Little glamour, lots of work involved by SEMO coaches in building the Redhawks' future

Southeast Missouri State freshman quarterback Jalyn Williams (1) prepares for a snap during a recent practice at Houck Stadium.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

When the Southeast Missouri State football squad runs onto the Houck Stadium turf Saturday at 6 p.m. to open the Ohio Valley Conference portion of its season, there will be pulsating music, fireworks, and thousands of Redhawk fans screaming in its support.

The glamorous side of being involved in college football will be on full display.

The same can’t be said for when Southeast offensive line coach Ben Blake slumbered through a near-empty Midway Airport in Chicago following a long flight from Houston last Friday morning.

It was just after midnight when Blake landed (there were no fireworks or music playing for him). He picked up a rental car and found his way to his hotel by 1:30 a.m. (it was his fourth night of five days of sleeping away from home), before awaking on four-plus hours of sleep.

“I got up and was at Simeon High School at 7:20 (in the morning),” Blake said. “You can do the math there.”

The UN-glamorous side of being involved in college football was on full display as Blake spent five days away from his wife, Alyssa, and his four-year-old daughter, Gracie.

Blake visited five Texas junior colleges and five Chicago-area high schools over five days and he wasn’t alone in his effort or sacrificing for the good of the program, as 10 Southeast assistant coaches hit the road Monday and didn’t return to Cape Girardeau until Saturday. The group was selling the prospect of being a Redhawk to student-athletes in high schools and junior colleges from Texas to Chicago and nine states in all.

“It’s good,” Southeast wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator Justin Drudik said of the program’s reception among junior colleges and high school programs. “We’ve been going into the same areas for the last six years now with (Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz). So they know us.”

Southeast Missouri State offensive line coach Ben Blake

Six of the Southeast coaches paired up offensively and defensively and went to the same places.

Drudik paired with inside linebackers coach Tyler French and went to Iowa and Kansas junior colleges, while defensive line coach Jerone Williams and running backs coach Brandon Jackson hit Mississippi junior colleges and Memphis high schools.

Redhawk special teams and outside linebackers coach Matt Martin teamed with offensive coordinator Jeromy McDowell and traveled to Kansas and Oklahoma junior colleges, while tight ends coach Joe Uhls (St. Louis high schools), defensive coordinator Bryce Saia (Mississippi junior colleges), and defensive backs coach Ray Smith (Georgia high schools) also scoured areas in search of talent.

“(Matukewicz) has recruited junior colleges before,” Drudik said of the strategy, “coach Saia has, coach Martin has, so they know us and they know our brand.”

And following the Redhawks’ nine-win season in 2018 and the FCS Playoff appearance, the recruits have an appreciation for the success of the program.

“When they know the (Redhawk) logo that makes a huge difference,” Drudik said. “And then winning helped. Winning makes a big difference.”

Southeast Missouri State wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator Justin Drudik

The Southeast staff has tapped into St. Louis for obvious reasons, but they have also had a lot of success in Louisville and Memphis.

Just over a year ago, Matukewicz gave Drudik the responsibility for growing relationships in the Nashville area and so he spent his final day on the road in that city visiting five high schools and watching a game.

“In Nashville,” Drudik said, “the whole (Ohio Valley Conference) is in there. There is a lot of battling there, so you have to figure out who kind of fits your system.”

In the 2019 recruiting class, the Redhawks found three players (offensive linemen Damon Mixon and Chilton Tolliver, as well as freshman quarterback Jalyn Williams) from the state of Georgia, which Matukewicz wants Smith to dig deep into.

“They do a great job coaching (there),” Matukewicz said, “and it is year-round (football).”

Certain states such as Georgia, Florida, and Texas have spring football, in addition to fall seasons, so that extra work pays off for the athletes.

Williams is a long way from rising to the top of the depth chart over the three quarterbacks in front of him, but Matukewicz gave him a lot of reps in last week’s practices and he demonstrated why the coaches recruited him.

“He’s got an extremely strong arm,” Matukewicz said. “He’s athletic, not dynamic, but he is loose and athletic.”

Southeast added 30 players in the 2019 class, which includes walk-ons and scholarship players. It already has four verbal commitments in the 2020 class and spent this week extending offers to more following last week’s evaluations.

Matukewicz said his staff is “probably recruiting about 100 kids right now,” but he wants to “get to 75 or 50 quick.”

“I believe in live evaluations,” Matukewicz added. “I would probably look pretty solid on a Hudl highlight film. You have to see a player play live.

“Last week sort of confirmed or denied whether we want to recruit (a player).”