Eric Mateos joined the Baylor Football staff in January 2021. He serves as offensive line coach.
Mateos was named to the Dave Campbell Texas Football’s prestigious 40 under 40 list, honoring the top assistant coaches in the state of Texas that are under 40 years of age.
Mateos continued to lead one of the nation’s top offensive line units in 2022, forming an elite group out of veterans that included Connor Galvin, Jacob Gall, Grant Miller, Khalil Keith, Gavin Byers and Mose Jeffrey. The offensive line group paved the way for a rushing attack that rolled to 182.4 yards per game and 2,371 total rushing yards, including 34 rushing TDs, which ranked seventh-most in program history. The Bears also totaled 5,380 total offensive yards, the 10th-best total in school history. Gall and Galvin each earned honorable mention All-America honors from Phil Steele and Gall was tabbed as the Best Offensive Lineman in Texas by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. Miller earned all-conference first-team honors from the Pro Football Network.
In his first season leading the Bears O-Line, his crew paved the way for the Big 12’s best rushing attack, which averaged 219.3 yards per game for the 10th-best mark nationally. The group also allowed the second-fewest sacks in the conference with just 1.29 per game, helping the unit finish as a Joe Moore Award Semifinalist as one of the best offensive lines in the country.
Under Mateos’ guidance, offensive lineman Connor Galvin was named the Offensive Lineman of the Year in the Big 12 in addition to All-Big 12 First Team, All-American First Team (The Athletic) and All-America Third Team (AP) honors. Center Jacob Gall was also named to the All-America Second Team(FWAA), All-Big 12 Second Team (AP) and All-Big 12 Honorable Mention Team (Coaches). Xavier Newman-Johnson was the third member of the offensive line unit to garner postseason recognition as an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention performer.
A native of Overland Park, Kansas, Mateos joined Baylor following two successful seasons at BYU from 2019-20. While in Provo, he molded a BYU offensive line that anchored one of the top offenses in the country in 2020. BYU finished its season ranked in the top-15 of 10 different statistical categories including scoring (3rd, 43.5 ppg), total offense (7th, 522.2 ypg) and passing offense (8th, 332.1 ppg).
Led by Consensus All-American tackle Brady Christensen, the BYU offensive line allowed only 12 sacks in 12 games, the eighth-best per game average in the country, and helped the Cougars to the fourth-most rushing touchdowns nationally with 34.
Christensen received 10 All-America honors overall. He finished 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.
BYU posted an 11-1 record in 2020, including an impressive 49-23 victory over UCF in the Boca Raton Bowl. The Cougars reached as high as No. 8 in the AP poll during the season. BYU tied for the national lead in yards per play at 7.84, and led all of FBS in plays of 30 or more yards with 45. Overall, the program scored 40 or more points nine times in 12 games.
Since 2014, Mateos has coached 13 NFL players including eight draft picks. Most recently, Christensen was selected in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers.
In 2019, the Cougars finished 7-6 with a Hawaii Bowl berth. Under Mateo’s 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 yards per game), No. 13 passing offense (323.0 yards per game) and No. 34 rushing offense (197.6 yards per game). 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.
Mateos’ 2019 offensive line finished the season ranked No. 12 overall as a unit by Pro Football Focus.
Mateos spent two seasons from 2017-18 as the offensive line coach at Texas State where he had an All-Sun Belt performer each of his two years. Prior to his stint with the Bobcats, Mateos served as the tight ends coach at LSU in 2016 after starting the season as an offensive line graduate assistant under Baylor offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes.
Midway through the 2016 season, Mateos was named tight ends coach by Ed Orgeron and helped lead the Tigers to a victory over Louisville in the Citrus Bowl. Before joining Grimes at LSU, Mateos worked under Sam Pittman at Arkansas from 2013-15.
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 in 2009 and 2010. 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, Izzy.