Expecting Domination

GRAMBLING — One word. That’s what Lewis Matthews’ season will come down to.

The fifth-year senior linebacker for Grambling State has earned All-Conference honors and preseason accolades. He’s on HBCU prospect watchlists for the NFL Draft. But those are titles, badges given to a new crop of players before and after every season.

Some labels go beyond press releases. Some shape your legacy and catch the eye of those at the next level. Some can set a tone for the final act of a career.

Domination. That’s Matthews’ word of choice for this fall.

What’s often saved for coach speak and boilerplate football jargon is a true mission for Matthews this year, as he’s expected to lead a Grambling defense ready to hunt and turn the narrative around the Tigers from bottom of the SWAC back to an FCS contender.

“Controlling the game. That’s what I’ve got to do,” Matthews said. “I’m trying to be in control. I gotta be focused and locked in so every play I’m on it.”

If this year is about domination, Matthews certainly got started on the right path last season. He ranked 14th in the FCS, first for the Tigers and tops in the SWAC in solo tackles (62), while also second in the SWAC in total tackles (103).

For good measure, Matthews added 12 tackles for loss and 2 sacks.

He became the first GSU player since 2011 with 100 tackles (Cliff Exama, 136) and If he reaches the 100-tackle mark again, he’d be the first Tiger this decade with two 100-tackle seasons.

Hue Jackson can see domination ahead as well for his starting linebacker, but he said Matthews has to go earn it. The great ones don’t let labels like that slip away, and he’s seen an offseason built on the principle of taking control of a game every Saturday.

“I think Lewis gets it,” Jackson said. “ He understands he has to dominate games for us. Every game he should be the leading tackler just like Sunny (Sundiata Anderson) should be the leading sacker. Those guys, they’re going to be put in positions to make plays and they gotta make those plays. They’re two dominant players and they need to go show their dominance when we play.”

Matthews’ production will need to take a step up and reach that level anyway after the Tigers lost fellow starting linebacker Joshua Reed to graduation after his 86 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble in 2022.

GSU has brought in reinforcements through the transfer portal, but Matthews’ effort and intensity will define how the others go.

“Basically, my biggest thing is leading my team,” Matthews said. “If my teammates see me playing sideline to sideline, they’ll do that also. My intensity is making everybody give great effort towards the ball.”

Cedric Thornton, entering his second season as Grambling’s defensive coordinator and associate head coach, knew from the beginning that Matthews would be a star and is proud to see a player with his talent level meet his ceiling.

“When I first got here, Lewis was the guy that I told coach, ‘He’s going to be the dude. He’s going to be the guy,’” Thornton said. “ He’s accepting the responsibility put on him.” Thornton’s assessment of Matthews is as strong off the field as it is when it’s game day. On Saturdays, Thornton sees a linebacker that plays fast, tough, and unafraid to throw his body around.

When the pads come off, the laid-back, fun-loving character out of Matthews comes out, including impromptu dance sessions to just about any type of music thrown on the speakers.

That balance is important to keep, and one that Thornton believes makes Matthews’ potential worthy of a Hall of Fame comparison.

“Lewis Matthews – he’s a football player. He’s a football player,” Thornton said. “He’s a Sam Mills clone.”

Yes, the late Sam Mills – Pro Football Hall of Famer and five-time Pro Bowler with nine seasons with the Saints (1986-1994) and three with the Carolina Panthers (1995-1997).

The former NFC South great was listed at 5-9, 229 pounds. Matthews comes into this season listed 5-11, 220 pounds.

As Matthews plans to dominate, the Tigers as a team are trying to restore the once-successful brand of Grambling football.

He was a part of the last winning season for GSU back in 2019 (6-5) but knows the program has bigger aspirations to get back to, like winning SWAC and FCS titles.

He wants to be a major force in that trajectory as well, and he’s confident his final season can go out on top if the Tigers come together.

“I feel like we can go to the championship. We got the team,” Matthews said. “We got everything in the right spots, the o-linemen, the quarterback. I feel like we got what it takes. All we gotta do is put it together.”

Grambling State opens the 2023 season at Hampton University on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on NFL Network.