By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
        
When fifth-year senior Ross Matiscik met with Matt Rhule in the summer to let him know he had decided to give up playing linebacker and focus solely on long snapping, the Baylor head coach told him, "You're going to miss it."
        
He was right.
        
After Clay Johnston suffered a season-ending knee injury last month against Texas Tech, Matiscik answered the call. Or check that, made the call.
        
The next day, he sent linebackers coach Mike Siravo a text message, saying, "Hey, if you need depth at linebacker, I'm willing to come back (to linebacker) and help the team." Siravo's quick response: "I don't need depth, I want someone who wants to play."
        
Six days later, Matiscik saw his first snaps of the season at linebacker and made a stop on Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard after a one-yard gain.
        
"I didn't realize how much I missed it until I was back out there," said the 6-foot, 235-pound Matiscik, who has been the Bears' primary long snapper for the last four years. "I was like, 'Dang, I should have been doing since the beginning (of the year).' I had to bite my tongue, but I did miss it."
        
A two-time first-team all-district pick and honorable mention all-state linebacker at McKinney Boyd High School, Matiscik's only real interest from a Power 5 school was as a preferred walk-on at Baylor. His biggest scholarship offer came from Stephen F. Austin University.
        
"Fortunately, my parents had the funds that I could go chase my dreams," said Ross, whose dad, Marty, played fullback at Bowling Green. Ross's older brother, Paine, played at Rice, while his younger brother, Brent, is a freshman tight end at TCU. And with the Bears' 29-23 triple-overtime win over TCU this season, Ross is 2-0 all-time against his brothers.       

"I didn't want to play in front of 20,000 people every weekend. My parents were like, 'If you want to go do this, if you will go all-out, we'll help you out.' And it worked out, so I'm glad I did."
        
After spending one year as a scout team linebacker, Ross was encouraged by his roommate, then-Baylor punter Drew Galitz, to try long snapping.


        
"I always saw Drew and (former long snapper Jimmy Landes) messing around in practice, just sitting there while I was getting beat in," Ross said. "And then when Jimmy got drafted (sixth round of 2016 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions), I was like, 'How did he get drafted? He got drafted being a deep snapper?'''
        
With Landes gone after the 2015 season, the Bears needed another deep snapper, and Matiscik got his chance.
        
"Drew convinced me to try out. I snapped a few to him in the hallway, and he was like, 'You're all right,''' said Matiscik, who made enough of an impression in his tryout that he was told his linebacking days were over.
        
Training with Justin Snow, a former Baylor player and Super Bowl champion with the Indianapolis Colts who had also worked with Landes, Ross took over long snapping for punts as a redshirt freshman in 2016 "and the rest is history."
        
This summer, Snow came to Waco to work with Matiscik more on "blocking and NFL defensive schemes and how that works and what you're expected to know," Ross said.
        
"I kind of dipped my foot in the water there to learn what to expect, preparing for the next level," he said.
        
That's certainly the goal for Matiscik, who's hoping to follow in the footsteps of Snow, Landes and longtime Houston Texans deep snapper Jon Weeks and get his shot in the NFL next year.
        
"I've done the work, I feel like I deserve (a shot)," he said. "I don't hear a lot about it. I think the coaches kind of keep it quiet, because they want us to focus on right now. So, whatever happens, happens, I'll be ready."
        
It was partially because of that goal that he had decided to give up playing linebacker going into this season. As a junior, he started the first two games at middle linebacker and made a career-high five tackles in the season opener against ACU.
        
"I thought that I would have a regret if I played linebacker and didn't give it my all at long snapping," he said. "I saw my snaps kind of fall off last year a little bit because I didn't get near the number of reps I did early on in the year. So, I just decided I wanted to put all my marbles in one basket. I'm going to do one thing and best the best at it."
        
That changed halfway through his senior season, though, when Johnston went down with an ACL injury and had to undergo season-ending surgery.
        
"As soon as Clay got hurt, he came in and said, 'Can I come back and play?''' Siravo said. "And he's a really good player. He's a great special teams player, but he's just a good football player. He's so diligent, spends a ton of time in there. As soon as that injury hit, he just worked his butt off to learn everything and watch tape and be with the guys. He's just an unbelievable human, that guy, he's the best."
        
Even with the defensive changes the Bears made last spring, going from a 4-3 alignment to a 3-3-5, "the basic concepts are pretty much the same," Matiscik said. "So, it was pretty easy for me to figure out."
        
Siravo said it was "a little wake-up to some of the young guys," because Matiscik shows up in the linebacker room one day "and he already knows way more than (they) do."
        
"He's so bright, and he studies so hard. But, it's because he spends a lot of time on it."
        
Seeing more playing time at linebacker in last week's 24-10 win over Texas that clinched a Big 12 Championship berth, Matiscik made a big hit on UT quarterback Sam Ehlinger after a one-yard gain and then recorded his first career sack later in the game.
        
"Ross has been unbelievable, and we think Ross is a great linebacker," Rhule said. "I really thought he could be a special linebacker. He's a great snapper, and I look forward to watching him snap at the next level.
        
"But with him, you also get a guy who can run down on kickoff, play on special teams, and he played more football this past Saturday than he has the other weeks to give our guys a blow. And I thought he played great. . . . For him to have a sack, a big-time hit, a big-time play, that was textbook. We will put that on our tackling teach tape – same foot, same shoulder. Really proud of the way he played."
        
During a 1-11 season two years ago, Ross remembers watching TCU play Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game in a packed AT&T Stadium and thinking, "I can't even imagine being there on that stage one day."
        
And now, he will be.

The 11^th-ranked Bears (10-1, 7-1), who play Kansas (3-8, 1-7) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Lawrence, will get another chance at OU the following Saturday, Dec. 7.
        
"And the thing is, we didn't really talk about it," he said. "It was just, 'Hey, let's win this week, let's win this week . . .' And next thing you know, we're there. This week, we're just focusing on Kansas. I know that's the cliché answer, but that's really our only focus. I'm not going to lie, though, it's cool. It's going to be an experience I won't forget."
        
After finishing his undergrad degree in supply chain management in August 2018, Ross is scheduled to finish his master's in management information systems in December.
        
Beyond his NFL dream, "Me and (junior linebacker Jalen) Pitre always joke about building our own consulting firm. I don't know, we'll see. I want to go back to Dallas, hopefully, with my family, or maybe Fort Worth."