At Georgia, Matthews coached Champ Bailey, a consensus selection to the 1998 College Football All-America Team and the Washington Redskins first-round choice in the 1999 NFL draft.

The team had gone 3–8 in the year before, but Matthews turned them around that season and led them to an 8–4 record, an Atlantic 10 Conference title, and the school's first postseason appearance since 1995.

Matthews won the Eddie Robinson Award that year, annually given to the top head coach in NCAA Division I-AA football.

On February 25, 2008, amidst rumors that he might leave James Madison to help start the football program at the University of South Alabama, Matthews signed an extension with JMU to coach through the 2012 season.

[5] On November 22, 2008, the Matthews led Dukes defeated Towson University to finish conference play undefeated, winning the CAA outright and qualifying for their third straight FCS playoff appearance.

[8] This came after the Dukes finished the 2013 season 6–6 and missed the FCS playoffs for the fourth time since advancing to the NCAA Semifinals in 2008.

After the game, Matthews referred to the victory as "the biggest win in my professional career"—even bigger than the 2004 national championship.