College football

Mattisons can joke about family faceoff

Iowa DE exchanges good-humored trash talk with his father, a Florida assistant.

By VINCENT THOMAS
Published December 28, 2005

Bryan Mattison was one of the last Hawkeyes to come out of the Jefferson High visitor's locker room after Monday's practice. As he headed for the team bus, his moptop hair was still wet, from that afternoon's delayed shower.

If you didn't know, Mattison is playing against his father, Greg, and a lot of people want to know stuff like, "What's it feel like?" or "Who's your Mom going to root for?"

For the record, Mattison, a sophomore defensive end, said playing his father, Florida's defensive line coach, "is going to be special" and that his mom, Ann, will sit on the Iowa side of Raymond James Stadium, "Because she loves me more." But, the continuous father-son questions can start to sound like repetitive parrot squawks.

"Aw man, there's been a boatload of the questions about me playing my dad," said Bryan, half exasperated, half amused. "But I knew coming in that was pretty much going to be a part of it."

Greg said he began entertaining the possibility of coaching against his son after Florida's victory over Florida State. When contemplating an invite to the Outback Bowl, Greg and other Florida coaches were hearing Iowa and Michigan as the main Big Ten options.

"And Iowa travels so well and came on so well at the end of the season, that I thought it might be them," Greg said.

Once the teams were finalized, both Mattisons started playful back-and-forth trash-talk and planned to do something neither thought would be possible after Bryan graduated from Penn High School in Mishawaka, Ind. and began his college career.

"When you're a major college football coach and your son is a major college football player, the chances of being together for the holidays are slim to none," said Greg.

That wouldn't be the case if Bryan attended Florida, but Greg said that was never a thought, since he didn't feel it was in Bryan's best interest to play on a team he coached.

"His mother always says that he would have gone (to Florida), but she didn't like the position coach."

After playing mainly for special teams last year and suffering a foot injury in the spring, Mattison has blossomed on a defensive line that lost all of its starters, Matt Roth, Jonathan Babineaux, Tyler Luebke and Derreck Robinson, from 2004. While holding down the line with fellow-newbies Kenny Iwebema, Matt Kroul and Alex Willcox, Mattison had 41 tackles (eight for loss) and three sacks. Those modest numbers don't tell the whole Mattison story on the field, though.

"The biggest thing about Bryan is his personality and his attitude," said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. After an initial meeting with Bryan, it doesn't take the most discerning person to realize that he's an affable extrovert. Ferentz said those qualities produce intangibles that don't normally show up on stat sheets or in media guides.

"He comes from a great family ... Ann's positives outweigh Greg's negatives," joked Ferentz.

Jokes aside, Ferentz sees Greg's fingerprints all over Bryan. There are three coaches' sons on the Iowa squad: Bryan, quarterback Drew Tate and Ferentz's son Brian. Though each player is unique, Ferentz did say that there are cardinal attributes of coaches' sons.

"Bryan approaches the game a little different than most players," said Ferentz. "He studies the game."

Approaching Monday's game like a final exam might do Bryan some good. He's well aware that Florida and coach Urban Meyer "like to throw a bunch of formations at you."

Simplifying things, Bryan plans to "just play the guy in front of me."

While Bryan does his thing, Greg will be on Florida's sideline coaching his defensive line to do the things Bryan will do, only better, all the while keeping his eye out for any 6-3, 260-pound Hawkeye linemen wearing No.99.

"I'm worried that if the play comes to our side, he might try to take me out or something," said Greg, figuring Bryan might try the equivalent of a son giving his Pops a low elbow in a game of backyard basketball.

"He doesn't have to worry about me hitting him on the sidelines," said Bryan, the caring son that he is. "He's too old for that."

Vincent Thomas can be reached at 352 848-1430 or vthomas@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 28, 2005, 00:37:18]