Robert Lee "Matty" Mathews (August 6, 1887 – September 1, 1947) was an American football player and coach. He was the head football coach at St. Edward's College (1911), Kenyon College (1912–1914), Willamette University (1915–1920), the University of Idaho (1922–1925),

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

(1926–1927), Gonzaga University (1929), the University of Portland (1937–1942), and Lewis & Clark College (1945–1946).

Biography

He was born on August 6, 1887, in

Leadville, Colorado The City of Leadville is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory city, statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only List of municipalities in Colorado, incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorad ...

. Mathews played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Willamette University in

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river ...

, as a freshman then transferred to the University of Notre Dame in

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

and played three seasons for the Fighting Irish in South Bend, Indiana. During his senior season in

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

, future coaching legend

Knute Rockne Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

was a freshman end. In Mathews' four seasons at Idaho, the Vandals' first years in the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

, they won three consecutive rivalry games over Palouse neighbor Washington State. Idaho lost the other, Mathews' first in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

, by a single point, and he remains the only Idaho head coach with multiple wins over WSU. The Vandals made significant use of the forward pass under Mathews, who was also the athletic director at Idaho. He left Moscow and the Northwest after

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

for St. Louis for two seasons (1926–27) but did not coach during the 1928 season, and worked in private business in Akron, Ohio, until hired at Gonzaga in June 1929. After less than a year in Spokane as athletic director and head coach in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and basketball, he resigned in April 1930 to pursue career options closer to the coast. Mathews was also the head coach of the West Seattle Athletic Club in 1931 and 1932 and of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

's Portland Rockets in 1944. In the 1930s, he supervised athletics for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps in the state of Washington. He returned to college football in Oregon at the University of Portland in 1937, where he was also athletic director. During World War II, the school dropped football prior to the

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

season and Mathews resigned as AD the following spring when the administration extended the hiatus for the

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

season. Entering his third season at Lewis & Clark in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

, Mathews died on September 1 at the age of 60 of a heart attack at his home in Portland, Oregon.

Head coaching record

College football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mathews, Robert L. 1887 births 1947 deaths Basketball coaches from Colorado Gonzaga Bulldogs football coaches Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Idaho Vandals football coaches Idaho Vandals athletic directors Kenyon Lords football coaches Lewis & Clark Pioneers football coaches Lewis & Clark Pioneers men's basketball coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Portland Pilots athletic directors Portland Pilots baseball coaches Portland Pilots football coaches Portland Pilots men's basketball coaches Saint Louis Billikens football coaches St. Edward's Crusaders football coaches Washington Huskies baseball coaches Washington Huskies football coaches Washington Huskies football players Willamette Bearcats football coaches People from Leadville, Colorado Sportspeople from Portland, Oregon Players of American football from Colorado Players of American football from Portland, Oregon Willamette Bearcats football players Willamette Bearcats athletic directors