MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama head football coach Joey Jones announced Wednesday that Robert Matthews — who just helped Southern Mississippi to a 12-2 finish and the 2011 Conference USA championship — will serve as the program’s offensive coordinator.

Matthews has been part of the Golden Eagle staff for the last two seasons, and was the tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator this fall.  USM defeated then sixth-ranked Houston 49-28 in the C-USA title game, then earned a 24-17 victory over Nevada in the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl; the Golden Eagles would also beat Western Athletic Conference champion Louisiana Tech and bowl participant Virginia while ranking in the top 20 nationally in both scoring (15th, 36.86 points per game) and total (16th, 461.36 ypg) offense.

This year, USM averaged better than 200 yards per outing both rushing and passing which included collecting a league-best 205.14 yards per contest on the ground.  It was the second straight season that the Golden Eagles have recorded better than 200 yards per game rushing and passing, as in Matthews’ first year on the staff — he served in an administrative role which included responsibilities working with the offensive line — USM posted a then school-record 5,894 total yards while accomplishing the feat.  The Golden Eagles would participate in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl and end the campaign with eight victories.

“I talked to a lot of coaches in the southeast and Robert’s name kept coming up,” commented Jones.  “After interviewing him, I realized immediately that he is an intelligent person who will coach our players hard.  With his experience at Southern Mississippi and Oklahoma State, he has been around the type of offense we want to run with our personnel; Robert knows it inside and out, and will bring that knowledge to South Alabama.”

Matthews served in various roles the previous four seasons at Oklahoma State, where he was part of a staff that guided the Cowboys to three bowls games during that span.  As the program’s quarterbacks coach in 2009, Matthews helped OSU to a 9-4 record — which included a 6-2 mark in the Big XII Conference — and a berth in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic.  He was the Cowboys’ director of recruiting in both 2007 and ’08, and served as OSU’s coordinator of football operations in his first year with the program; while in the former role, Matthews’ responsibilities included directing the school’s walk-on program as well as other internal operations.

“Having a chance to observe USA’s program from a distance, I could tell that coach Jones has the Jaguars moving in the right direction,” Matthews stated.  “I know a lot of people are excited about the school’s move to the [NCAA] Football Bowl Subdivision and the Sun Belt Conference.  This was a great chance to join the program while it was making that transition, I’m looking forward to helping USA achieve all its goals.”

He earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Georgia, adding a master’s degree from the school in science education.  Matthews played three seasons for the Bulldogs, and in addition to being part of Outback and Peach Bowl champion squads he was named to the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll on three occasions.

Before moving to the collegiate level, Matthews was tight ends coach and special teams coordinator at Oconee (Ga.) High in 1999, Camden County (Ga.) High’s wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator the following fall and offensive coordinator at North Gwinnett (Ga.) High for two seasons from 2001-02.  He also served three seasons as head coach at Shiloh (Ga.) High, where in addition to guiding the program to multiple postseason berths in the state’s highest classification he played a key role in a facility upgrade for the school that included a new strength center, locker room and coaches’ offices.

USA is in the middle of a two-year transition to the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly NCAA Division I-A) level; after going 6-4 in the fall against a schedule that included the first two NCAA FBS opponents in school history, the Jaguars will face an eight-game Sun Belt Conference slate as well as contests at Mississippi State, North Carolina State and Hawai’i next year.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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