Nate Matlack thought about buying a scooter. It only took a couple of weeks in Pittsburgh to figure out exactly why De Soto St. in Oakland in infamously referred to as Cardiac Hill. The slow trudge up to the Petersen Events Center is a workout in its own right.
Matlack is, by all accounts, a Kansas boy. He grew up in Olathe, which is about half an hour southwest of Kansas City, and he spent four years in Manhattan at Kansas State.
If there’s one thing to know about Kansas, it’s the flatness. Pancake-like.
“Everywhere you look you can see miles just right away,” Matlack said Wednesday. “And I go to walk up the hill to go to the Pete, and I’m like, ‘Oh, my Goodness. My calves are on fire.’ That was definitely a change. I even considered getting a scooter to tide around on because I’m like, I can’t walk around everywhere. Especially with coach (Michael Stacchiotti) already ruining our legs in the weight room.”
Matlack, arrived as a transfer from Kansas State just a couple of weeks ago, after committing to Pitt on Dec. 17, and it was hard to leave Kansas. He grew up in a family full of Kansas fans. He fulfilled a dream by committing to the Wildcats in the class of 2020. But with just one season of eligibility remaining at the college level, he wanted to maximize his time left.
Kansas State runs a 3-4 defensive scheme which didn’t allow Matlack to put his head down and rush off the edge like he’d have liked. He wanted to try his hand at a new scheme, a 4-3 scheme, and he found that at Pitt. So, if he has to traverse a few more hills, it’s worth it.
He does already like Pittsburgh, after all.
Matlack’s parents Paul and Amy spent five days in Pittsburgh after helping him move in. They had some really good smoked wings on East Carson St., took maybe 100 trips to Walmart (which is considerably further away from campus in Oakland than it was in Manhattan) and finally stopped by Primanti Brothers for a sandwich.
“I got there, and I was like coleslaw and fries?” Matlack said. “And then I tried it, and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s pretty good.’”
It was former Kansas State, and current Ohio State, quarterback Will Howard who actually first told Matlack about Primanti Brothers. The Pennsylvania native told him it was the best sandwich ever. Well, Matlack already liked fries on sandwiches, so he was open to try it. And he had to as a new Pittsburgher.
It was a tough decision to leave Kansas for the first time and experience something brand-new, but his parents had his back, and now he’s one of the newest Pitt Panthers.
So, why Pitt? How did the Panthers manage to stand out amongst the likes of Arizona State, Arkansas, Colorado State, Texas State, Texas Tech and UCF in the transfer portal.
“It was Pitt itself, I mean, the program has historically been great,” Matlack said. “Coach (Charlie Partridge), obviously. As I was getting recruited by all these different schools throughout my transfer portal time, it was just, ‘Oh, you’re visiting Pitt? I love coach P. He’s a great coach. It just seems like he has a lot of notoriety around the country, and I’ve obviously seen that since I’ve been here in the way he coaches, and the way he talks to guys. You can see how much he cares about people.”
Matlack didn’t know much about Partridge or Pitt before he hit the transfer portal, considering he grew up a Kansas State fan in Big 12 country,
“And just doing some research myself, you can see just from the past three years the guys he’s produced,” Matlack said. “And with me only having one season of eligibility and my end goal of playing in the NFL, I feel like that speaks for itself.”
Matlack wanted to find a system that best suited his speed and agility off the edge. He’s a workout warrior, a big end with 4.5 40-yard dash speed and a 41-inch vertical, who is best suited to come flying off the edge. He wasn’t able to do that much at Kansas State, so it was a priority to do so at his next destination. It just so happened that Pitt was the perfect fit.
“With having one season left I wanted to be able to play fast, play aggressive and that’s what the Pitt defense is about,” Matlack said. “It’s about playing fast, aggressive, blitzing and bringing pressure constantly and I felt like that’s exactly what I was looking for.”
In 12 games last season, Matlack racked up 15 tackles (11 solo), 7.5 tackles for loss, four sacks and a pass breakup — asked primarily to fulfill other responsibilities outside of rushing the passer.
So, with just one season and a defensive scheme that he sought out in the transfer portal (and a perfect coach in Partridge), he’s coming into the program with a business-oriented mindset.
“I’m trying to get where I want to go in this next year, and while doing that, I want to take this program to another level, back to where it was in 2021,” I feel just putting my head down, kinda like Nick (James) said, and working and having a routine every day and getting into that routine leads to success.
“It’s gonna be a huge change from where I came from. It wasn’t anything like that. But it’s kinda always what I wanted to do, and I felt like that’s why I decided to come here in the end, to be able to play fast and aggressively.”
He may not be playing at Kansas State anymore, but he will forever be appreciative of his time in Manhattan — fulfilling a childhood dream. And he learned a lot about fostering a strong culture through interpersonal relationships with teammates. If the offensive line room and defensive line rooms and wide receivers and defensive backs rooms are able to gel, it bodes well for team success.
Player-led leadership and accountability are crucial at the college level. Matlack is already building bonds with not only his fellow transfer but the early enrollee freshmen.
There will certainly be an adjustment period as he learns the Pitt defense and integrates himself into a brand-new system with brand-new responsibilities. But that’s what spring ball is for, after all. If Matlack is able to traverse Oakland without a scooter, he should be able to learn the Panthers’ defense without a hitch, too.
Matlack is joining a defensive ends group that is led by Dayon Hayes and features Matlack, David Ojiegbe, Nate Temple, Bam Brima, Jimmy Scott and a plethora of youngsters. Matlack’s ability to emerge as a leader in the room will be crucial to getting back to the success established over the last decade.
