BOCA RATON — If there’s ever any confusion as to where Eric Mathies is, just look for the loudest voice on Florida Atlantic’s practice fields.
“This ain’t no softball (expletive),” Mathies yells one morning.
There he is. Loud, proud, and, in his own distinct way, encouraging some of the Owls’ biggest playmakers on a hot August morning. With a fiery demeanor and a knack for honesty, there’s a reason Mathies, 42, turned quickly FAU’s defensive line group into what head coach Lane Kiffin now calls the team’s deepest unit.
A former Kansas enrollee who helped Murray State to Ohio Valley Conference championships in 1995 and 1996, Mathies was hired by Kiffin in Jan.