Eastern Washington University Athletics

Head Coach Aaron Best on Matheney: “Olympia has been a very good pipeline for us. Amir is a great hand-down defensive player, and his first step is one thing that jumps out at you. He gets off the ball fast and makes life difficult on guards and centers. As a former center, I wouldn’t like to face him every snap of an entire game. Hopefully he imposes that will on future centers and guards he’ll face. He can really get off blocks. We saw him at our camps, and that’s important for us to see him up close and personal and not just on a video screen. He’s huge and has a huge personality. The class of 2017 has nicknamed themselves the ‘Savage ‘17,’ and he’s kind of the emperor of that domain. His personality is infectious, so we look to add him not only as a good player but as a good person. We’re excited to sign him.”
 
HS: Graduated from Olympia HS in 2017. His head coach in high school was Bill Beattie. In three years, he had career totals of 147 tackles including 13 sacks and 25 total tackles for loss. Selected to the Tacoma News Tribune All-Area first team as a defensive lineman. Was also selected to the All-Area first team as selected by the Olympian. Was a first-team All-4A South Puget Sound League first team selection in 2016. Despite being double-teamed and even triple-teamed much of the season, he finished his senior season with 52 tackles, seven tackles for loss, a pair of sacks and a blocked kick. He helped lead the Bears to a 7-3 record and the first round of the State 4A Playoffs where it lost to Skyview (38-27). His coach, Bill Beattie, called him a “very dominant force in the middle.” As a junior, he earned first team All-Narrows League honors in helping Olympia finish 7-3. He had 56 tackles, seven sacks and 13 total tackles for loss. The Bears allowed an average of just 62.5 rushing yards per game with Matheney plugging the middle. Also started for the Bears as a sophomore when he earned second team All-4A Narrows League honors. That team finished 6-4 and he finished with 39 tackles, four sacks and five tackles for loss. Current Eagles Mitch Fettig (’14) and Brett Thompson (’16) attended Olympia HS, as did 1997 Eagle All-America quarterback Harry Leons (’93). He attended EWU football camp, enabling the coaching staff to get a closer recruiting look at him. He was named by the Seattle Times as a "White Chip" selection as one of the top 100 prospects in the state of Washington. Matheney was a two-star recruit by rivals.com, scout.com and by 247sports.com, and was ranked as the 50th best prospect in Washington.
 
Personal: Considering majoring in political science. Born 6/22/99 in Wahiawa, Hawaii. Parents are Jason and Sherry Matheney. Name is pronounced “Uh-meer” “Muh-thee-knee.”