SportsAugust 31, 2015
SEMO football preview: Establishing traditions important but challenging for Matukewicz
"We're trying to create traditions that we can celebrate, look forward to when guys come back and they talk about those type of traditions," Matukewicz said.
Tom Matukewicz doesn't know where the Southeast Missouri State football program will be a decade from now.
He can only dream about what the Redhawks will be like in 2025.
There are dreams of an abundance of on-field success, dreams that there will be a fanbase revitalized by an intriguing gameday experience and dreams that there are customs in place that keep past players, who are invested in families and careers, interested in the program as well.
Some of these traditions were instituted last year -- Matukewicz's first at the helm of the program -- and the Redhawks coach is continuing to push for more.
"We're trying to create traditions that we can celebrate, look forward to when guys come back and they talk about those type of traditions," Matukewicz said. "It's what separates us and makes us unique. Some of the traditions help engage the community or the students or whatever. The biggest thing is you don't want to 10 years down the road be wildly successful and we haven't started any of these traditions and they haven't grown for 10 years."
The Redhawks' 41-84 record over the last 10 years is one hurdle that Matukewicz faces. Southeast was 5-7 last year -- the second best record in the last decade behind the 2010 Ohio Valley Conference championship team -- and improving upon that is the clear cut way to fill Houck Stadium and boost the fan interaction for which Matukewicz yearns.
"What happens when we kick the ball off or third down cheers or when we score -- things like that are things that are hard to do when you're this bad for this long," Matukewicz said. "You've got to have a winning team to get a gameday experience kind of up and going."
Starting over
From the moment he was announced as the team's coach on Dec. 18, 2013, Matukewicz began installing his traditions for the program, beginning with the "Brick by Brick" motto.
Shortly after he began to set into motion the Redhawk Walk, when the team treks through campus and past Houck Stadium and into the locker room two hours prior to kickoff.
"I mean every coach, and this is any sport, all have their own style about them and their own things that they're focused on, and this is definitely something that Coach Tuke feels is important towards growing the program," Southeast assistant director of athletics for external affairs Nate Saverino said. "Growing the football program, but also it's kind of an interesting position with football -- it really kind of sets the tone for the rest of the year. Coach Tuke is definitely a team player, and so he wants to build that tradition and build that experience up because it really kind of sets the table for all the rest of our sports as well and it kind of has a trickle-down effect."
Saverino and Phillip Lady, coordinator of marketing and promotions, meet with Matukewicz periodically to discuss his vision.
"After he had the chance to get through recruiting his first year he brought to the table a number of ideas -- things like the Redhawk Walk -- things that he wanted to start instituting as a way to kind of build that experience for our student-athletes and for our fans," Saverino said.
A handful of team traditions already have been implemented by Matukewicz. One is "The Brickyard," which he first spoke of following his team's defeat of Tennessee State last season, which was its second win over a ranked Football Championship Subdivision opponent last year. A brick will be added to the Brickyard, a "graveyard" for Top 25 teams or Football Bowl Subdivision teams, in the team's locker room.
Other customs he's added are a senior spotlight each Friday night prior to games where a senior gets a chance to "tell their story" to their teammates as well as a team book read. The team read "The Traveler's Gift" by Andy Andrews last fall and read Jon Gordon's "The Carpenter" this fall. The team was divided into eight groups with a member of the leadership council -- another concept that came with Matukewicz -- guiding their group, which presented a chapter or two to the rest of the team.
The next step is to extend traditions outside of the locker room and include students and spectators and draw them into the stadium.
Filling the stands
Jacob Haun, a 2013 Southeast graduate, was a hall director at Mississippi State last year and said that student attendance at athletic events is a "hot topic" in student affairs across the country.
Haun frequented Redhawks athletics events as a student, as well as Bulldogs games last year, and remembers athletic department staff members speaking to the Student Government Association and Residence Hall Association at Southeast to figure out how to get more students in the stands.
Although admission for students is free with their student ID, Haun believes that part of the problem is that there are so many other things that students are interested in that athletics isn't always their first choice for a weekend activity.
It also doesn't help that the Redhawks have had just one winning season in the last decade.
"Some people that did go to games were truly put off by the fact that a lot of our athletic teams just weren't that good," Haun said. "I remember my freshman year we went 3-9 in football and we lost to a school that hadn't won a game in three years, so I think when the team level is down it's really hard to get pumped up about things."
He was a sophomore during Southeast's Ohio Valley Conference championship season in 2010, which saw a drastic spike in attendance.
