O’Brien Gets Big Time OL Recruit: RJ Mattes

'08 Football Football Recruiting NCS Football Tom O'Brien42

Big time. Four Star NC OL RJ Mattes has committed to NC State.

Can’t over state the importance of this. You’ve got to think that the reputation of developing NFL offensive lineman by Coach O’Brien and his staff was vital here. We couldn’t be more excited about this!

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'08 Football Football Recruiting NCS Football Tom O'Brien

42 Responses to O’Brien Gets Big Time OL Recruit: RJ Mattes

  1. crackdog 01/20/2008 at 6:24 PM #

    Excellent news! Winning one out of the Charlotte area when UNC, S Car and Clemson wanted him is a nice deviation from the status quo. I see he went to UNC and S Car’s camps.

  2. SuperStuff 01/20/2008 at 6:40 PM #

    I’m sure the young man knows that O’Brien’s staff does a pretty good job with offensive linemen. From what I hear some high school coaches in the Charlotte area respect the way TOB recruits. Great addition to the NCSU football program.

  3. Noah 01/20/2008 at 6:51 PM #

    Oh my god. That’s f-ing HUUUGE.

    And a huge surprise. Everyone assumed he was Clemson bound the entire way.

    Way to go, Obrien!

  4. Noah 01/20/2008 at 6:53 PM #

    For those that don’t keep up with recruiting…lemme just say that this guy is probably our starting left tackle for years to come (once he makes it into the starting lineup).

  5. Sw0rdf1sh 01/20/2008 at 7:15 PM #

    Oh yes.

    This was one that I didn’t think we would pull off but knew it was the biggest one for us left.

    Great job Coaches!

  6. Dr. BadgerPack 01/20/2008 at 7:32 PM #

    That’s what, 5 4-star recruits coming in now? Shaping up to be a very nice class– even if it ends here. Perhaps at this point quality should be empasized over quantity– it’s good enough now that perhaps scholarships should be saved rather than used on marginal talent (of course, by all means bring in all the top talent we can).

  7. vtpackfan 01/20/2008 at 7:41 PM #

    Mattes and Wallace COULD be the missing ingredient needed to allow Bible/Glennon to max out at full potential. Mix in Sam Jones, Desmond Roberts, and Zach Allen and you’ve got potential to be an absolute handful in the trenchs in the not to distant future.

    TOB’s reputation and Hortons’ skills have changed the systemic problems of this team that has plagued it for years. The OL at NC State COULD turn into the NFL prospect playland we usually see in our DL.

  8. BJD95 01/20/2008 at 7:58 PM #

    Glennon has a left tackle to protect his blindside. Man, am I ever ready for September 2009…

  9. graywolf 01/20/2008 at 8:29 PM #

    This is HUGE! This has been the weak line for some time now and if this trend changes we see how good our tailbacks really are…..especially Toney Baker!

  10. Pack92 01/20/2008 at 9:04 PM #

    Dr Badger sums it up nicely – it’s good even if it does end here. Most likely it will not. What we need now to go along with these offensive guys is some mobile, agile and hostile defensive guys who can start for 3 years and get the ball rolling for TOB on defense as well (not discounting Manning and hope his knee is coming along well). Mattes coming says way more than just a committment for NC State. It says he sees a FUTURE!

  11. Dogbreath 01/20/2008 at 10:07 PM #

    I posted several months ago that this staff needs to target every 6’4-‘6’6 250-270lb athletic lineman it can discover, and avoid the slow, fat, bow-legged slobs that the previous regime so coveted.

    Looks like that is precisely the strategy and it is working.

  12. Ismael 01/20/2008 at 10:10 PM #

    Wow! I had just read where Napier and Bowden were in this kid’s home and usually that supposedly seals it. I honestly thought he was going to Clemson. However, i held out hope that since NCSU was his first real recruiting trip (UVa was first but his dad went there so you know he’s going to give that a shot and that was way back in Sept.)

    But this is really great news for pack fans. Carolina fans were going crazy on the msg boards after Terrell Manning and Brandon Barnes…this has got to make them sick 2x over.

    Tobias Palmer, Andrew Wallace and the rest of the guys from NC…i love the fact that alot of NC guys are on this team and TOB wants to win that recruiting war. He’s clobbered the rest of the NC schools over the head this year! keep it up TOB!

