It will be father against son on January second when the Iowa Hawkeyes play Florida in the Outback Bowl in Tampa. Greg Mattison is in his first year as the Gators co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach, his son Bryan is a sophomore starting defensive end for the Hawkeyes. He says it’s been great and he’s been proud of his son and proud of the team.
Mattison says Iowa has done a good job after losing several starters and he says it’s been fun to watch his son. Mattison says both he and Bryan see the situation as a great opportunity. He says when you’re a major college football coach and your son plays at a major college, the opportunity to get together during the holidays is very slim.
And he says there can’t be anything better than to have two great football teams play each other and he says he’s proud to have his son play for a program like Iowa.
Mattison had been on the staff at Notre Dame before joining the Florida staff at the end of last season and it was at the Capitol One Bowl that he first thought of this possibility.
He says they watched the L-S-U game and he says he told his wife that sometime they could be playing against their son. She said, “No way.” Bryan has joked that his mother will sit with the Iowa fans because she loves him more. Greg says that’s fine as long as she knows the house she lives and the car she drives is being paid for by Florida. He says Bryan and his wife Ann and their daughter have a great relationship. He says it’s great for her to see her son play, and he says it’ll probably be harder on her than it will be on him and his son.