Redhawk FB recruiting faces a new reality

This is the first of a series of stories on the Southeast Missouri State football recruiting class of 2024

Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz, now entering his 11th season with the program, gave his annual press conference on National Signing Day on Tuesday, and like every college football coach across America, he expressed an air of optimism.

“This is a big day,” Matukewicz said. “There was a lot of work involved. A normal recruiting process is at least a year. We have been working on this class since January.”

The Redhawks signed 20 student-athletes for their 2024 recruiting class, and those players came from a dozen different states.

Matukewicz didn’t say this, but also like every other college football coach on Tuesday, he could have, when asked about specific players rising to stardom, the fact is that of the 20 future Redhawks, a couple will evolve into stars, but probably not for two more seasons, a handful will be solid to good, a few will be athletic disappointments, and the remaining number probably won’t even be with the program by 2025.

The same as every other college football program in America.

What Matukewicz did say, however, is that moving forward, recruiting at SEMO is going to need to be markedly different if the university leadership wants to see the type of success that his program has achieved in recent seasons.

“This has been my second year,” Matukewicz said, “of reading how things have changed. The cost of attendance (and) the NIL has changed everything.”

What Matukewicz is referring to is the fact that college athletics now doesn’t have restrictions on compensating student-athletes financially, and college sports don’t even have a salary cap.

“Even the NFL has (financial) rules,” Matukewicz lamented.

Here is the crux of the matter.

It has become incredibly expensive to field a college football or men’s basketball program, rising from very expensive beforehand. And Southeast Missouri State University and its following (i.e. donors) have limited financial resources.

“SEMO has never been fully funded in football,” Matukewicz explained of the ability to fund athletic scholarships within his program.

“The problem is,” Matukewicz continued, “now the NCAA has taken off the (salary) cap. Everybody else is up here (as he held his hand high) and we haven’t done that.”

So, how does this translate to Tuesday?

Matukewicz explained that FCS programs such as Southern Illinois and Missouri State have “collectives,” which are financial pools where people have contributed money to divide up among the student-athletes, “and (SEMO) has $0,” according to Matukewicz.

“If that is what you are looking for, then you need to find another place.”

He told of one prospect who signed with Southern Illinois, and “didn’t take a visit here, because the money wasn’t close.”

“We lost out on kids to those guys because of the collectives, because of the money,” Matukewicz explained. “We have a great brand that sells in living rooms. We have a lot of momentum. But at the end of the day, we’re not (a financially strong) program yet.

“We have to count on doing a great job of evaluating. We can’t beat SIU or Missouri State on a kid unless, as history has proven, something is a little different.”

From a personal standpoint, Matukewicz asked himself if he wanted to continue coaching in this new world, but the bigger question was for the university, not him.

“We have to decide where we are on it,” Matukewicz said. “It’s changing times. The cost of poker to get into this game is no longer the same. It’s do or don’t, and it doesn’t matter what your feelings are about it.

“Don’t play the game. But if you want to play the game, it’s going to cost more than it has ever cost. And where is that money coming from?”