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Thursday, September 1, 2016
There's a brief pause as Tom Matukewicz ponders the question.
What is his team's identity?
Pause.
It's not something he really thinks about, the Southeast Missouri State football coach says.
Instead he's "looking at what we need to do to improve."
Southeast Missouri State University football player, John Popovich.
Glenn Landberg
Turns out that they're practically one and the same.
It's been talked about plenty since the team went through spring practices -- 10 Strong.
It was an improved way for Matukewicz to lead his team in his third season.
He's got 10 full-time coaches overseeing 10 positions. He can't reign over the entire team at all times effectively, so the position coaches and the 10-player leadership council -- most of which come from various position groups -- take more control to make sure things are running smoothly on and off the field. The groups are more divided, in a sense, but in hopes that it will bring them all together, performing better, and allowing Matukewicz to focus on putting his team in the best position to win games.
Based on the responses of some of his players and position coaches, that system is working, and whether or not Matukewicz would consider it the team's identity, it is the one the squad has adopted.
Southeast Missouri State University football player, Chad Meredith.
Glenn Landberg
"I think we are one," Southeast defensive coordinator Bryce Saia said when asked to describe the team's identity. "I don't think it's divided. I don't feel like it's a locker room divided, I don't think it's a coaching staff divided. I think we're all one. One heartbeat."
Defensive line coach Ricky Coon's characterization of the Redhawks started out slightly different but circled back to the exact same concept.
"I think our kids are tough," Coon said. "I think they're tough and they're resilient, and they'll do anything for you. I think if we ask them to run through a wall, they'll do it, and I think that's what's going to get us over the top. I feel like we're a lot closer than we have been. Just being here for our third year, we've got a lot of seniors that have been here, and I feel like everybody's bought in and we're ready to take the next step."
Some of the other words tossed around by defensive end John Popovich -- one of 25 seniors -- and cornerback Mike Ford were "family," "hungry," "driven."
Backup quarterback Dante Vandeven, who started eight games last year as a true freshman, said, "We're a tight-knit offense. We all stick together. We're not just playing for one person, we're playing for each other."
Southeast Missouri State University football player, Marlon Hampton.
Glenn Landberg
Those are exactly the qualities that offensive coordinator Jon Wiemers has been pushing upon his guys -- "have confidence in your teammates, believe that what plays we're running and who is running them will work."
"Really what I preach to them a lot is we want the ability to execute on offense to perfection," Wiemers said. "From an execution standpoint, that's something that we really need to improve on from last year. Our identity is that we are a physical offense. No. 1, we want to be able to run the football, but we also want our receivers to be able to block as well. We want to establish the run game, but that doesn't mean we're not going to throw the ball. But I think it just sets us up for so much. The ability to have the trust amongst our group, that's something that between our leadership on our offense and myself and our assistant coaches that we're really trying to create."
The offense has by far been the biggest question mark heading into this season, which officially gets underway on Saturday at Memphis.
The starting quarterback question was answered last week, with junior college transfer Jesse Hosket beating out Vandeven for the job.
But then there was the enormous hole left by star receiver Paul McRoberts, who caught 76 passes for 940 yards and nine touchdowns to cap off his four-year career.
Southeast Missouri State University football player, Eriq Moore.
Glenn Landberg
And running back DeMichael Jackson was dismissed from the team in March. He'd missed most of last season with a torn ACL and had been granted another year of eligibility.
"We have no Paul McRoberts, but I feel like, around the board, we're getting more solid players. So we don't have to rely on a star player like that," linebacker Chad Meredith said. "That's nice to have, [because] one player doesn't win a game."
Tremane McCullough, who took over at running back when Jackson went down in the third game last year and rushed for 1,028 yards and five touchdowns, will likely be the guy the Redhawks turn to the most -- whether as a slot receiver or occasionally out of the backfield. But others are confident that there are plenty of pieces around him.
"I get asked that question so much. 'How do you feel that Paul's not here? How do you feel that [receiver] Pete [Lloyd's] not here?' I just tell them, 'Great guys, great athletes, throwing the ball to them was the best thing ever, but if I had to pick between the roster of who I have right now and Paul and Pete, I would have to go with my wide receiver crew right now,'" Vandeven said, "just because these guys work so hard and they make some cool catches and they all work together, which is crazy. Last year it was, 'You need to throw to Paul. You need to throw to Paul. Get him the yards,' which is understandable -- he's playing with the [Los Angeles] Rams right now, but the guys that are in here right now like Tyler McLemore, Kristian Wilkerson, C.J. Curry, Darrius Darden-Box, Tremane, for God's sakes. I mean, we have so many skillful, talented wide receivers and it's great to be able to throw them the ball."
