All Badgers

New Badgers OL coach brings new confidence for Wisconsin linemen: 'I've never failed'

Wisconsin Badgers offensive linemen are going to have a new swagger to them under new OL coach Eric Mateos.
Lorin Cox|
The Wisconsin Badgers offensive line runs drills during a spring football practice at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison
The Wisconsin Badgers offensive line runs drills during a spring football practice at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison | Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

In this story:

Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin Badgers offensive linemen are going to have a new swagger to them under new OL coach Eric Mateos.

He has the utmost confidence in them and himself, and he wants them to feel that way too.

Mateos shared his philosophy for coaching offensive line when he met with the media for the first time this week.

"I try to explain to people that, a lot of these kids were the little kids that were wearing shirts in the pool in fourth grade and were self-conscious, and they grow up without a lot of confidence," he said. "Then, all of the sudden, they grow up to be these strong, badass men, and they create value for themselves through playing football and being offensive linemen. They start getting the confidence, and I think it starts with them realizing that they are the one percent of the one percent."

Sign Up For the Wisconsin Daily Digest - OnSI’s Free Wisconsin Badgers Newsletter

The first step for the new coach was acknowledging that the offensive line play last season wasn't good enough.

That's a big part of why he was brought in. Confidence is part of that solution, but obviously the next step will be a lot of work on technique and leverage.

"It is kind of like rehab, right? The first step is admitting that you have a problem," Mateos joked. "Then I would say the biggest message that I wanted to convey to them was that 2025... we are about to leave it behind us."

He has a successful track record of building quality offensive lines at his previous stops, where he's worked twice before with Badgers offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes.

Related: Wisconsin offensive line coach Eric Mateos has a history of building winning, productive units

That's given Mateos plenty of confidence in himself to come in and get the Wisconsin offensive line back to its glory days.

"Because I've never failed," he said. "I guess that is maybe some cockiness, but I think you have to have that in this game. That is why I think this is going to work."

Mateos will the Badgers' fifth offensive line coach in the last six seasons. Wisconsin and Luke Fickell are desperate for him to provide some much-needed stability up front.

More Wisconsin Badgers News:

Published
Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

Home/Football