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PROVO ā BYU has filled the hole in its football coaching staff.
After offensive line coach Ryan Pugh departed to take the offensive coordinator job at Troy, the Cougars announced Thursday that Texas State offensive line coach Eric Mateos will be moving to Provo beginning with the 2019 season.
The news was first reported by Football Scoop, which reported as early as Wednesday that BYU was planning to hire the Bobcats' leader in the trenches.
Mateos spent two seasons at Texas State, where he mentored an all-Sun Belt honoree in each of his two seasons with the offensive line. Prior to his time in San Marcos, Mateos spent the 2016 season as tight ends coach at LSU ā where he worked with Jeff Grimes, the Cougarsā current offensive coordinator.
"Eric is a great person with quality character that will fit in phenomenally with our players and staff,ā Grimes said in a statement from the university. āHe will take our young group a step further and is a master at building confidence and group cohesiveness. I know our players will really respond well to him."
The Southwest Baptist alum frequently cited Grimes as a mentor, calling him one of the best offensive line coaches in the country when he took the Texas State job.
Mateosā career began at Southwest Baptist in 2011, and heās also worked at Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College and Arkansas before LSU coach Ed Oregon promoted him to tight ends coach midway through a season the 2016 season that ended with the Tigersā win over Louisville in the Citrus Bowl.
Mateos earned a bachelor's degree from Southwest Baptist in 2011, and went on to finish his master's degree while at Arkansas in 2015.
