Alabama and Georgia are both in the National Championship game, and both teams’ coaches have worn the Crimson Tide logo, and both have consulted with Indianola native L. Ray Matthews.
Matthews, associate professor of surgery at Morehouse School of Medicine, told The Enterprise-Tocsin this week that he has met with both Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban and Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart regarding his research into the positive effects of Vitamin D.
“I have been looking into Vitamin D since I was back in medical school,” Matthews said, noting that Vitamin D is a hormone that controls 3,000 of the 30,000 genes in the human body. “This is a very positive substance.”
Matthews research at first revolved around his trauma patients, where he has used Vitamin D doses to help with both swelling and bone fractures, but he has recently crossed over into the sporting world where he hopes a healthy Vitamin D regimen could help reduce concussions and injuries overall.
“If you increase your Vitamin D levels, you can cut down on concussions,” Matthews said.
Matthews said that he traveled to Tuscaloosa in June of 2015 to meet with Nick Saban, after a mutual friend made the connection.
“Coach Saban is a very intelligent coach,” Matthews said. “He runs his team like a CEO. He is well organized. He’s also interested in cutting down on sports injuries.”
Matthews said that he met with Saban for about 30 minutes and offered several pieces of advice for the coach on Vitamin D use.
In November 2017, the same friend introduced Matthews to Georgia’s Smart.
“He’s very innovative,” Matthews said. “He’s very intelligent. He has great rapport with his players, and he is very well respected.”
Matthews has also worked with multiple high schools in the past, including his alma mater Gentry High School.
His work with Martin Luther King High School in Dekalb County, Ga. resulted in fewer concussions, he said, dropping from an average of five to six a year to zero to one.
Matthews said that he expects Vitamin D use to become the standard in medicine in a few years.
Until then, he will enjoy some of the possible fruits of his labor on national television Monday night.
“I’m elated,” the Ole Miss graduate said of the two coaches facing each other after having once worked together at Alabama (Saban as head coach and Smart as assistant). “I’m happy for both of them. I think the winner will be whoever has the ball last.”
