Southern Miss Athletics

Mathies most recently served as the defensive line coach and run game coordinator at Eastern Kentucky. Prior to that, he spent four seasons at Long Island University, where he was the assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator. While at LIU, he was part of the program’s transition from Division II to the Northeastern Conference.
During his time at LIU, Mathies helped develop defensive lineman Eric O’Neil, who was named NEC Freshman of the Year and earned recognition as an FCS Freshman All-American and Jerry Rice Award finalist. In 2023, O’Neil was named NEC Defensive Player of the Year and received AP All-America honors.
Southern Miss Head Coach Charles Huff expressed confidence in Mathies’ ability to contribute to the team’s development.
“Coach Mathies will bring an elite level of experience to our team this season with his background and ability to teach and develop he will have a great impact on our team success next season,” Huff said. “He will bring a veteran presence and knowledge base to our staff, and his ability to relate to our players, coaches and community will be very helpful.”
Mathies brings extensive experience from programs across the country. He coached in Florida for six years, working with the defensive line and serving as recruiting coordinator at both South Florida and Florida Atlantic. At FAU, he helped guide the defensive front to a top-10 national ranking in sacks in 2017 and 2018, improving by 57 spots from the previous season. His recruiting efforts also led to the top-ranked recruiting class in the conference during his tenure.
From 2005 to 2012, Mathies served at Western Kentucky as defensive line coach and later as recruiting coordinator. As a recruiter, he helped WKU sign the top recruiting class in the Sun Belt Conference in 2010 and 2011 and the second-ranked class in 2012. On the field, he coached Quanterus Smith, who earned All-America honors and was named Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year in 2012 after finishing third nationally in sacks with 12.5. That same season, WKU led the conference in sacks, tackles for loss, total defense, rushing defense, and pass efficiency defense.
Mathies is a former four-year letterwinner at Murray State, where he helped the Racers win back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference championships in 1995 and 1996.
Huff described Mathies as a key addition to the program’s ongoing efforts in player development and recruiting.
“I think Coach Mathies was the missing link to our ability to recruit and develop players at a high level,” Huff said.
Mathies and his wife, Brittney, have three children: Janelle (17), Symone (7), and Cassius (8).