Partridge sees a good fit

Jerry Partridge believes he was born to be a football coach -- and he wants to make his next stop Southeast Missouri State.

Partridge, the head coach at Division II Missouri Western State University the past nine years, was the second finalist for the vacant Southeast coaching position brought to campus for a series of interviews on Wednesday.

Partridge met with various Southeast administrators early in the day, followed by a mid-afternoon public forum at the University Center that was attended by Southeast football players, boosters and media members.

"My father was a high school coach for 30 years. That's who I am, who I was going to be," Partridge said. "I have a good team coming back [at Missouri Western], but I'm very interested in this job. I think it's very, very attractive.

"I talked to a rival coach [of Southeast's] who said there is some talent here and this is a very good job. I have no idea what the problem is, but I do know Tim Billings is a great coach."

Billings resigned after going 25-43 in six seasons at Southeast, including 2-9 this year. He and Partridge worked together on the University of Missouri staff in 1987, when Patridge served as a graduate assistant.

"I don't know [about what happened under Billings], but I know Tim brings in good athletes," Partridge said.

Patridge, 42, has a nine-year record of 62-40 at Missouri Western, including a 52-28 mark over the past seven seasons. He needs three more victories to become the all-time winningest football coach at the university located in St. Joseph, Mo.

Missouri Western, which went 9-3 this year, has won a school-record nine games twice under Partridge, and in 2003 the Griffons captured their first-ever conference football title by winning the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

"He's won over 60 percent of his games in what I consider to be one of the best Division II conferences in the country," said Southeast athletic director Don Kaverman, who as the former athletic director at Missouri Western was primarily responsible for hiring Partridge.

"There are quite a few schools in that league with facilities better than his, and budgets bigger than his. The thing that impressed me with Jerry is he has been able to consistently win, even though his facilities and budget are not the best."

Without getting into the specifics of where Southeast might rank in the Ohio Valley Conference in terms of facilities or budget, Partridge said having to make do with less at Missouri Western should help him if he is hired to coach the Redhawks.

"At Missouri Western we were eighth or ninth in budget and eighth or ninth in facilities [in the MIAA]. We got it done. We have done very well in what is probably the toughest Division II league in the country," he said. "I'm not accustomed to having the most.

"I personally think a Division II head coach is best for these jobs, rather than a Division I-A assistant, because in Division II, a lot of time you don't have the resources, and you still have to make it work."

Partridge, a three-year letterwinner at defensive back at Missouri Western from 1981 to 1984, served as a graduate assistant at Notre Dame in 1988, when the Irish won the national championship.

In addition, Partridge has some experience within the OVC, having been an assistant at Austin Peay at 1990 and an assistant at Murray State in 1996.

"I was at Austin Peay when they went 0-11 and at Murray State when they went 11-0, so I've been on both ends," he said.

Partridge is a Missouri native, having grown up in the Kansas City suburb of Grandview. He said his recruiting philosophy centers around freshmen, and also around Missouri.

"We're going to recruit the four-year kid first, build from the basement up," he said. "We want to recruit within this area first, the state of Missouri. We have a lot of St. Louis players. We have recruited Kansas City heavily. We also have gone into Arkansas and Florida."

Partridge said he is a defensive-minded coach who first and foremost believes in a physical style of play on both sides of the ball -- and he is a stickler for special teams, an area that particularly plagued Southeast this year.

"We are going to outhit our opponent. We're going to recruit that way," he said. "We're going to control the line of scrimmage. I believe Missouri Western was the most physical team in the country in Division II this year.

"Mental toughness is also so important, as are fundamentals. We're going to practice fundamentals when we're tired. And turnovers are so important. In my nine years [at Missouri Western], I don't know that we've even been minus in turnovers."

Missouri Western was plus nine in turnover margin this year.

Defensively, Partridge -- who coaches the linebackers at Missouri Western -- said he places a premium on speed, as do most coaches. The Griffons allowed solid averages of 319.9 yards and 19.5 points per game this year.

"We want to run," he said.

Offensively, Partridge said he seeks balance between the run and pass. The 2005 Griffons averaged 398.4 yards and 28.7 points per game. They averaged 204.1 yards on the ground, led by 1,800-yard rusher Jeremiah White.

"The run/pass ratio will vary depending on what we have, but we strive for balance," Partridge said.

As for special teams, Patridge -- who coaches the Griffons' punt unit -- said, "When I was told that special teams was a problem [at Southeast], that excited me. We will make great improvement. We were No. 1 in the MIAA in net punting."

Partridge said having a strong, consistent coaching staff is vital, and he would hope to bring all of his assistants with the Griffons to Cape Girardeau if he is hired. His offensive coordinator has been with him all nine years at Missouri Western, while his defensive coordinator has been with him the past five years.

"I can't tell you how good our staff is," he said. "Our retention has been good. You want your staff to hang around."

Partridge, asked about the fact that four Southeast players were recently charged with the ambush beating of two Southeast students at a fraternity party early this month, said he did not know enough about the case to comment directly.

But Partridge did add, "You can't have happen what happened. I don't care who's at fault."

As for what it will take to turn the Southeast football program around, Partridge said there are no magic formulas.

"It's just hard work, and every day try to get better," he said.

A third finalist for the Southeast coaching position, Purdue assistant Tony Samuel, will be in Cape Girardeau today, with a public forum set for from 3 to 4 p.m in the Indian Room at the University Center. Samuel is a former head coach at New Mexico State.

The first finalist, Division II Washburn (Kan.) University head coach Craig Schurig, was in town on Friday.

Kaverman said Southeast may or may not bring in an additional finalist early next week.

"After coach Samuel comes in, we'll determine whether we have somebody in this group that we want to recommend," said Kaverman, who after consulting with the search committee that he is chairing will make a recommendation on a new coach to Southeast president Ken Dobbins. "If we feel we need to look further into our pool of candidates, we will."