I'm curious how much you've watched this program and
01:09 situation from before with your journey and
01:12 I mean, maybe kept your eye on this position.
01:14 >> Well, I mean, here's the deal.
01:18 I got my master's from here and I take a lot of pride in that.
01:21 And I have paid a lot of attention to the program every season.
01:27 You guys on ESPN app, you can pick your favorite teams where you get all their
01:32 updates, well, the hogs have been on my ESPN app for ten years.
01:36 So I've known just about everything that's gone on and I love this place.
01:40 It's close to the house, grew up in Kansas City.
01:43 So it's just a really important place to me.
01:47 So I have paid plenty of attention to it.
01:50 >> It was important for you guys to keep your best players on the offensive line
01:54 and also bring in some guys to compete with them.
01:56 Just your thoughts on your three new transfer additions primarily.
02:00 >> Well, the most important thing, I think, in the transfer portal for
02:05 me was getting the right guys, wanna avoid the FOMO.
02:11 Hey, you gotta fill all these spots right this second.
02:15 I think the most important thing was that we got players that could play,
02:17 guys that could contribute right away.
02:20 Guys that were made up of the right things internally,
02:23 have the right makeup, mindset.
02:25 Guys that fit the program, fit the situation.
02:28 And that was what we did.
02:30 And so the guys, Keyshawn was obviously already in the mix here.
02:35 I tried to recruit him at Baylor, had no chance.
02:39 So that was a good surprise when I got here.
02:41 And then, Addison and Junior Carmona, just guys that love football.
02:46 I mean, that was the priority, is guys that love to play the position,
02:50 have a passion for playing the position.
02:52 Have the makeup inside to do hard things, cuz it is a thankless job.
02:58 It's a thankless position.
02:59 And when we talk to these guys in recruiting, the offensive line world is,
03:03 you can kick a guy's rear end for 67 plays.
03:07 But if he gets three sacks, he's SEC Player of the Week.
03:09 And Aunt Pam up in the stands thinks you're a bum.
03:13 And so I think that's one of the things that you have to be ready for
03:19 to play that position in this league.
03:21 And that was the important thing, is finding guys with the right mentality.
03:24 >> Coach Mason Choate, hogbeat.com, welcome back to Fayetteville.
03:27 >> Thank you.
03:29 >> The offensive line obviously had a tough year last year, but
03:32 it seems like there's a lot of talented guys in that room.
03:34 I'm curious if you've watched tape on any of the guys that are coming back, and
03:38 if anybody's impressed you so far.
03:40 >> I think it's an impressive room.
03:42 I mean, I think it's important to recognize,
03:44 when I met with the guys my one day here, they were still all in town.
03:49 It's not like the room is full with a bunch of bums.
03:53 That's not the case.
03:53 They were recruited here for a reason.
03:56 They wear that jersey proudly, and they have a lot of pride.
03:59 And it was a hard year.
04:01 I mean, my impressions are you have guys that are hungry, and they wanna be good.
04:05 They wanna be coached.
04:06 And they have a lot of pride in themselves and being Razorbacks.
04:09 And so when you have pride and guys that love to play the game,
04:14 you got a chance to make something out of somebody.
04:16 And so I think the challenge for everybody that we talked about was to leave 23
04:20 behind us.
04:22 We had a meeting, we aired out a lot of things and talked through a lot of things.
04:26 And we said we're gonna leave it in 2023, right where it belongs.
04:30 And when guys come back in January, we need to be refreshed and refocused.
04:34 And I think we'll do that.
04:36 >> It seems like when you were hired, a lot of the same former players that were
04:40 playing under Pittman were super excited for you to be hired.
04:43 Because you were here at the same time.
04:44 Have you talked to any of the guys that you knew when you were here the previous
04:48 time, how's that been?
04:49 >> Well, I've been talking to those guys since I was here.
04:53 I mean, I think that's part of my style of coaching is building relationships and
04:58 being really close with your players.
04:59 And I've talked to a lot of those guys.
05:01 And I still talk to guys that maybe some people don't remember very much.
05:06 And I wanna talk to Austin Beck and Cordell Boyd and
05:11 those guys that maybe weren't as glorified all conference guys.
05:16 But guys that meant a lot to me and meant a lot to this program and
05:19 what they gave to this place.
05:20 And so I've never really stopped talking to those guys over the years.
05:23 So they were just excited for me.
05:26 >> But you kind of talked a little bit about just a moment ago when you're
05:30 looking at players like in the portal, what you're looking for,
05:32 the mental side of it.
