Fayetteville, Arkansas (KAIT) – Arkansas Head Coach Sam Pittman has selected Eric Mateos to lead the Razorbacks’ offensive line.

Mateos, who most recently spent the last three seasons as the offensive line coach at Baylor, is returning to Fayetteville. Mateos served as Pittman’s graduate assistant for the Hogs from 2013-15 while Pittman was the team’s offensive line coach.

Mateos was included in Dave Campbell Texas Football’s 40 under 40 list at Baylor, which recognises the state’s top 40 assistant coaches under 40. Mateos has coached 13 NFL players since 2014, including eight draft picks. BYU’s Brady Christensen is the most recent after being selected in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers.

One of the best offences in Baylor history was made possible by Mateos’ 2022 veteran offensive line; the team’s 5,380 yards of total offence ranks 10th, and its 34 rushing touchdowns rank seventh in school history. Baylor averaged 182.4 yards per game rushing to go along with 231.5 yards per game passing. Mateos’ line also protected QB Blake Shapen, allowing him to be sacked only 22 times in 13 games. Both left tackle Connor Galvin and centre Jacob Gall were named honourable mention All-America by Phil Steele, with Gall winning Dave Campbell’s Texas Football’s Best Offensive Lineman award. Guard Grant Miller was named to the Pro Football Network’s first team All-Big 12, while the Associated Press and Phil Steele named him to the second team.

In 2021, Mateos’ first offensive line paved the way for the best rushing attack in the Big 12 and 10th-best in the FBS running for 219.3 yards per game. The line also protected the QB at an elite level, giving up just 1.29 sacks per game to rank second in the league. The men up front were also a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award, given annually to the nation’s best offensive line.

Galvin was named the Big 12′s Offensive Lineman of the Year and first-team All-Big 12 as well as first-team All-America by The Athletic and third-team All-America by the Associated Press. Gall was also named second-team All-America by the FWAA, second-team All-Big 12 (AP) and All-Big 12 Honorable Mention Team (Coaches). Xavier Newman-Johnson was the third member of the offensive line unit to be recognized as an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention performer.

Prior to his time at Baylor, Mateos spent two seasons (2019-20) at BYU. His second line for the Cougars was impressive in 2020 as the Cougs finished 11-1, led by an offense that finished the season in the Top 15 in 10 different statistical categories, including third in points per game (43.5), seventh in total offense (522.2 ypg) and eighth in passing yards (332.1 ypg). Christensen anchored an offensive line that allowed just 12 sacks in 12 games and paved the way for 34 rushing TDs, fourth-most in the nation. BYU scored 40+ points in nine of 12 games that season, including a 49-23 win over UCF in the Boca Raton Bowl.

Christensen received 10 All-America honors overall finishing the 2020 season as the highest-graded offensive tackle in the country by Pro Football Focus with a 96.0 rating, earning grades above 95.0 as both a pass-blocker and run-blocker. He allowed just three pressures across 372 regular-season pass-blocking snaps.

In 2019, the Cougars finished 7-6 with a Hawaii Bowl berth. Under Mateos’ guidance, Christensen and center James Empey earned All-Independent honors from Phil Steele. During the team’s final five regular-season games BYU boasted the nation’s No. 8 offense (520.6 ypg), No. 13 passing offense (323.0 ypg) and No. 34 rushing offense (197.6 ypg). The Cougars capped the season with 505 yards of total offense in the Hawai’i Bowl, including 274 through the air and 231 on the ground. The offensive line finished the season ranked No. 12 overall as a unit by Pro Football Focus.

Mateos spent two seasons (2017-18) as the offensive line coach at Texas State where he had an All-Sun Belt performer in each of his two years. Prior to his stint with the Bobcats, Mateos served as the tight ends at LSU in 2016 after starting the season as an offensive line graduate assistant under Baylor offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes. Mateos was tabbed to lead the tight ends coach by Ed Orgeron midway through the 2016 season and helped lead the Tigers to a victory over Louisville in the Citrus Bowl.

He began his coaching career as an assistant offensive line coach at Southwest Baptist in 2011 before serving a one-year stint in 2012 as the offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at Hutchinson Community College.

A two-year starter at Southwest Baptist, Mateos was the starting center and team captain during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He earned his bachelor’s degree in public relations at Southwest Baptist in 2011 and a master’s degree from Arkansas in 2015.

Mateos is married to the former Gillian Chavez and the couple has a daughter, Isabel.

The Mateos FileBirthdate: June 29, 1989Hometown: Overland Park, Kan.High School: Shawnee Mission South HSCollege: Southwest Baptist, 2011 B.S. Public Relations; Arkansas, 2015 M.A. Human Resources and DevelopmentFamily: Wife – Gillian; Daughter – Isabel

Coaching Experience2011 Southwest Baptist (Assistant OL)2012 Hutchinson CC (OL/Recruiting Coordinator)2013-15 Arkansas (Graduate Assistant)2016 LSU (Graduate Assistant/TEs)2017-18 Texas State (Offensive Line)2019-20 BYU (Offensive Line)2021-23 Baylor (Offensive Line)