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Thursday, August 31, 2017
Jesse Hosket has always possessed the physical tools that are necessary to succeed at the Division I level.
At 6-foot-3, 223 pounds, Hosket's size fits the prototype of the quarterback position, and there isn't a throw on the football field he can't make.
But what Hosket has built over the years -- the driving force throughout his playing career -- goes beyond his raw talent.
Ever since he graduated from a small high school in French Camp, Mississippi, Hosket has carried a chip on his shoulder. He led his high school team to back-to-back state championship games, the latter of which he won, but wasn't a highly-sought recruit, so he was forced to go the junior college route.
Hosket played for two different junior colleges on his journey toward becoming the starting QB on the Southeast Missouri State football team. Now a senior, he's one of just four returning starters on offense heading into the 2017 season, which begins at 6 p.m. Saturday on the road against Football Bowl Subdivision opponent Kansas.
Coming off a 2016 campaign in which he started all 11 games for the Redhawks and was an Ohio Valley Conference all-newcomer selection, Hosket will spend his final college season trying to extend his accomplishments on the field. In doing so, he'll lean on the intangibles that have guided him to this decisive moment.
"I think what makes him good is his work ethic," Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz said. "He details his preparation. You're not going to catch him off guard. He's tough. He's going to make plays just on his toughness, but he's also extremely talented. He literally can make every throw that the NFL makes or that we ask him to make."
Early days down south
Southeast Missouri State's Jesse Hosket
Laura Simon
Football has always been part of Hosket's life. He grew to adore the sport at a very young age, running through drills in the yard with his father, Bruce, who was a high school football coach.
Hosket was raised in French Camp, Mississippi, a rural community resting in the heart of the state with a population of less than 200. He attended French Camp Academy, and during his time, he participated in three sports -- football, basketball and baseball. The latter two, however, were just an outlet for his competitive nature.
"Football was all I could think about. I love it," Hosket said. "... That's a highlight in the fall season, football. Everybody enjoys coming together as a community and supporting the team, and that's why I think the younger guys there grew up to fall in love with that sport because of how much the community enjoys it, the entertainment on Friday nights."
Hosket started for French Camp's junior high team, but by the eighth grade, he was already a varsity starter. During that season, Hosket was expected to be the backup, but the team's previous starter didn't return.
For Hosket, it was the first of five seasons as a varsity starter.
"We were a very traditional-style offense. We had some great (running) backs," Hosket said. "As a young kid, I checked some run plays and handed the ball off a lot and was able to make some plays passing as well. But I was put into that role as a very young person."
Hosket's father was French Camp's offensive coordinator. He ran a run-heavy, power-based attack that utilized the team's talent in the backfield. As Hosket grew, the Panthers' offense evolved around him; the system grew in complexity. Hosket was given more control with each passing season, but even in the eighth grade, Hosket's arm strength was already an asset.
Southeast Missouri State quarterback Jesse Hosket delivers a pass to Tremane McCullough against Austin Peay during the first quarter Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016 at Houck Stadium.
Fred Lynch
In the summer leading up to his junior year, Hosket broke his finger while out on the lake, forcing him to miss some time under center. He played only defense until he was cleared to return to his starting QB role at the start of division play.
With a stout defense and a skilled group of running backs, French Camp won 11 games and made its first appearance in the Class 1A state championship game on Nov. 30, 2012, in Jackson, Mississippi.
Facing a 20-17 deficit against Stringer Attendance Center in the final minutes, Hosket and the Panthers had possession and were in pursuit of the game-winning score, but all hope of winning the program's first state title came to abrupt halt when Hosket's pass was intercepted.
"That drive ended with my mistake, and that picture was left in my mind all offseason," Hosket said. "I was playing with my brother, who was a senior that year, and I felt as if I let him and my dad and my whole community down. It was our first time, and with it ending that way, having that responsibility, it really made me grow as a man because that next year was all I could think about."
That experience motivated the young gunslinger, who enjoyed a breakout campaign as a senior in 2013. Hosket started all 16 games and completed 158 of 252 passes (62.7 percent) for 2,423 yards, with 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
More importantly, he guided French Camp back to the Class 1A final, defeating the top-ranked team in the state along the way. On Dec. 6, 2013, Hosket threw for 187 yards and ran for a touchdown, as the Panthers defeated Smithville 27-6 to claim the first state title in program history. Against a grueling stretch in the early portion of its schedule, French Camp started the season 0-4 but won 11 of its final 12 games of the year.