05:33 But when you're looking at a guy like Carmona, for example, in the Mountain West,
05:37 are there traits that you can see like on film, things like that, that you think,
05:40 okay, that could translate to the SEC?
05:43 >> I think the athleticism jumps off.
05:45 I mean, I think when you can take athleticism plus desire to hurt people,
05:50 you got a shot.
05:51 He's very strong.
05:53 He's only been playing football since his junior year of high school.
05:56 And so he's only been playing the game for four years.
05:59 His dad is a longtime head coach, offensive line coach.
06:02 He's got that toughness drilled into him.
06:04 That's just who the family is.
06:06 I think when you watch his film, what pops off the tape is the athletic ability,
06:12 the ability to run, and then his willingness to put his face on people.
06:16 And when you can take the want to with the athleticism,
06:20 that's really the driving force.
06:22 You can find a great athlete on the line.
06:24 Those guys are out there, but if they don't wanna put their face in the fire,
06:28 it's gonna take a lot to get them to be really productive in this conference.
06:34 >> You mentioned having Arkansas alerts on the ESPN app and everything.
06:37 I'm curious when this position came open, did you reach out to Coach Pittman to ask
06:41 about it, or did he reach out to you, or how did that process play out?
06:44 >> I mean, me and Coach Pitt talked quite a bit, and he had brought it up to me that
06:49 there's a chance there's gonna be some changes, and I'll be interested.
06:52 And I mean, it didn't take me but five milliseconds to say yes, and my wife.
06:58 So it was a no-brainer.
07:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
07:04 >> Eric, I get that wherever you were coaching, you were committed to that
07:07 place, but was this a place you always wanted to get back to?
07:10 I don't know, maybe dream jobs, too strong a term, but
07:13 just was Arkansas the place you wanted to be?
07:16 I mean, Sam's talked about that from his perspective.
07:20 >> Well, I mean, I was a Juco coach.
07:27 I was a D2 coach and a Juco coach when Coach Pittman hired me as a GA.
07:31 And so I had no frame of reference for what Division I football looked like.
07:35 I mean, I played in front of dozens of screaming fans in college.
07:39 And so when I got here, and I got exposed to Division I football,
07:46 the SEC, the coaching that was going on in this building.
07:52 This place has a great combination for me and my family.
07:55 Again, half of my family lives in Kansas City.
07:58 It's very close by.
08:00 Being in the SEC and being close to home,
08:03 I don't see a better combination out there for me.
08:07 And so has this always been a place that I wanted to get back to?
08:10 100%.
08:11 I mean, I said this a couple weeks ago.
08:14 I feel like everything that I've done in my career was to get an opportunity to
08:18 come back here and be the line coach at Arkansas.
08:20 And that was my goal.
08:21 And I've had other opportunities to coach other places in the SEC.
08:25 And I chose not to.
08:26 And when this one came about, it took me a very short amount of time to say yes.
08:32 So I always wanted to be back.
08:34 >> Yeah, Senator Spott, Sam was up here talking.
08:38 You heard him talking about the importance of finding that guy after the tackles.
08:41 Can you maybe expound on that a little bit?
08:43 >> Well, Senator just starts everything.
08:44 He's the tone setter.
08:47 Senator's typically your best brain in the room.
08:50 If not, another guy might be close, but
08:52 you need somebody that can handle a lot of information, digest a lot of pictures,
08:57 and be able to spit out words, and be able to translate things, and
09:00 visual, and get them out verbal.
09:03 Gotta be a great communicator, great leader.
09:05 The center's gotta be the first guy to run in the burden building.
09:07 He's gotta be the guy that's willing to go first and willing to lead,
09:11 have great volume, and that sets the tone for the rest of the guys.
09:16 And just the leadership, I mean, just the way a center makes a call,
09:20 sets the tone for the whole thing.
09:22 And if he whispers it or says it in a meek way,
09:25 I think you're setting yourself up for a soft play.
09:29 You have a center that steps up to line scrimmage and makes his ID, and
09:32 has confidence, and provides confidence to the rest of the group.
09:35 You got a chance to come off the ball and be successful.
09:38 So I just think the mental aspect and the leadership part of that position is so
09:43 important to the game, and it's really underrated.
09:45 And I'm biased, I played the position, so I'm very biased.
09:48 But I think it's just such a tone setter for your whole offense.
09:51 the center and the quarterback, the only two guys that touched the ball in the play.