Back To His Beginning
Matthews proud to be a Ram once again
Mike Brohard
Every day is an ‘E’ ticket, complete with an Lightning Lane pass. Trent Matthews feels like the happiest man on the planet.
“It's a true blessing. It's an honor,” Matthews said. “I want to first thank Coach (Jay) Norvell for picking me, and Coach (Tyson) Summers for trusting and having value for me. I'm at Disneyland every day. This is where I want to be. This is home for me.
“This is where me and my wife met, so this is just full circle, man. I'm just glad and privileged to be here.”
That’s apparent to anyone around the program, especially to the players he works with daily as the run-game coordinator on defense. It’s a job which can stretch him to various parts of the unit, but he works a lot with the linebackers.
Owen Long’s locker can be found on the right side of the front of the locker room. Just down the way from where he sits and changes, up on the wall in the corner is Matthews’ name, listed as one of the program’s outstanding players.
He earned it not just in his play, which was impressive. His 10 career interceptions are tied for 10th in program history, and his 50 career starts ties him with Weston Richburg for the program record. It wasn’t just that he was a standout on the field, but as a leader. He was a team captain when Summers had his first stint as the defensive coordinator at CSU, but the truth is Matthews was always a leader. Even as a freshman, especially for his class. He was a voice of reason, a bullhorn of encouragement.
Matthews took the linebackers down to that corner soon after he arrived, a playful way of introducing himself and why he was here.
Why he came back home.
“There's definitely something special about Coach Matthews. I think everyone here would tell you that every day he shows up with a little extra juice,” Long said. “You just see really his love, not only for the game, but for Colorado State in general and the city of Fort Collins. Everything he brings to the table makes us better because he, at the end of the day, he's lived this, he's done this himself at a very high level and he wants nothing more than to just give us that knowledge that he's acquired here and pass it on and have fun while doing it.”
When Matthews and Summers first met, they were different people. Well, Summers definitely was, a little more on the fiery side than he is now. But as overexcited as he may become, he could always count on Matthews to calm him down, to be the coach on the field the team needed and the voice of reason he needed.
I can speak for the whole linebacker room when I say that he's made each one of us better individuals, better men, just because of some of his traits that he brings and he's passing along to us.Owen Long
They even had a codeword: Purple. When Summers would get fired up, either Matthews or team chaplain Johnny Square would walk up to him and say the word.
“I haven't done it. I'm not going to lie, I used to, but I haven't done it at all now,” Matthews said. “He's more understanding about the players. He's been great spiritually. Man, I love him. I think his values of coaching hard are still the same, he's just taking a different approach, which I love.”
Though the two were together for just the one season – Matthews was a senior and Summers left to become the head coach at Georgia Southern – the coach was so impressed with the young man they always stayed in touch.
All these years and conversations later, nothing has changed in Summers’ mind.
“Well, I think it's the kind of personality he has. He's certainly one of the most unselfish people I've ever been around. He's a program guy,” Summers said. “He loves Colorado State and Fort Collins. I think all that carries over. Even that senior year, he played nickel, strong, free safety, and when we played dime, he played dime. So, he played four positions that year for us. Whatever we needed to do, he did it. And as a coach, he's really the same way.
“I think his greatest strength is still the kind of personal personality he has. Everything's about relationships. He's really able to touch his players. He's a fantastic communicator. One of my favorite things is to see his wife and his kids come over here and come to the office. His boy gets everybody pumped up when he walks in.”
It was why Summers remained in constant contact, no matter where Matthews was coaching. A couple of years back, he tried to lure Matthews to Western Kentucky, only the timing wasn’t right. Back in Fort Collins, he tried again.
Everything fit on this occasion. Now, every day is a good day for Matthews, and it comes through in his coaching.
It’s not just teaching players the right techniques, where their eyes should be, or the proper gap fits. His goal is to make them better men along the way. It was how he interacted with his teammates when they looked to him for guidance.
It was his core then. It’s his core now.
“Oh, that is my coaching. I want to lead these players when nobody's looking, and it doesn’t even have to be about football,” Matthews said. “It can be academics. It can be, you know, are you homesick, especially the freshman. It can be life skills. You know, last week I was telling them you’ve got to pay your bills. Some of y’all apartments now. Just some of those life skills that will help them mature. And I want to lead by example and vocally as much as I can.”
Long is appreciative of the message and the manner in which it is delivered. It can come in a group session, maybe when he pulls a player or two aside to go over a certain concept. No matter what it is, the passion comes through.
Players are good at emotion, and they can tell fake and real. From Matthews, everything is genuine, coming from a prideful man who is grateful to be doing what he loves, especially in a place which always felt like home.
“I can speak for the whole linebacker room when I say that he's made each one of us better individuals, better men, just because of some of his traits that he brings and he's passing along to us,” Long said. “And at the end of the day, you know, a team can never have enough leadership on it. And I think we're really, really promoting that. Coach Matthews is installing that in us. You could just see what type of player, what type of teammate he was.
“And I'll tell you from my perspective, it's something I want to be like. Listening to him every day is definitely good, good for all of us.”
They know whatever he has to say comes from the heart. From a guy who earned a way to have his name on the wall in a locker room in a stadium where he never played a down. The longer he’s been here, more and more stories have been told.
About the way Matthews played, starting for four seasons. About what Colorado State meant to a teenager from Converse, Texas, and how the program, the campus, the community shaped him into who he has become.
Yes, he played, and he played well. But he gave back everything he could. He set up youth camps in the summer, being named one of 11 FBS players to the prestigious AFCA Allstate Good Works Team in 2015.
Presented the chance to give back again, Matthews would tell you nothing means more to him. But he doesn’t have to say it. Not to the coaches, definitely not to the players he leads.
“I'll tell you what, we were pretty psyched to see his name up there. I mean, he's such a good guy,” Long said. “And to know what type of player he was, what type of teammate, and now what type of coach he is is pretty awesome to be part of.
“Yeah, he's just so happy.”
Actions speaking much louder than words ever could.
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