One aspect of the offense that didn't see much change in personnel was the offensive line. Center Jake McCandless and left guard Garret Baker return to their same positions while Michael Cooke moves to right guard and Alex Snyder to right tackle. The only non-returning starter is sophomore Drew Forbes, who will get the start at left tackle and saw significant action as a true freshman.
Southeast Missouri State University football player, Roper Garrett.
Glenn Landberg
"Forbes stepping into left tackle and Snyder making the transition to right tackle and Cooke moving down, I think, is just the best possible scenario," Baker said. "Cooke has really been progressing at right guard and Forbes ... has really been good. I mean, he's a deep freeze over there. He's just moving people and it's really good. We're communicating really well and [new offensive line] coach [Ben] Blake's done a really good job with technique. He's a really great coach."
While Blake may be new, along with running back coach Ghaali Muhammad-Lankford, there's plenty of experience back. Seven starters return -- eight on offense and seven on defense.
"The kids know the package, all the older kids, so we're getting into the finer details of the package and we're able to do a lot more things because they already know the base stuff," Coon said. "We can work on more technical fundamentals instead of starting with the easy stuff -- we've kind of got that down, now we're getting to the stuff that's going to take us over the top."
The Redhawks are obviously seeking to improve on the 5-7 and 3-5 Ohio Valley Conference mark of 2014 and 4-7 and 3-4 OVC records from last season.
"First off, I haven't had a winning season since I've been here, so I feel like that's a good starting point," Meredith said with a smile. "I feel like this team has the talent to win the OVC, so it just comes down to whether we can put all the pieces together, which I believe we will do."
LAURA SIMON ~ lsimon@semissourian
Tremane McCullough
Tremane McCullough
They were predicted to finish fifth in the conference in this year's preseason poll, voted on by coaches and sports information directors. Ahead of them were two-time defending OVC champion and national runner up Jacksonville State, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Illinois and UT Martin.
"When you've got somebody playing in the national championship game -- like 'OVC, OVC, OVC' all through the playoffs -- I think that's really helped our brand," Matukewicz said of the conference. "They're doing a great job, so everybody's trying to catch them, which hopefully raises everybody up. I'm not necessarily focusing on Jacksonville State. I'm more focused on Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Illinois, the teams that we haven't been able to beat since I've been here."
Another focus for Matukewicz is to be aware of what's going on with his team and the players' mentalities and abilities from week to week.
"I just think the most important thing I do is that I'm present and that I understand where the team is at so that I know where to help guide them and so I'm not surprised," Matukewicz said. "I think as a head coach you can get pulled a lot of different ways. I'm not in the position meeting room, I'm not in the weight room, I'm not in the training room, I'm not in the equipment room, so I need to be around enough that I can see issues pop up and just have the pulse of my team. Right now I'm dialed in, but I know last year there were several games I was surprised at that I should've known before and I didn't, and I think that had to do with I wasn't present enough. I was more distracted. For me, that's got to be my goal, to just make sure I have a good pulse of this team each and every week."
As he assessed his team's pulse throughout fall camp he said that while the team's had bad days, they haven't "been that bad."
Zach Stagner
Laura Simon
"And I like this team because I feel like they listen and they want to do the things that it takes to be successful," Matukewicz said. "So as a coach, even if there's something wrong, you're excited for the next day because you know they're going to really try to work on that. All of a sudden, you're standing in front of the team and you're wondering if half of them are even listening -- I've been there before."
Somewhere else he's been? On the losing end of quite a few close games. He frequently points out that last year four games were lost by a combined 14 points (Indiana State 29-28, Shorter University 26-21, Eastern Illinois 33-28 and UT Martin 28-25). While there have been some close wins in his first two seasons, too, those losses linger. He's optimistic that "10 Strong" will be the difference.
"We've never been just really, really solid in all areas, and so I think that's going to be the difference between those 14 points," Matukewicz said. "We lost four games by 14 points, and I think that is what's going to pull us over the top."
