Pinkel's best route off hot seat may be setting quarterback Smith loose

The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks aren't the only college football team in the state that will be trying to bounce back from a disappointing season this year.

Several hours to the north, plenty of eyes are focused on what is happening in Columbia as Gary Pinkel attempts to get the Missouri Tigers program back on track.

Word is that Pinkel -- who seemed to have the Tigers' turned around two years ago -- once again will allow quarterback Brad Smith to use his marvelous all-around talents instead of trying to turn him into a pocket passer.

That in itself would certainly give the Tigers a fighting chance at a solid season, because while MU's defense was greatly improved last year, the Tigers' offense sputtered much of the campaign. Not coincidentally, Smith had his worst overall statistical season since bursting onto the college football scene as a dazzling freshman in 2002.

When Division I-AA Southeast struggles, a few thousand fans in this area and maybe some alumni in St. Louis are dismayed.

But when mighty Mizzou flounders, virtually the entire state is upset, not to mention alumni living across the country.

It's no wonder Pinkel is on a serious hot seat entering the 2005 campaign. Unleashing Smith sure can't hurt the coach's cause.

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While Southeast's football team still has just under two weeks to go before its season opener -- Sept. 1 at home against Southern Illinois -- the university's volleyball and soccer squads both start play in less than a week.

The volleyball Redhawks begin something of a new era, as former assistant Renata Nowacki takes over the program from longtime coach Cindy Gannon, who moved into a full-time administrative role at the university.

Southeast plays its first matches Saturday at the Clarion Hotel Invitational in Springfield, Mo., facing St. Louis University and Arkansas-Little Rock.

The following day, the Redhawks will be a part of history as they take on host Missouri State in the university's first athletic contest under that name, having made the switch from Southwest Missouri State.

Coach Heather Nelson, who started Southeast's women's soccer program, begins her seventh season Friday against Gardner-Webb in the Austin Peay Tournament.

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I've given Miles Smith plenty of props in this column over the past few months -- and deservedly so -- for his sensational exploits in track and field.

Well, how about some more big-time kudos to the Southeast Missouri State standout, as he earned a gold medal last weekend by helping the United States win the 1,600-meter relay at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.

I'm still not sure people around here realize just what kind of an accomplishment that was, along with his finishing sixth in the 400 meters at last month's USA Championships to make the U.S. world track and field team.

That sixth-place performance was not against fellow collegiate runners; it came primarily against professionals in an event that the U.S. dominates on the world stage. Likewise, most of the top athletes at the World Championships were also pros.

Amazing, to say the least. And here's wishing Smith continued success as he enters his junior year at Southeast.

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Johnny Hill, the highly touted basketball player from Vashon High School in St. Louis who signed with Southeast, is showing quite a commitment to and trust in the Redhawks' program.

Hill, the leader on a Vashon team that was nationally ranked the past two years and captured a Missouri state championship during his junior season, did not qualify to play as a freshman under NCAA initial eligibility standards.

But Hill has still enrolled at Southeast and is scheduled to begin classes Monday, even though -- per NCAA regulations -- he cannot receive an athletic scholarship this year and won't be allowed to practice with the Redhawks.

Hill could have gone to a junior college or prep school in order to continue playing basketball this year, but instead he decided to stick with Southeast, much to the delight of Redhawks' coaches, who believe he could be one of their stars of the future.

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Brian Roth, one of the area's most passionate supporters of Southeast athletics and the leagues director at the Perry Park Center in Perryville, reports that the Southeast soccer and men's basketball camps held in Perryville this summer were again huge successes.

Brian told me that more than 125 youngsters participated in the camps, both instructed by the Southeast coaches and players. Every camper went home with a Redhawks T-shirt.

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They didn't do quite as well on the big stage as they would have liked, but major congratulations are still in order for two local youth teams that qualified for the most prestigious tournaments in their respective sports and age groups.

Jackson's 12-year-old baseball team made it to the Cal Ripken World Series in Aberdeen, Md., while the Heartland Nationals 12-and-under girls softball team advanced to the Babe Ruth World Series in Cherry Hill, N.J.

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While some of the division races aren't all that compelling, baseball has two fantastic wild card battles going, with all kinds of teams in the running for those playoff berths.

Some people don't like the wild card, but it sure adds tons of excitement. Let's face it, without the wild card, there would be a lot of boring late-season baseball.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.