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The Redskins have playoff hopes and Shane Matthews is expected to lead them there.
By KEITH NIEBUHR, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 29, 2002
After quarterback Shane Matthews left the University of Florida, his relationship with Gators coach Steve Spurrier changed.
Spurrier's yelling stopped and a friendship began.
They talked football as equals, became golfing buddies and spoke often on the phone. Matthews moved on to the NFL, but he faithfully monitored Florida games on TV.
"When the cameras showed the signals, I knew exactly what play it was," Matthews said.
After 12 seasons at Florida, Spurrier quit in January. A few weeks later, he became coach of the Washington Redskins. In April, the team signed Matthews to a one-year contract.
Now, it seems like old times.
"Since I signed, we haven't played golf," Matthews said. "It's kind of weird. It took a couple of practices to adjust to playing under him again, because we had become pretty good friends. Now it's back to that player-coach relationship."
The stakes are high.
Spurrier is paid more than the president and most of his Cabinet combined. Marvin Lewis, considered the NFL's top defensive coordinator by some, was lured away from Baltimore to work with a unit expected to be among the league's best.
Matthews, 32, is the projected starter. Spurrier, who brought in several ex-Gators, has promised Matthews nothing, but by the looks of things the job should be his.
"All eyes are on the Redskins, on Coach Spurrier and on the quarterback," Matthews said last week after coaching at a quarterbacks camp in Ocala.
Pressure is nothing new for Matthews.
Sixteen years ago, he was the starting quarterback at Mississippi's Cleveland High when his father, Bill, the coach, was offered the same position at the state's largest school in Pascagoula. Matthews pushed for the move, even though Bill Matthews made it clear his son would have to earn the job all over again.
Because Shane played baseball in Cleveland and his mother, Peggy, taught English, the two stayed behind to finish Shane's sophomore year while Bill headed south for spring football. When Shane arrived in Pascagoula that summer, he was stuck with the second-, third- and fourth-teamers.
By the opener, he was starting.
"The more we got into it, the more he developed," Bill Matthews said. "All of a sudden, all the No.1 players migrated to him. Some people said, 'We knew he'd be the starter because he's the coach's son."'
Matthews led his team to a state title as a senior.
In 1990, Spurrier's first season in Gainesville, Matthews, the fifth-stringer when Spurrier arrived, was named starter 11 days before the opener. He had yet to attempt a pass in college and was kicked off the team in 1989 for gambling.
"I'm sure all those boosters around the state were saying, 'What in the h--- is he doing?"' Matthews said. "I guess he saw something in me."
Matthews was reinstated and went 28-8 as UF's starter, helping launch one of the most successful coaching tenures in college football history. He graduated as the school's all-time leading passer.
In 1991, he quarterbacked the Gators to their first Southeastern Conference title. The following season, Matthews led them to the SEC Championship Game, where they lost to eventual national champion Alabama 28-21. Often forgotten is that Matthews' mother died of complications from breast cancer the summer before his senior season.
"Coach Spurrier kind of took Shane under his wing," Bill Matthews said.
Matthews arrived in Washington with nine years of NFL experience (seven with Chicago), but is hardly a grizzled veteran. His career statistics: 366 of 599, 3,461 yards, 19 touchdowns and 18 interceptions with 15 starts. His first playing time was with Chicago in 1996. He did not attempt a pass in 1997 or '98.
His best season came in 1999 for Chicago, when he completed 61 percent of his passes for 1,645 yards, 10 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Last season he began as the starter but got hurt and lost the job to Jim Miller.
After Spurrier took over in Washington, he at first seemed content with his quarterbacks (among them ex-UF star Danny Wuerffel). But after watching a three-day minicamp in April, during which the quarterbacks were erratic, he told vice president of football operations Joe Mendes to contact Matthews's agent. Matthews signed a one-year contract worth $775,000 a few days later.
"I think (Spurrier) has confidence in me," Matthews said. "I think that's one of the main reasons he came and got me."
Matthews said Spurrier's playbook is "90-95" percent unchanged from when Matthews played at Florida. He was rusty during initial workouts with Washington, but became comfortable after three or four days.
"Shane is a sharp guy," said Redskins quarterbacks coach Noah Brindise, another Spurrier quarterback at Florida. "The offense has evolved, but it has all sort of branched out of a couple foundations and principles. It was just a matter of him getting back into the mode of Coach Spurrier's offense. Once he did that, everything fell into place."
Matthews calls Spurrier the best coach he has played for. "Some guys were meant to be football coaches," he said.
And some guys were meant to play for Spurrier.
With his calm demeanor, Matthews is a perfect fit with the animated Spurrier, whose ranting never bothered Matthews.
"You have to be a special kind of person to play for him," Matthews said. "He's only trying to help you play the perfect game, make the perfect read and make the perfect throw. He yelled at me at minicamp and he had the right to yell at me. But I kind of laughed at it. I enjoy being coached by him again."
Can Matthews and Spurrier succeed?
"This team is very talented," Matthews said. "Defensively, you won't find a better team. Offensively, we've got good skill players, an All-Pro running back (Stephen Davis) and two great tackles. It's all going to come down to this: The quarterback has to play well. If the quarterback plays well and is efficient, the Redskins can have a huge year."