With a father who started in 60 NFL games teaching him, redshirt freshman right guard R.J. Mattes began receiving the best instruction any young football player could ask for when at age 14, he first started playing football.
Mattes is the youngest offensive lineman to start a season opener for State since Leroy Harris did so in 2003. The six-foot-six lineman from Concord, N.C. said learning the game from his father, Ron Mattes, who played for coach Tom O’Brien at UVA prior to his NFL career, made for a quick transition from novice to technique-savvy middle school lineman.
“I was a little short fat kid back then so I wasn’t that great at it, but once my dad got a hold of me, he started training me well,” Mattes said. “He has been teaching me how to be an O-lineman since I was a little kid. I remember middle school, I was kick stepping, and not a lot of kids know how to do that in middle school.”
By the time his senior year of high school rolled around, the self-proclaimed ‘little short fat kid’ had grown into one of the premier linemen in the state of North Carolina.
With honors pouring in from the likes of Scout.com, which ranked him a four-star recruit and the No. 11 offensive tackle in the nation, and Rivals.com, who ranked him the No. 4 player in N.C., Mattes had recruiting offers from a variety of schools, including Miami, Clemson, South Carolina and N.C. State.
Mattes said his father’s relationship with O’Brien played a huge role in his decision to come to Raleigh and follow in his footsteps.”They are good friends and [O’Brien] puts linemen in the NFL all the time,” Mattes said. “He has a good track record and my dad said I can’t go wrong with O’Brien, so coming down to my decision, I just chose N.C. State.”
As O’Brien and offensive line coach Don Horton did with every current starting lineman besides junior Jake Vermiglio, they redshirted Mattes for his freshman season.
Redshirt senior right tackle and team captain Jeraill McCuller said he could tell Mattes was not content watching from the sideline and cited Mattes’ determination in explaining how he won the starting job at right guard.
“You just know if a guy really wants to be out there, if he’s satisfied with where he’s at,” McCuller said. “You got the impression early that R.J. was not satisfied with sitting on the bench. He wants to contribute, and it’s paying dividends now. “ According to McCuller, Mattes’ unrelenting efforts in the off-season earned him his starting position. ”He just came out every day and worked hard. He earned his spot, simple as that,” McCuller said. “Coach O’Brien always says this is a performance-based organization, and up until the first game R.J. was performing well at right guard, so he got the job.” In doing so, Mattes gave Horton reason to start a redshirt freshman offensive lineman in a season opener for the first time since he started Gosder Cherilus, an eventual first round draft pick, in Boston College’s 2004 season opener. McCuller said even though Horton rarely starts young players on the offensive line, the decision did not surprise him considering the way Mattes plays the game. ”He fits in perfectly. He comes to work every day,” McCuller said. “He doesn’t act like an underclassman – he acts like a starter. Our offensive line coach [Don] Horton won’t allow anything else.” Mattes said he owes the majority of his success to his father, but also said he has learned a lot lining up next to McCuller at every snap. ”My dad and I have been practicing all my life for this. He’s taught me everything I know,” Mattes said. “Jeraill has been a big help for me. Being a captain and all, he has taken me under his wing and made sure I get all the kinks out.”
As the only underclassman starting on a veteran offensive line where the next youngest player is junior tackle Vermiglio, media attention will certainly come Mattes’ way as the season progresses, and comparisons to his father will inevitably accompany any media attention he receives.
Based on what he has seen so far, O’Brien said the only real difference between Mattes and his father is that Ron Mattes played defensive line while in college.
“His dad played defense for us at Virginia and didn’t play offense until he went to the NFL,” O’Brien said. “R.J. has been an offensive player pretty much his whole career, and that’s the biggest difference there. His dad was a big tough physical guy and certainly I think R.J. fits into that category.”
