COACH'S VIEW: INDIANS MADE STRIDES, BUT THERE IS MUCH WORK TO BE DONE

I would like to thank the University administration, the booster club, student body and faculty for the support provided to this year's football team. Everyone in the community seemed to get behind the team and we had record crowds at our four home games. Our coaching staff and the players really appreciate the support.

Since we arrived here last January, I've seen our players develop a new attitude. They worked hard during the offseason and during the summer and they came back in the fall and played hard in every game.

I really think we've started to turn things around. I know we have stopped the downhill spiral and we are poised to get our program going in the right direction. We won three games this season, including two we weren't supposed to win, and we were in most of our games in the fourth quarter.

We are getting closer but we still aren't over the top. No one is happy with a 3-8 record. I do know that as a coaching staff we learned what we need to compete in the Ohio Valley Conference, which was a very tough league this fall.

Two OVC teams -- Western Kentucky and Eastern Illinois -- are in the I-AA playoffs and Tennessee Tech went 8-3 and just missed the playoffs. I think the OVC was better than the Gateway Conference this year and was stronger overall than in the past.

It is encouraging that we played with the top three teams in the league going into the fourth quarter. Now we just have to recruit players that will help us beat the top teams.

Our coaches are working hard at evaluating the just ended season. We evaluate our current players and our schedule, and we determine what needs to be done to turn the corner. As a staff, we will actually be working harder in the next few months than during the season as we find and recruit the players we need to make a difference.

The highlight of the season for me was playing with Marshall for a quarter and a half and then coming back to win two of the most thrilling games I've ever been involved in, victories at Southern Illinois and against nationally ranked Illinois State. The SIU and Illinois State games will always stand out in my memories.

After the two wins, we had some injuries, lost a couple of close games and just didn't have enough good players to overcome our troubles.

The biggest surprise to me was the outstanding support in the community and the attendance at our games. When I came here, everybody told me this was a basketball town and that our fans were complacent about the other sports.

That certainly isn't the case. This is a great sports town! I'm excited about the start of basketball season and I'm excited that our volleyball team is headed to the NCAA Tournament. All our teams can feed off each other. We all need to help make our individual programs better. This is a great sports community that deserves championship teams.

After all, isn't that what it is all about?

Tim Billings is the head football coach at Southeast Missouri State University