32 Facts About Shane Matthews

Shane Matthews played college football for the Florida Gators, where he was both a second-team All-American and SEC player of the year in 1991 and 1992.

Since retiring as a player, Matthews has lived near his college alma mater in North Central Florida, where he has hosted a sports talk radio program and coached high school football.

Shane Matthews attended Cleveland High School in Cleveland through his sophomore year, before transferring to Pascagoula High School in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where he played high school football for the Pascagoula Panthers.

Shane Matthews was a stand-out high school quarterback and was named the Mississippi Player of the Year as a senior.

Shane Matthews accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, and was the starting quarterback for the Gators teams under coach Steve Spurrier from 1990 to 1992.

Shane Matthews set a new Gators team record for career passing yards, finished fifth in the 1991 Heisman Trophy voting as a junior, and was a first-team All-SEC selection in 1990,1991 and 1992.

Shane Matthews finished his college career having completed 722 of 1,202 attempts for 9,287 yards and seventy-four touchdowns, and was a team captain and the Gators' most valuable player during his final season.

Shane Matthews led the SEC in passing for three consecutive years, and finished with a career efficiency rating of 137.6.

Shane Matthews graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1997, and he was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2002.

Shane Matthews remained the Bears' back-up and third-string quarterback for four seasons.

Shane Matthews did not appear in a regular season game with the Bears until 1996.

Shane Matthews spent the next two years with the Carolina Panthers, but remained a seldom-used back-up.

Shane Matthews had his best season in the NFL in 1999, starting seven games, throwing for 1,645 yards and ten touchdowns.

Shane Matthews played the next two seasons with the Bears, starting a total of eight games in that span.

Shane Matthews relieved starter Jim Miller in the 2002 playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles, after Miller separated his shoulder and could not continue.

In 2002, Shane Matthews signed with the Washington Redskins, where he played for his former college coach Steve Spurrier.

Shane Matthews started seven games for the Redskins, throwing for 1,251 yards and eleven touchdowns while sharing time with fellow former Florida QB Danny Wuerffel.

Shane Matthews did not appear in a regular season game during the 2005 NFL season, and retired after the end of the 2005 season.

In December 2006, Shane Matthews was signed as the third-string quarterback for the Dolphins after former starter Daunte Culpepper was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury.

Shane Matthews did not get into a game with the Dolphins, and on March 2,2007, he again retired from the NFL.

Over his fourteen NFL seasons, Shane Matthews played in thirty-two regular season games, started twenty-two of them, and completed 492 of 839 passing attempts for 4,756 yards and thirty-one touchdowns.

In 2012, Matthews was hired as the head coach of the Panthers football team of Allen D Nease Senior High School in Ponte Vedra, near Jacksonville.

Shane Matthews coached at Nease for two seasons and then resigned to spend more time with his family, who had continued to live in Gainesville while he commuted back and forth.

In 2014, Shane Matthews returned to coaching when he became the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Buchholz High School in Gainesville, joining a staff that included fellow Gator players Cooper Carlisle and Johnny Nichols.

Shane Matthews was officially hired by the Orlando Guardians on September 13,2022, where he served as the offensive coordinator and offensive play caller.

Shane Matthews began a career as a radio sports commentator soon after retiring from playing football in 2006.

Shane Matthews has hosted or co-host several sports talk radio programs on WRUF-AM in Gainesville, and in 2008, he became a pregame and post-game co-host on Florida Gators football radio broadcasts.

When McGriff and Hubert both retired before the 2022 season, Shane Matthews became the full time analyst for Gator football radio broadcasts alongside new play by play man Sean Kelley.

Shane Matthews settled in North Central Florida with his wife and two sons after his playing career ended in 2006.

Shane Matthews accepted the part-time position as it allowed him to continue coaching high school football, and he earned over $400,000 from the company before leaving several months later.

Shane Matthews claimed that he did not know that the company's activities were unlawful and cooperated with the investigation, which ended in Grow's felony conviction in 2018.

Shane Matthews pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge and was required to pay a forfeiture equal to the money he earned and serve three months in a federal prison.