When Matthew Dayes was a freshman at N.C. State, he didn’t have a car. Naturally, he had to ask for rides everywhere he went. Some weren’t as quick to offer them up, even when it was important. So, when Dayes ordered a bike online and had to go pick it up, it went unclaimed for two weeks after no one was willing to take him to the store.
This was just one down point in a semester seemingly filled with them, as the running back from Fort Lauderdale’s Cypress Bay High School saw his grades dip to below a 2.0 GPA. He thought a lot about transferring, and would have, if the people in his corner – including his mother Rema and former coach Mark Guandolo – hadn’t helped convince him to stick it out just one more semester to see how he was feeling.
“Everything wasn’t going as planned,” Dayes says. “And I wanted to leave this school so bad. I hated everything about it. There was something in the back of my mind telling me to stay, even though I really didn’t want to. I decided to stick it out for the spring. Everything was great from then on. I just try to tell the younger guys that everybody feels this way their first time in college and being away from home. I tell them you’re just going to get used to it and you’ll feel at home maybe next year or in a couple of months.”
The difference between the fall and the spring was huge; Dayes had a great semester academically, and even more importantly, started to feel at home in Raleigh. The confidence and comfort level showed on the field, as well, as he was one of just three players in the nation with 300 return, rushing and receiving yards in 2014.
Off the field, Dayes wanted to make sure his teammates, especially the young guys, didn’t have the same worries he had. Now that he has a car on campus, he’s the guy who drives people everywhere, and it’s a role he embraces.
“I care about others more than I care about myself,” Dayes says. “That’s the most important thing to me, making sure others are okay before you are. I always give guys a ride, whenever they ask for it. As much as it’s so out of the way and stuff like that. But I just can’t say no. When I finally got a car, I said I’d never say no to someone because of what happened to me. I always just try to be there for my teammates.”
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It’s the Thursday before Week 5’s game against Louisville, and the Wendell H. Murphy building is buzzing. Everyone’s checking the weather forecast religiously to see if Hurricane Joaquin will wreck plans. Local media members were hammering the “State’s schedule was too easy and the Wolfpack hasn’t been tested yet” angle. And there’s the matter of Shadrach Thornton’s dismissal from the team, which stemmed from a moped accident that was just one in a series of incidents that eventually meant enough was enough. (Thornton was suspended for the first two games of 2015 due to a violation of team rules.)
Dayes, on the other hand, is quiet. Although there’s the general sense that Dayes is always a little quiet. He’s got a black Cypress Bay shirt with the school’s initials on them in blue lettering and red N.C. State shorts on, and he’s hunched over with his arms cradling each other, resting on his thighs.
There are two things Dayes admits he really hates – speaking in public, and any animal with four legs, especially dogs. So there’s not a chance of him becoming the next Jack Hanna any time soon. Dayes understands with the increased attention, there will be more of a spotlight on him, and it’s not as though he hasn’t spoken to the press before.
As a former star running back in high school, he’s done interviews, and lots of them. He just doesn’t enjoy them, and just because you do something a bunch of times doesn’t mean you suddenly start loving it. He’s careful not to believe his own hype, and admits people’s perception of him can change in an instant.
“Don’t swallow the poison,” Dayes says, when asked about the best advice his coaches have ever given him. “Don’t listen to what other people are saying. Just put your head down and keep working. I just take that everywhere with me. I don’t really listen to what the media says about me. It can definitely change on me because of one play. Obviously, I always want to play well, and I do what I can for the team for the team. And I always try to avoid attention. I don’t know why, but I hate the attention. I hate it. But I guess it comes with doing well.”
The Montego Bay, Jamaica native, who moved to the states when he was five, attributes his work ethic and the way he puts others before himself to his mother. She’s a home care nurse who still goes back to Jamaica and gives family members clothes, money, and other gifts, even if she doesn’t have that much to give.
