[1] In selecting him for its All-Illinois football team that same year, the Chicago Record-Herald wrote: "Mather, by virtue of his glittering achievements in 1908, had little trouble in clinching a place on the all-state combine.

With another season in which to perfect the forward pass and the open style of play Mather developed into a terror on offense.

[5] In April 1919, Mather was reported to be organizing teams in basketball, tennis, volleyball, and track at the Fayetteville, Arkansas campus.

The 1926 squad, which was captained by Richard Doyle who became the team's first All-American, tied with Purdue, the Iowa Hawkeyes and Indiana Hoosiers for the conference championship.

[7][8] A few weeks after the Wolverines won the Big Ten championship for the 1926–27 season, Mather underwent surgery for cancer.

In the fall of 1927, he was put in charge of Michigan's freshman football team, and he returned as basketball coach at the beginning of the 1927–28 season.

A telephone line was installed at Mather's bedside, and football coach Harry Kipke relayed the plays to him and gave him a summary at the end of each game.