Sacramento’s Mattos Was Winning Football Coach, Athletic Director, Person

Rancho Murieta, CA, United States (AHN) – Former Sacramento State football coach Bob Mattos, who died this past week from the effects of brain cancer, had winning ways that extended far beyond the football field.

Sac State was not a football powerhouse when Mattos took over the program in 1978, but he built the Hornets into a respectable college team with an 84-73-2 record by the time he stepped down in 1992.

More importantly, the ‘Causeway Classic’ between Sac State and UC Davis became a ‘must see’ game for area football fans.

The Hornets became competitive with the Aggies, snapping an 18-game losing streak to their rivals while advancing to the NCAA Division II semifinals in 1988.

Mattos went on to coach the CFL’s Sacramento Gold Miners and could have gone on to greater fame in the NFL like former assistant Greg Knapp and players like Lorenzo Lynch.

His heart and family were in the Sacramento area, and Mattos was not in the coaching business to boost his own ego. Mattos closed out his career as AD at Elk Grove High School, on the outskirts of South Sacramento.

“My father was a champion for developing the whole person, not just the athlete. He gave opportunities for men and women in athletics and academics,” said Mattos’ son Bruce, a Sacramento State alum. “He was a friend, father, grandfather, husband and the truest meaning of the word COACH. He had the unique ability to connect with you and make you feel like you belonged and that you were the most important person in the room.

“He was in a word…Iconic!”

The Bob Mattos Fund, c/o Marshall Sperbeck, Head Football Coach, Sacramento State, 6000 J St., Sacramento, CA 95819-6099 is a great way to remember the coach. Checks should made out to ‘University Foundation at Sacramento State’.

Personal note: The author of this story is also a Sacramento State graduate who worked on the school paper ‘The Hornet’. Mattos always took his time to speak with me and even appeared on my cable access show, no doubt appreciated by my 17 viewers. Bruce Mattos is a fraternity brother, and I appreciate him taking the time to comment at such a difficult time for him and his family.

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