  13. bTHEredterror 01/20/2008 at 11:19 PM #

    This is fantastic news!! With our three greatest areas of need LB, OL and QB, pretty well sewn up, we can REALLY look forward to Signing Day. A great bonus. I’m loving the thought we beat Clemson at anything right now, too!

    It feels great to know our staff can get it done this well. Solid foundation, our program looks to build on rock for a change. Am I wrong to hope for the Hargrave DEs next?

  14. CEK NCSU 01/21/2008 at 12:29 AM #

    Big time recruit here. This kid has all the right tools and makes up for Becton going out of state to Va Tech (second “shoe-in” we lost to the castrated turkey). Nice job TO’B and Mr. Bridge!

    I’m hoping we get Leon Mackey from Hargrave, but I’m not sure if Coples, with all the talent he has, will ever make a D-1 team. Kid doesn’t seem to have the books in order to stay in school. Physical specimen yes, but I just hope he has the ethic to actually stay on a roster and cut it in the classroom. 2.0 GPA and 1130 or something on a 3-part SAT isn’t going to cut it to stay eligible in college.

  15. haze 01/21/2008 at 8:10 AM #

    Big get, obviously, and the validation event for TOB’s OL efforts this year. With this commit, we’re officially bringing in very substantial additions at our 3 most crucial positions; OL, LB and QB. You simply cannot do any better than to recruit very well to your targeted needs.

    If we can close this one out with a couple of DL guys (Mackey, please), then you have some real gravy for the steak.

  16. bradleyb123 01/21/2008 at 9:51 AM #

    This is GREAT news! And the more recruits we get like this, the more we can use it to convince MORE recruits to come to State. We’re building something here, and this kind of recruiting victory shows that. When it rains it pours! Keep pouring it on, Pack!

  17. GAWolf 01/21/2008 at 10:02 AM #

    I’m excited about this recruit, but he’s a recruit. When will we learn and stop predicting that every single recruit is THE guy who makes us turn the corner. These O-line guys, regardless of how good, probably shouldn’t see the field next year. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be excited, but please don’t let excitement bleed over into unreal expectations. Next year we’ll still have a pretty bad O-line and quarterback. Just remember that come next November when we’re struggling through the ACC yet again.

  18. choppack1 01/21/2008 at 10:02 AM #

    Wow. TOB continues to impress on the recruiting trial. This staff has done an incredible job this year…When is signing day? is it the 4th?

  19. choppack1 01/21/2008 at 11:00 AM #

    Definitely off topic, but aside from the absurdity of crying during a regular season loss, the mics picked up a “Go Back to the Ghetto” remark from another female Tar Heel fan. Surely Barry Saunders, Lennox Rawlings, et al will now paint ALL Tar Heel fans in a similar light since they’ve done the same to NC State over the years.

    The point here isn’t that UNC is a racist institution or more racist than NC State, just that they are no better or no worse than their neighbors to the east…contrary to what you might read.

  20. Rick 01/21/2008 at 11:19 AM #

    I would not hold your breath while waiting for Saunders to address this. He is a moron and a perfect example of why I do not read the fishwrap.

  21. highstick 01/21/2008 at 11:30 AM #

    Didn’t I hear them singing this in the background?

    Far beyond West Raleigh’s ditches
    there’s a place called hell.
    Where ten thousand sons of bitches
    Call it Chapel Hill.
    They can rant and they can rave
    About their so called class
    And they can take their cultured bullshit
    And shove it up their ass!

  22. RAWFS 01/21/2008 at 11:33 AM #

    One of my office mates sent the story up to Jim Rome. While I agree with Chop 100%, I think it would be a tad funny for Heel fans to get a spoonful of their own medicine.

  23. Noah 01/21/2008 at 11:34 AM #

    “These O-line guys, regardless of how good, probably shouldn’t see the field next year. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be excited, but please don’t let excitement bleed over into unreal expectations.”

    If we had been getting these guys in the past, Amato might still be here. We’re excited because in two or three years, we won’t have some 240 pound walk-on trying to protect the blind side.

  24. tvp1 01/21/2008 at 11:38 AM #

    Just watched Mattes’s Scout highlight video from the Shrine Bowl…damn.

    Play after play of him totally dominating DaQuan Bowers, who ESPN ranks as the top player in the country regardless of position.

  25. El Scrotcho 01/21/2008 at 11:51 AM #

    I guess I was under a rock for the past month…but just noticed that Dajaun Morgan declared early for the draft. He was certainly one of the few bright spots on the defense last year.

    http://northcarolinastate.scout.com/2/718417.html

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