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SEMO Football Signing Day
NOTEBOOK: Size matters as Southeast Missouri State football welcomes 34 new faces to fold
Southeast Missouri State coach Tom Matukewicz speaks at Wings Etc. in Cape Girardeau during National Signing Day on Wednesday.
awhitaker@semissourian.com
As National Signing Day progressed on Wednesday, the names kept coming. And coming. And coming.
If one thing marked the Southeast Missouri State football 2017 signing class, it was its sheer size, as the Redhawks welcomed 34 new players to the family (and maybe another familiar face in the future, but more on that later).
The SEMO coaching staff hopes the depth will be a boost, but the work involved in bringing in a huge haul -- the program brought in just 20 players a year ago -- was challenging.
"This is a big one," Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz said. "This is obviously not normal, because we just had a big [group] leave. So it was challenging and hard. You've got a lot of guys out there recruiting and they're juggling (things). I think what was different was a lot of our offers, they took. Whereas a lot of time you have to go to your second or third option, well, really, a lot of those guys we battled for we were able to sign and it worked out for us."
Between 25 seniors lost to graduation and the transfers of quarterback Dante Vandeven and wide receiver Adrian Davis, there was a large exodus for the Redhawks. That meant spots to fill. And in the process, the goal was to lift the level of competition in both the spring and next fall.
"I really wanted to make sure we brought some guys in next semester," Matukewicz said. "We lost 27 guys -- we only lost 12 starters of that, but there's a lot of (scholarship) money there. I didn't want to put all that money just into freshmen. So we were able to bring in some sophomores and juniors that are here next semester. I wanted some more depth in spring ball, that was the No. 1 (goal). No. 2, I just wanted our type of guy. I wanted a kid who when we talk about effort they get excited, and our staff did a good job identifying those guys."
That first goal was achieved through junior college signings, of which there were 12. Compare that to a year ago, when the 2016 signing class included just two juco players.
Bringing in players from that level injects the roster with a greater level of experience than true freshmen can, and also makes it easier for players to be on campus for spring practice, getting more reps and more familiarity with the program.
Of course, turnover presents unique challenges.
"I think the biggest struggle is right now just trying to get everybody to understand who each other are -- their names and everything," Matukewicz said. "We have breakfast at 7 a.m. Monday through Friday as a team, so they sit there and get to know each other and bond. Then I think the biggest thing is the new hire with our new strength coach. I think that's going to make a huge difference in being able to capture these kids and get them right. Then when I get my hands on them to coach football, they already have that culture installed in them."
With so much change, expect a lot of the new faces to play right away.
Running back Marquis Terry is one of the junior college transfers, and he led the NJCAA in rushing last season at Highland (Kans.) Community College. The coaching staff is already looking at him as a contributor.
The offensive line is also a unit to keep an eye on, where the head coach thinks the incoming group could include three or four starters. There are five 'O'-lineman in the group -- Martin Eidson, Jimmy Keutzer, Lucas Orchard, Junior Pierre and Kyle Thies -- four of which are juco players who will be enrolled for the spring semester.
The incoming group averages 302 pounds.
"Coach (Ben) Blake did a great job identifying those guys and certainly we feel like they can be in the two-deep," Matukewicz said. "Going through spring is everything, so in the fall it's not the first time you're hearing everything and not the first time meeting your teammates so they get comfortable. We have some positions open [on the offensive line], so now we have depth in competition. We have some young guys there who will fight for positions there, but now we've brought in some juniors and hopefully they'll help us there."
Matukewicz cited former SEMO baseball coach Steve Bieser for his inspiration when it came to aggressively pursuing juco options.
"I talked with Coach Bieser a little bit about his recruiting model," Matukewicz said. "One thing about junior college players is, they don't care about facilities. They want to come and play and they want to play for good coaches. So it seems to fit here. We've had some junior college players who have had some success, and based on what baseball has been able to do, we amped that up a little bit, certainly with the amount of money we had also played into that. I'm looking forward to those guys in the spring."
Depth outside
If depth is the word of the day for the Redhawks, it is hard to look past the positions of defensive back and wide receiver. The coaching staff brought in more DBs than any other position, as seven join the roster. That's in addition to eight players already returning at the position.
On the other side of the ball, six new wide receivers will join forces with 12 returners at WR.
The approach falls in line with where Matukewicz believes his team needs to get better -- both scoring through the pass and defending the pass.
"[The defensive secondary] is one area that we haven't been able to get fixed," the coach said. "We've got a few guys back that were young so hopefully they get better, but we want some competition in there so our passing yards (against) go down. We lost a couple of games in the two-minute drive where it comes down to the pass. We really feel like those guys are going to give us that depth and hopefully the competition in there to get that fixed.
Jon Wiemers, Offensive Coordinator for the Southeast Missouri State University football team, speaks during National Signing Day at Wings Etc. in Cape Girardeau.
Andrew J. Whitaker
"(On offense), we certainly have some young guys there, but we missed a Paul (McRoberts), we missed a guy in the red zone and some things like that. We wanted to bring in some more depth there. The bottom line is we felt like we wanted to score more touchdowns on offense, and that really needed to come from that wide receiver group. ... I really feel like we've hit it, so now we need to make them be good with coaching and making them buy into the process."
Southern hospitality
A year ago Southeast brought in three players from Mississippi to try to improve the roster, including quarterback Jesse Hosket. This time around, that number was even larger.
The Redhawks announced the signing of eight players from the Magnolia State, taking advantage of a junior college system that is one of the best in the country and a high school environment that produces a high-level product.
"It's nationally known as one of the best junior college systems," Matukewicz said. "There's a lot of really good skill players, from linebackers to safeties to corners to wideouts. They love football."
Five players came from the state's juco system, including one from Hosket's alma mater, East Central CC (OL Orchard), one from 2015 national champ Northwest Mississippi CC (DB K.T. McCollin) and one from traditional powerhouse and subject of the popular documentary "Last Chance U," East Mississippi CC (DB Dontavius Powell).
"It's all about your recruiting model, and we've kind of learned, we're five hours from Kansas City; we're three and half hours from Northwest Mississippi, which just won a national championship a year ago," Matukewicz said. "So you just realize, we're close. A lot of those Mississippi kids don't realize where Cape Girardeau is, and when they realize we're pretty close, just right off (Interstate) 55, it's a fit. This was huge class from Mississippi for us. The guys we signed from Mississippi, I would have signed them at Toldeo. They're MAC-level type guys. I'm just really excited about them."
Local flavor
Only one player from Southeast Missouri was among the Redhawks announced signing class, as East Prairie's Deverence Jones joins the program. Jones ran for 1,365 yards as a senior.
"He's certainly a standout guy, kind of a tough, hard-nosed guy. My kind of guy. I'm thrilled that he's here, and I know he's certainly excited to be a Redhawk."
Cape Girardeau Central's Kway'Chon Chisom held a signing ceremony Wednesday to announce his intent to play for SEMO, but was not officially announced among the signees. Chisom still has some steps to take in order to qualify academically, and it appears he will not be with the team in the fall. The Tiger senior said he hopes to join the team in the 2017-18 spring semester and be eligible to play football in the 2018 season.
Matukewicz was unable to comment on Chisom's status as an unsigned recruit, per NCAA rules.