"For the community, it was huge just for people to see what we went through the year before because they felt hurt, too. They knew we were a better football team, and they wanted that opportunity to bring that championship back to French Camp because that's a huge thing," Hosket said. "It's incredible when you think of a rural town of 250 people and the amount of people that would show up to our football games. Those playoff games, it was three or four thousand folks. People wanted to watch because we were the only team in the area left playing, and people would show up."
Southeast Missouri State quarterback Jesse Hosket throws a pass during a scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017 at Houck Stadium.
Fred Lynch
JUCO shuffle
Upon graduating, Hosket received a number of college offers, but none of them lived up to what he expected. With hopes of reaching the Division I level, he turned down a handful of Division II offers and instead opted to take the JUCO route at Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Mississippi.
Jon Williams was the coach at Itawamba who heavily recruited Hosket to join the program, but just as Hosket was arriving at the school, Williams departed to take a job as assistant head coach and director of player personnel at Southern Miss. As Hosket describes it, "things got swapped up," and the opportunity to play as a freshman never presented itself.
"Having to sit on the bench that year really humbled me, and I don't think I was prepared to play in that kind of system yet," Hosket said. "I think I had the raw skills and talent to do it, but I don't think I was mentally ready for it. ... I was broken. I'm not going to lie. It hurt. I'd been a starter since I was an eighth-grader in high school, and all of a sudden, I was sitting on a bench. It was painful."
Southeast Missouri State's Jesse Hosket
Laura Simon
Coming out of high school, Hosket had also been offered by East Central Community College in Decatur, Mississippi, and was familiar with coach Ken Karcher. He recalls admiring Karcher's high level of character, and in an effort to find a place where he felt wanted, Hosket transferred to ECCC following the Christmas break and worked with the team throughout the spring.
"My heart just really needed it at that time, that kind of structure and character in a man, to lead me. ... I can't even tell you the amount that I benefited from being under Karcher and the amount of stuff I learned -- football schemes, defensive strategy," Hosket said. "The amount of material I picked up there and how organized the learning process was helped me to develop extremely as a quarterback."
In his lone season with the Warriors, Hosket guided the program to its best season in 16 years, completing 117 of 191 passes (61.3 percent) for 1,504 yards and 16 TDs. ECCC ended the 2015 campaign with an 8-3 record and finished ranked No. 10 in the National Junior College Athletic Association Top 20 poll.
The highlight of the season came on Dec. 5, 2015, when ECCC defeated Kilgore College (Texas) in a 35-21 decision in the C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl.
And in the week leading up to that game, Hosket made his way onto the radar of one program in particular. A Division I school in Southeast Missouri was in pursuit of his services.
Landing at SEMO
It was a rainy day in early December 2015, and the Warriors were practicing to prepare for the Heart of Texas Bowl.
A number of college coaches were on hand to observe ECCC's potential recruits, with most of the schools in the Southeastern Conference represented. The rain forced the coaches to watch from the press box, but not Redhawks assistant head coach Ricky Coon.
"I'm down on the field in my rain jacket, standing near him and listening to him command the huddle," Coon said. "I was just trying to get a good evaluation because there's so much more to being a quarterback than just being able to throw the ball and do those things.
Southeast Missouri's quarterback Jesse Hosket (4) throws a pass during the first half of Saturday's game at Roy Stewart in Murray, Kentucky. The Redhawks won 17-16.
Ryan Hermens ~ The Sun
"I tried to just listen to him as a leader, and he was ripping the ball in the rain. That told me he could throw good enough. He made all the throws. That was really impressive for me, and I think it was impressive for him because there were so many other coaches in the press box trying to stay dry. Here I was down there trying to get a real evaluation because that's kind of what we believe in."
Hosket had spoken to Matukewicz on the phone but didn't initially think much about his offer from Southeast. He had been communicating with LSU coaches, and at the time, he wasn't considering his full array of options.
But when offers from bigger schools never materialized, Hosket made a call to Matukewicz to check on his previous offer, picking the Redhawks over West Texas A&M.
"I knew his junior college coach really well, and then all of a sudden, I got a phone call from him," Matukewicz said. "It was late in the process. He said, 'Coach, I want to be a Redhawk,' so he committed sight unseen. We took him sight unseen. Obviously we knew a lot about him. Really, the first time we met, we met his family. We just knew right away that he is tough and he knows how to work, just from how he was raised. He thought Missouri was up in Alaska or something. He wasn't exactly sure how far we were away."
"I remember I called another coach at a bigger school and said, 'What do you think about me walking on?' His advice to me was, 'Go where they want you,' and that really just struck home with me," Hosket said. "I wanted to go where someone was going to respect me and my talents and be able to want to use me on the field. In the end, that's why I decided to go to SEMO."