Southeast averaged 8,342 fans in five home games during the 2010 season, including a record crowd of 11,126 against UT Martin. The Redhawks drew an average crowd of 5,337 during six home games the following year when they went 3-8. They drew 5,477 over five home games in 2012 when they again went 3-8 and 4,165 in five home games in 2013 as they finished 3-9 in Tony Samuel's final season at the helm.
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Southeast averaged 5,189 fans in six home games last year.
"It's my job, it's Phil's job to take the wins and losses out of it as much as possible and make sure that everybody's having a good time," Saverino said.
Haun said there was a handful of students that were staples at games in 2010 and were the ones that led any specific cheers from the crowd. Matukewicz aims for a student section -- and ultimately an entire stadium -- that is raucous and willing to participate in coordinated cheers.
Haun believes part of the challenge is having students willing to lead the section that fully understand the game and believes recruiting some students for the position as a liaison between the crowd and the department could be beneficial.
He also noted that at Mississippi State a pep rally aptly named "Cowbell Yell" is held to "get the students riled up." Each team is in attendance along with the band and the cheers are designated and taught for the upcoming seasons.
In addition to in-game excitement, Southeast fans are encouraged to begin tailgating on Bellevue Street near the stadium 2 1/2 hours prior to kickoff.
Saverino said that the department continues to meet with members of the student government "to encourage student organizations to play a role in kind of that pregame atmosphere on Bellevue where the Redhawk Walk comes by, so trying to designate some space for our students and limit those barriers of entry so all they have to do is show up and they've got a place where they can hang out, maybe cook up some hot dogs, whatever they want to do and be right in the middle of all that action on gameday so that a football gameday is a gameday experience -- it's not just the three hours from kickoff until the clock hits zero."
Athletes as advocates
Matukewicz added that this year he wants students in attendance to join the team in their "lock and rock." The players link arms and sway back and forth before charging onto the field. Children already join them for this and run across the turf.
"Because the lock and rock, probably first did it 15 years ago, but it's a symbolism of being all together," Matukewicz said. "You lock because if one goes down you still have the formation. Back in the Roman Empire days all the armor had hooks so you'd actually hook into each other so that's kind of where that all goes. We want to engage. We are apart of the student fanbase. We want them to be with that."
Another tactic to drive the student population into the stands is having football players wear shirts during the week leading up to a home game acknowledging that the Redhawks will be at Houck that weekend.
The athletics department planned to hold a T-shirt swap near the beginning of the school year for students to bring a shirt from any other school and exchange it for a Southeast T-shirt.
"To encourage our student-athletes we really tell them that they are their best advocate on campus, so they kind of develop connections in the classroom and to invite fellow students out to the game," Saverino said.
Haun agreed that a critical student affairs principle that he's seen applied in athletics is a personal investment from the department and teams.
"The relationship has to be real, and I think it has to exist outside of Houck Field or in the Show Me Center -- so making relationships with players that are personable, having players that people want to be a part of [the program] because I'll be honest in saying prior to Coach Tuke's leadership there were kind of some bad eggs on the SEMO football team and there were some bad eggs on the SEMO basketball team prior to kind of Dickey Nutt coming in and changing some things around," Haun said. "They were people that you didn't want to spend time with, they were kind of rough and they were rude to students, and students didn't want to have that personal relationship. They want to feel like they are a part of this Southeast athletics community."
Saverino expressed the desire to give fans an "up-close" look at the players and coaches and allow them to be accessible to fans.
Some fans can't get much closer with a rare feature at Southeast -- end zone tailgating.
"It's a really neat thing that offers a unique experience for our fans and because of that exclusivity it's really a win-win for us too because we're able to encourage folks to kind of get invested in our athletics program, join the Redhawks Club at a level that can really help make a difference for our athletics department," Saverino said.
Redhawks Club members who make a donation of $1,000 a year are eligible for season tickets and parking in the East End Zone. Saverino said there's a waitlist for front-row spots.
Matukewicz loves that the Redhawks have that entity but strongly believes that more steps need to be taken to improve it.
"You wish you had a nice name for that because that is extremely unique," Matukewicz said. "Nowhere probably in the country can you tailgate that close to the playing surface. That's something we need to continue to build on tradition-wise and make that even bigger and better."
Haun believes that Matukewicz's efforts aren't for naught and said he's noticed from afar a shift around the athletic department since he was hired.
"As we're able to enhance that experience for our fans our hope is that we have people in the seats, we have tremendous community support," Saverino said. "I mean, the potential's there in Cape Girardeau and our surrounding area. I think we saw it in 2010 when we had that championship run. So the potential's there, I think people just want to know that we have good people in place, which we definitely do, and just want to see a little bit more success."
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