Legendary SWT running back has team playing for State Championship

He is perhaps the greatest running back in Texas State football history, owning nearly 90% of all the Bobcats rushing records.

Now he is 48 minutes away from leading his team from a State Championship come Saturday.

Claude Mathis, the head football coach of the DeSoto Eagles, has led the team to a 13-2 overall record after knocking off one of the top-ranked teams in the Denton Guyer Wildcats during the state semifinals.

Though the road hasn’t been the easiest, Mathis is proud of his team as they look to give their head coach his first state championship.

“I’m proud of our players and our coaches who have done a really good job this year in being prepared for the games we have to play,” Mathis said. “I just can’t thank them enough … it has not been an easy road being in the district of doom but we have to continue to fight hard and prepare for what we have in front of us right now.”

Mathis’ journey to becoming one of the best coaches in Texas High School Football started with his mentor Trent Gregory, the former head coach of the Austin Anderson Trojans and the Killeen Ellison Eagles, who added Mathis to his staff at Anderson.

“Him and his wife were very influential in me becoming a special ed teacher,” Mathis said. “They both run special education programs and I just fell in love with the kids. Listening to him and to her and watching them coach made me want to be a coach myself.”

“Learning from my mentor, I got into the coaching program,” Mathis continued. “From there I got my minor in special ed and it just took off from there. I had a lot of fun doing it.”

After being with Austin Anderson, Mathis moved on to his first head coaching job at Somerville where he led the Yeguas to a 3-7 record in 2004.

Mathis returned to the Austin area to take over the Austin LBJ Jaguars for the three seasons including leading the team to the third round of the playoffs for the first time since 1989.

Mathis then accepted the job at DeSoto for his first stint at the school where he took the program to another level which included leading the Eagles to consecutive state semifinal appearances in 2012 and 2013 and the two best records in program history before the 2016 State Championship winning team.

Mathis then joined the Chad Morris’ staff at SMU in 2015 before returning back to the high school ranks in 2017 to coach the East Texas powerhouse Marshall Mavericks where he was able to coach his oldest son before returning to DeSoto in 2019.

Being a head coach for nearly 18 years, Mathis was able to learn from his experiences since starting out at Somerville and credits his time at Austin LBJ where he was also mentored by the legendary Freddie Roland.

“I have really grown a lot,” Mathis said. “I got my first head coaching job at 27 years old and from there I went to Austin LBJ where I had some great times with Freddie Roland and my football staff. Roland was a great mentor to me where I was able to mature.”

One of the key features Mathis has been able to translate from his playing days at Southwest Texas State to on the sidelines is learning the basics of football while also establishing a strong culture,  especially at DeSoto.

“I am big on teaching the fundamentals and discipline,” Mathis said. “We have a very strong culture here, so the kids now understand that. It took awhile to get the foundation laid and all the great players that have come through here that I have coached really paved the way to where we are right now for our younger players.”

When becoming the next head coach at DeSoto for his first stint at the school, Mathis credits his relationship with his then athletic director where they hit it off on a chance encounter before his interview.

“I interviewed at Duncanville but didn’t get the job but I was highly recommended by them to take the DeSoto job,” Mathis said. “DeSoto called me up and I went over there to interview where I ran into a lady named Pam DeBorde, who was the athletic director at the time.”

“I ran into her in the hallway, not knowing she was the AD at the time,” Mathis added. “I went in there in front of the board and had a great interview process and got the job. So me and her just hit it off and our relationship has been at a high level since then … it was a really good situation to be at and I took it.”

Mathis will be looking to capture his first state championship as the DeSoto Eagles battle the Austin Vandegrift Vipers on Saturday at 3 p.m. at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.