Matt Lauter: Florida Man Returns
Florida native and star tight end Matt Lauter leads the Broncos into their 2025 season opener at South Florida
Chris Kutz
The 25th-ranked Boise State football team boarded its flight to Tampa, Fla. around 2 p.m. on Wednesday. The Broncos took a four-hour trip from Boise to the Sunshine State as they are set for the 2025 season opener at South Florida on Thursday (3:30 pm MT, ESPN, Bronco Radio Network).
For redshirt senior tight end Matt Lauter, the flight followed a somewhat familiar path. Lauter is a Florida man. He goes back to his hometown of Gainesville, Fla. at least twice a year: around Christmas and in the summer.
Although he signed with Boise State out of Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, Calif., Lauter was born and raised in Florida. The Lauter family - mom, dad, older brother, younger brother and Matt - moved to North County of San Diego to attend the prestigious preparatory school. Torrey Pines has churned out former NFLers John Lynch and Chad Hutchinson, among others, over the years.
The move to California was a return trip for the Lauter parents who are native Californians. Around 2000, which was two years prior to Matt being born, the Lauters moved to Florida and settled in a community about 15 minutes away from the University of Florida campus. But San Diego was a familiar place to Matt’s dad, Steve.
Steve was a star wide receiver in high school and started his collegiate playing career at Washington. After two years with the Huskies, he transferred to San Diego State in 1983 and became an all-conference safety for the Aztecs. He briefly played for the San Diego Chargers and Cleveland Browns after college.
“(My dad) grew up in LA and he thought it was good for us (to move to Southern California) because the high schools in San Diego were so elite,” said Lauter. “And so all of us moved out there. We moved into this little, tiny apartment while we were renting out our house back home.”
Lauter’s aspirations to play a high-level of football are propped by his pedigree. In addition to his dad, Lauter’s uncle, Danny, played at UCLA in the early 1980s. His grandfather, Bob, was an All-Big Ten player at Northwestern in the 1950s before having a brief stint in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Lauter has another uncle on his dad’s side, Bobby, who was an even better athlete than his siblings, but a body surfing accident in high school resulted in a serious injury that cut his football career short.
Lauter also has a cousin, Danny, who is the starting quarterback at Georgetown. The two stay in touch occasionally and mainly over Instagram. Danny went viral a few years ago for his ability to throw a tight spiral.
As for Lauter’s two brothers, the older one played Division I lacrosse at Merrimack and St. Leo. His younger brother played lacrosse in high school.
Needless to say, Lauter has plenty of athletic genes.
During the 2024 season that ended in the College Football Playoff, Lauter had a breakout season. The then-redshirt junior started all 14 games and set the Boise State single-season tight end record for receptions with 47. He was one of two Broncos to catch at least one pass in all 14 games, one of which was the 53-yard touchdown pass hauled in against Penn State in the CFP Quarterfinal at the Fiesta Bowl.
Before the breakout campaign, Lauter was more involved in the run game as opposed to the pass game. He had 13 career catches in his first 27 games over the course of the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He redshirted as a true freshman in 2021 to further his development after playing as a self-described “glorified receiver” in the Wing-T system in high school.
“I started as a blocking tight end, and then my sophomore year, I kind of picked up more into the passing game,” said Lauter, who has added 15-20 pounds since his true freshman season. “Then my junior year, I was able to break out on the scene in the run game and the pass game. And this year, I'm hoping to still put both together, but find a way to fine tune all those details in the run and pass game.”
In high school, Lauter played linebacker and tight end. He was also the team’s punter, a position he loved to play and his dad encouraged him to play.
“I could put a spiral on the ball pretty much every time,” said Lauter about his role on special teams, “and when I hit it right, it would go like 60 yards. I definitely dedicated a lot of time to that.”
Lauter’s father experienced first hand how grueling the game of football was, and he thought Matt could find a path to the NFL in a less taxing position such as punter.
“(It) was hard, because obviously I played both ways,” said Lauter. “So when I went back there to punt, I was exhausted. My hands and feet were sweaty. I dropped (the position) when I came here (to Boise State) because we got Australian punters that can boot the ball.”
Lauter also played alongside his current Boise State teammate, Marco Notarainni, at Torrey Pines. The two standout Broncos both played linebacker in high school while Notarainni was a running back in the Wing-T system. They even played lacrosse together. The two signed with Boise State in the same class and have known each other for more than eight years.
“The way he’s changed from where he was in high school to where he is now… he’s way more intentional with what he is doing,” said Notarainni. “He works harder (now) than he did in high school. He surrounds himself with a lot of really good people. I always told him that’s one of his superpowers, he draws people in no matter what room he is in. Having him build off of that, coming here and changing as a person, how he approaches certain things has elevated his game like no other. That’s why he’s one of the top tight ends in the country.”
Lauter also has a mentor in NFL tight end Austin Hooper. Hooper is entering his 10th NFL season this year and currently plays for the New England Patriots after stints with the Atlanta Falcons (four years), Cleveland Browns (two), Tennessee Titans (one) and Las Vegas Raiders (one). Lauter’s dad knew Hooper’s dad, so the two connected over the phone when Lauter was 13 years old.
“It was always kind of a dream to be in Hooper's position, and now I watch his Stanford highlights and his highlights in the NFL,” said Lauter. “We're kind of similar players too, so it's definitely kind of cool looking up to him and being able to call him sometimes and talk some ball.”
An avid hunter and fisherman, Lauter still finds time to watch plenty of film - be it live games or highlights - of NFL tight ends he looks up to. Sam LaPorta, George Kittle and Brock Bowers, to name a few.
The development, on the field and through studying, has made Lauter one of the key pieces for the Broncos.
“Matt’s a huge part of our offense. He’s a weapon for us,” said Nate Potter, Boise State offensive coordinator and tight ends coach. “What I appreciate about Matt is how much he has evolved and improved since last season. His game is well-rounded. We’re pretty fortunate where we can use multiple tight ends, and he always has a role in every aspect of our game plan.”
When Lauter committed to Boise State in August 2020, living in San Diego, the Florida native envisioned being a factor for the Broncos. A pair of Mountain West championships later, and a trip to the CFP with a top-10 national ranking, Lauter has his sights on an even bigger year on the biggest of stages in 2025. And it all starts in a familiar location.
“He’s a Florida guy - that’s what he says,” said a laughing Potter. “I’m sure he’s just excited to be near his family and be around his family when they’re at the game. The bigger the moment, the more that comes out of him. That’s what makes him a great competitor.”