When Dayes was about to enter high school, Rema had him stay with family friends, the Maxwells, so that he could continue to go to school and play football with his friends, rather than enrolling him in another school or making the 35-minute drive each way every day due to work. He obviously missed his mom, but he’d see her every weekend, and the experience helped him prepare for how far away from home he’d be during college.
Dayes flourished at Cypress Bay, and he originally committed to the old staff at N.C. State, but when Dave Doeren’s staff came in, he didn’t get a phone call right away. Dayes opened his recruitment back up. He narrowed his list down to Vanderbilt, UCF, and the Wolfpack. He wanted to stay close to home and play at UCF, but he really wanted to be in a Power Five environment.
As it came down to making a decision, Dayes had his mind made up that he’d go to Vanderbilt. But when he called each of the Commodores coaches, they were all on planes. Coach Guandolo convinced Dayes to call Wolfpack running backs coach Des Kitchings to tell him the news, and thank the school for the opportunity.
Kitchings told Dayes to think about it more because nothing was official yet, and Dayes took more time to consider his decision. Eventually, after consulting with those he trusted most, Matt made the call to go to Raleigh, and he attributes the fact that the Vanderbilt coaches weren’t able to take his call as a sign.
“It’s crazy how close I was to being at Vanderbilt right now,” Dayes says. “That was all God’s work right there. I was definitely going to Vanderbilt. God works in mysterious ways. It’s crazy.”
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Entering the game against the Cardinals, Dayes led all of FBS in rushing touchdowns. He had at least 100 yards in each of the team’s first four games on the ground, but against Louisville, the ground game stalls. An early turnover after a big play in the Louisville red zone leads to a Lamar Jackson scramble for 68 yards to put the Cardinals up 7-0. And the Pack never seemed to get right from there, although Dayes does keep his touchdown streak alive with a three-yard score in the second quarter.
Dayes fumbles on a promising drive by the Wolfpack late in the third quarter, and the defense repeatedly can’t stop Louisville on third down. Despite all that, N.C. State still has the ball with a chance to tie and under two minutes to play. A couple dropped passes and it’s fourth down and one. Dayes gets the ball, and is stonewalled. The Pack turns it over on downs, and the 4-0 start is no more after a 20-13 loss.
His teammates try to pick him up on the sidelines, but in postgame, Dayes is not one of the players brought out to do interviews. Instead, he’s in the cold tub.
“We just kept him up,” N.C. State fullback and tight end Jaylen Samuels says after the game. “We know we have plenty of time left, and it was a big issue in the game, but we just have to keep playing. Normally, we convert on that type of play. They just made a good defensive call and tackled him for a loss.”
Dayes says he’s not the type to take praise or deflect criticism on anyone else. If things go well for him, it’s because of his teammates. If he fumbles or makes a mistake, he’s not going to throw his teammates under the bus.
And just because he’s not speaking to the media doesn’t mean he’s putting it all on his team. He just doesn’t have anything to say, and he’s still the same guy who dropped a public speaking class early in his freshman year and is scared to do improv, despite his high school friends considering him the funny guy in the group.
The thing about families is that caring is a two-way street, so when he needs his team to pick him up, they’re going to do that. The same way Dayes will offer a ride and a helping hand when they need him.
“I see guys helping each other out all the time,” Dayes says. “It’s beautiful, and I love it. I think it starts with the caring, and then all the other stuff will fall after that.”
It’s too early to say whether or not Dayes will reach that 1,000 rushing and receiving yards he was shooting for in the offseason, but he’s still going to have plenty of eyes on him. Just because he subscribes to Teddy Roosevelt’s “Speak softly and carry a big stick” mantra doesn’t make him any less of a good story. The interviews aren’t going away, and he seems to know that. As for the fear of dogs, his girlfriend Skarlyn, a student at UCF, has talked a lot about the two of them getting one together. Chances are, Skarlyn is going to win out. That’s what happens when you care so much – and you have a hard time saying no.
