To finish out his playing career, Jephete Matilus has decided to drop down a rung on the collegiate ladders.
Tuesday, North Dakota announced that Matilus (pictured, second helmet from left) has been added to the roster of its FCS football program. Not only will Matilus be switching schools, he’ll be making a position switch as well.
Matilus began his career as a linebacker at Minnesota before moving to fullback prior to the start of the 2014 season. He’ll move back to the defensive side of the ball at UND.
Because he’s already graduated from Minnesota as well as dropping from the FBS to FCS, Matilus will be eligible to play immediately in 2015.
“We are always looking for ways to improve our football team and I think we have done with that with the addition of Jephete,” UND head coach Bubba Schweigert said in a statement. “He is an athletic linebacker from a successful Big Ten program that will have one season to play for us. He contributed on a number of special teams for the Gophers and we expect him to do the same here, while competing for playing time at outside linebacker.”
Matilus played in 21 games during his Gopher career, with most of that action coming on special teams. The school also reminded me in its release that Matilus is the second Gopher to transfer to UND in the past 16 months, with defensive lineman Jordan Hinojosa joining the program in January of 2014 and playing in eight games last season.