Coaching fathers Clay Matthews, Todd Gerhart split time between sidelines and stands

Clay Matthews’ hair is so neat and well kept that he could appear in a shampoo commercial at the mature age of 54.

The problem is shampoo companies want his son, Clay III, a former Agoura High linebacker who leads the NFL in sacks with 9 1/2 for the Green Bay Packers and has grown his blond hair so long that it rests on his shoulders. There are Packers fans wearing T-shirts that read, “Fear the hair.”

And there’s another Matthews son, Casey, angling for his own shampoo contract with long hair playing linebacker for Oregon.

The father is the linebacker coach at Westlake Village Oaks Christian and has been flying on red-eye flights to watch both sons play this fall. At least this past weekend, he got to stay in town to watch Casey, an Oaks Christian graduate, play USC at the Coliseum.

“Getting to see the two boys has been good,” he said.

Matthews played 19 years in the NFL and is considered an elite coach in developing linebackers. He feels more nervous watching his sons play than when he was sending running backs to the turf with the Cleveland Browns.

“It takes about a quarter, then I’ll relax,” he said. “When you play, you think you’re bulletproof. When you get older, you know you’re not.”

As for what he tells high school players, Matthews said, “If you have a dream, follow it. It doesn’t mean you’ll get there — and there’s no dishonor — but you never know.”

Matthews has at least one person jealous of his sons’ hair, Oaks Christian Coach Bill Redell.

“I just wish I could grow my hair like them,” the bald Redell said.

Another father-coach on the red-eye circuit is Todd Gerhart, the coach at Norco. He heads off on red-eyes to watch his son, Garth, a lineman at Arizona State, and son Toby, a running back with the Minnesota Vikings and Stanford graduate. He left early Saturday for Boston to watch the Vikings play the New England Patriots.

“It’s exhausting, but I would never change it for anything,” Gerhart said.

Well, there is one complaint Gerhart has.

“I wish my son would pay for it,” he said. “He pays for nothing. Stanford taught him well.”

A Lincoln standout

Los Angeles Lincoln is 8-0 and set to play Marshall on Friday for the Northern League title. Leading the way has been running back Carlos Duran, who became the school’s first player since 1997 to reach 1,000 yards rushing. He also has 13 touchdowns. Lincoln’s last league championship was in 1991.

A running machine

Junior Giovanni Rivera from Baldwin Park Sierra Vista rushed for only 167 yards last week against La Puente, his fewest yards in a game this season. He is one of the state leaders in rushing with 2,070 yards. His high game was 360 yards against City of Industry Workman.

Big games

For those who haven’t been to a high school football game to see what it’s like with a sold-out crowd, there are plenty of options for Friday night.

In Orange County, Anaheim Servite (8-0) is playing Santa Margarita (7-1) at Saddleback College. Mission Viejo (8-0) is playing at Santa Margarita Tesoro (7-1). In the San Fernando Valley, Gardena Serra (8-0) is at West Hills Chaminade (8-0). In Ventura County, it’s Ventura St. Bonaventure (7-1) at Westlake Village Westlake (8-0).

And, of course, the biggest crowd of all — more than 20,000 — will be at the neighborhood rivalry game featuring Garfield (4-4) and Roosevelt (5-3) at East Los Angeles College.

“We always turn people away,” Garfield Coach Lorenzo Hernandez said. “That’s the crazy thing about this game.”

Who needs an NFL team in Los Angeles with games like these?

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

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