COACH & A.D.: It sounds like later in your career, you had good experience mentoring younger players on the team. From a coaching perspective, how important is it for veteran players to help bring along the younger ones? Mathis: You rarely see a player who's a starter who won't help his backup or those behind him because he understands that if we're all on the same page and playing at a high level, we'll win. My philosophy is this: If you help the younger guy to develop, all you're doing is sharpening your skills. So if you're not doing that, you're doing yourself an injustice. And from a coaching perspective, when I ask my wide receivers or the quarterbacks to do something I better darn well know how to do it myself. The biggest thing I tell them is I would never ask them to do something that I have never done before or I can't do now. So I may not do it at the level I did 30 years ago, but I can show you and demonstrate exactly what I want to see from it. And I think that helps the players when they know that, my coach can demonstrate and he can articulate at the same time to help me to be successful. I think that's really important. COACH & A.D.: What is your mission as head coach at Morehouse College? Mathis: I've been given the support and trust to lead this team, and my approach has always been different a bit Photo courtesy Drew Stoner 20 COACH & A.D. | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025http://portaphone.com