Headed into his junior year of college at Vanderbilt, Jordan Matthews was about to meet a coach who would influence not only his football career but his entire life. The wide receiver didn't know that he'd have the same effect on the man he now considers a brother.

Josh Gattis first joined current Penn State head coach James Franklin's staff in 2012, accepting a position as the offensive recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach at Vanderbilt. Looking at the Commodores' receiving corps, he knew there was work to be done in order for the group to reach its full potential.

At that time, Matthews was coming off a sophomore campaign that featured 41 catches for 783 yards and five touchdowns. It was a solid year, but Gattis was going to demand more from the rising junior and prepared to push him like he'd never been pushed before.

"I think one of the things we did really well is we challenged each other. I challenged Jordan each and every day. Whatever he did yesterday was not good enough," Gattis said. "I really challenged him to focus on his fundamentals, focus on some areas of his game that he might not have focused on in the past. When you're around a guy who is willing to do whatever to be great, he's going to take all the advice you give him and he's going to work extremely hard at it."

From the moment Gattis stepped foot on Vanderbilt's campus, the building process began. He was critical and coached Matthews hard day in and day out. The receiver still vividly remembers how his coach would consistently point out all the flaws in his game.

But the coaching style worked. In his first season with Gattis, Matthews' numbers exploded. He caught 94 passes for 1,323 yards and eight touchdowns. As a senior, the wide receiver further improved, hauling in 112 receptions for 1,477 yards and seven touchdowns. He finished his collegiate career as the SEC's all-time leader in receptions (262) and receiving yards (3,759).

When Matthews moved on to the NFL and became a Philadelphia Eagle, the relationship he had with his coach didn't diminish. In fact, the exact opposite happened as Matthews grew even closer to the man he had worked with every day for two years straight. Instead of the player-coach connection they had before, they became like family.