Upon signing, Hosket arrived in Cape Girardeau in time to participate in spring drills. He quickly worked his way into the two-deep and spent the offseason engaging in a quarterback battle with reigning OVC Freshman of the Year Dante Vandeven, a Jackson High School graduate who burst onto the scene in 2015.
Less than two weeks before SEMO's season opener at Memphis, Hosket surprised many by winning the starting job.
Southeast Missouri State quarterback Jesse Hosket looks for a receiver during a scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017 at Houck Stadium.
Fred Lynch
"I think the main thing that made me successful in that competition was I'd been in that situation before. ... This was my third time coming to a new place competing for a job, and really the biggest thing in my mind competing for that job was ultimately the coaches decided who they're putting in," Hosket said. "My main goal was that I was going to work to please my coaches in everything I can possibly do. Luckily they were able to see through, and they gave me an opportunity. I was surprised. I'm not going to lie. I felt like we both had good fall camps that year, and I was surprised when they called my number at the beginning of the season."
"He outworked his competition," Matukewicz said. "There's just something to be said for showing up every day and getting it on. Not everybody can do that, you can tell. Some people aren't here anymore because they don't know how to work. That's what he did on a daily basis."
Hosket went on to start all 11 games for the Redhawks in 2016, but the growing pains were evident. He threw for 2,332 yards, completing 178 of 356 passes (50 percent), and had 11 TDs and seven interceptions.
Southeast failed to hone its consistency and stumbled to a 3-8 record, but the team was competitive, dropping five of its eight losses by one possession.
Perhaps more importantly, the Redhawks got to retain their quarterback for the 2017 season, something the program hasn't done in six years.
Husband and leader
Southeast Missouri State quarterback Jesse Hosket throws the ball during practice Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016 at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex.
Trent Singer
Away from the football field, Hosket can usually be found outside. He loves hunting and woodworking, building anything from swings and tables to farm furniture. He's also a married man.
Hosket had known of his future wife, Carlin, his whole life, but it wasn't until his sophomore year of high school that they began to get to know each other on a more personal level. They began dating, and as their relationship began to get more serious, Jesse, who was a grade ahead, eventually left for college.
"I just always knew she was going to be my wife," Hosket said.
On May 14, 2016, that day came, as Jesse and Carlin Hosket were married.
"She's just an awesome woman," Hosket said. "Her maturity level is incredible. I just think about how much she sacrificed for us to come up here. For me to be able to play this sport, she's given up a family and a free education, and she comes up here to work at a boutique every day. The sacrifices she's made just kind of shows her maturity level and who she is as a woman."
Similar things can be said about the quarterback.
"When I grow up, I want to be like Jesse Hosket," Matukewicz said. "He's more mature than I am. I'm a grown-ass man with two kids and a mortgage. He is a committed husband, and it's fun to watch and observe. But it's also a concern because he's so much different than a lot of our players. ... He's not hanging with them a lot like some of the younger players, so he's got to consistently make sure he's investing in his teammates also off the field even though he's so unlike them."
Southeast Missouri State quarterback Jesse Hosket throws a pass against Indiana State's Kenyota Rollins during the second quarter Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016 at Houck Stadium.
Fred Lynch
Comfort has been the primary aid in Hosket's development in SEMO's offense. He's not thinking as much, and he's able to grasp things with more cohesion.
With Hosket back for his second year as a Redhawk, offensive coordinator Jon Wiemers said the playbook has expanded tremendously, as well as Hosket's ability to create when the play breaks down.
"That's one huge element for a quarterback," Wiemers said. "It's not always going to be picture-perfect, so I think his ability to create in a bad situation has gotten a lot better than last year. Some stuff would break down last year, and he just wasn't comfortable in the offense or wasn't experienced enough or maybe wasn't quite fast enough. He's really improved in all of those."
Much of SEMO's success in 2017 will hinge on Hosket, who's one of only three returning starting QBs in the OVC. He understands the pressure, but it's nothing he hasn't experienced before.
With his final season hanging in the balance, Hosket's determined to show that toughness and hard work can go a long way toward leaving behind a legacy.
"This is my last shot, and I think that great players, when they get their last shot, they make it happen," Hosket said. "That's what we're really striving to do here at SEMO, especially on offense. There are several older guys -- this is their last go-around.
"I want to go out and leave a legacy. This whole team wants to leave a legacy. We want to be known as winners."
Southeast Missouri State offensive coordinator Jon Wiemers talks with quarterback Jesse Hosket during practice Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016, at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex.
Trent Singer
