SEMO FB has gone from 'apathy' to acclaimed

The marketing campaign for season tickets for the 2023 edition of Southeast Missouri State football is in full swing on social media, and for fans of the sport in this region, it shouldn’t be a tough sell to ask people to come and watch one of the nation’s best teams.

“I feel like we can be,” 10th-year Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz said of being among the nation’s best teams. “And I’m going to be mad if we don’t.”

Athlon Sports has the Redhawks ranked ninth in its preseason poll, while CBS Sports has SEMO ranked 13th.

“I do think that if you are a top 10 program,” Matukewicz said, “then you have set yourself apart.”

To even contemplate his program as being among the nation’s elite, in some regards, is a tad unfathomable to Matukewicz, who labored through four losing seasons in a row to start his tenure in Cape Girardeau.

“When I got here,” Matukewicz said, “the number one issue facing SEMO Football was apathy. People just didn’t care, and you couldn’t blame them.

“How would you like to show up to a football game for 20 years to watch your team get their brains beat in?”

Matukewicz recalled a former SEMO football player wearing a University of Missouri shirt on campus and Matukewicz “got in his ass.”

The player responded to Matukewicz by explaining that people made fun of him when he wore SEMO gear around town.

“You talk about breaking my heart,” Matukewicz said.

That isn’t a problem today, as Matukewicz drives around Southeast Missouri in “Tuke’s truck,” which is adorned in SEMO colors and logos, and everyone in Cape Girardeau knows whose vehicle it is.

“In most programs,” Matukewicz said, “the athletes are making sure that everyone knows that they are a player. When I first got here, they would hide that fact.

“Now I have the other problems, where they can’t even fit their egos through the doorway.”

Matukewicz said the preseason national ranking is really reflective of the 2022 squad and has little to do with his current team. However, he is embracing the recognition and using it as motivation.

“I want to be a part of something like that,” Matukewicz said of being an elite program. “I’m going to do everything that I can to try and make that happen.

“But at the end of the year, to be in the top 10, you actually have to earn it. If we do finish in the top 10, that would be great, and that would be a milestone that not even I thought was possible.”

More recognition

Several of the Southeast Missouri State players were recently named to “The Bluebloods 2023 FCS Preseason All-American Team.”

Among the Redhawks honored were the 2022-23 Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year, running back Geno Hess.

Also being honored on the First Team were Zack Gieg (offensive line) and Lawrence Johnson (defensive back).

Making the Second Team was Ryan Flournoy (wide receiver) and Bryce Norman (linebacker).

In addition, Hess and Johnson were also named to the East-West Shrine Bowl Watch List for the annual all-star game, which will be played at the Dallas Cowboys facility in Frisco, Texas on February 1, 2024.

The Redhawks will open training camp at Rosengarten Athletic Complex on Aug. 2.