Southeast Missouri State football coach Matukewicz to conduct his first practice

It's expected that during spring football practices the players will be evaluated on their talent and offensive and defensive schemes will be implemented.

Both will obviously be necessary for first-year Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz to achieve during spring practices, but he's also focused on one larger goal when the Redhawks hold their first spring practice today.

"Right now we're trying to get a culture developed and the four foundations of our program is attitude, effort, discipline and growth, and so that's what I'm trying to get established ... that's the No. 1 thing," Matukewicz said.

Today's practice, which starts at 3:45 p.m. at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex, marks the first real opportunity Matukewicz and his staff will have to see their players.

Sure, they've watched some film and have seen them during workouts, but other than that it's going to be a fairly clean slate for the athletes.

"I don't work with them much, so until we get out there Tuesday, I don't really know what we have," Matukewicz said. "Tried not to judge them based on anything before I got here. I've watched a little bit of film, gotten an idea of some things, but really I'm going to let them rise or fall based on what they do for us."

The players already have had their commitment to their new coach's four foundations tested.

The Redhawks worked out on a snow-covered Houck Stadium field earlier this month. Matukewicz's program motto "Brick by Brick" was written in the snow.

"I went out there to check the field, ran on it a little bit and there was a little snow on there, but, you know, you've got to get out of your comfort zone a little bit," Southeast head strength and conditioning coach Ryan Johnson said. "I think the first drill we did they had to lay on their backs, so it kind of breaks the surface right there. It's really about having that attitude of 'It doesn't really matter what else is going on, like this is our objective for the day. Come out here, get your mind right and do what we ask you to do, and do it to the best of your abilities.' Getting them out of that comfort zone is definitely a good thing, and it just happened to be running in the snow that day."

Johnson, who has led the team through their offseason workouts, has noticed a difference in the players heading into the start of the spring practice under Matukewicz.

"I think the biggest thing is that they're excited, and I think they're proud now to be a part of this program," Johnson said. "I think there's a lot of guys that have really bought in, and they just kind of jumped in head first, and it's been really good. They've usually done a really good job of their enthusiasm and their energy when they're training and now that's just taken to a whole new level. ... They're excited to wear a T-shirt that says, 'Brick by brick,' and that's an awesome thing."

"They've bought in, but they're also seeing results," he added. "You know, we had a lot of really good, great performances in that offseason program, and we'll expect more from that during spring. And guys are excited to now get to play football."

The Redhawks will hold practices, which are open to the public, every Tuesday and Thursday at Rosengarten for the next five weeks, and will practice on Saturday mornings at Houck Stadium. The team's spring game April 26 will cap the spring schedule.

Matukewicz said there basically will be a battle at every position since he hasn't looked too much at what the players have done previously. He will keep a rep chart to track the performance of every player with the hopes of having a depth chart assembled by the end of the spring.

"That'd be kind of the goal of who we feel like can play and what roles everybody can have," Matukewicz said. "Not everybody can be the starting quarterback, but you can add value to our program, somehow, some way, and it's our job to put you in that role and it's your job to accept that role and buy into that role, and that's what makes team-building hard, because everyone wants to be the quarterback. I wish I could be the quarterback. But we've got to define their role and then they've got to accept and buy into their roles."

"Coach Tuke," as he's most often referred to, can't be the quarterback, and pointed out that he is still trying to figure out his place in his first head coaching job.

"My role ... some head coaches coordinate, some completely have nothing to do with it, and everywhere in between," Matukewicz said. "As a head coach, you've got to look at lots of different variables as far as how your staff dynamic is, where you feel like you can add value, but still do the things that it takes to run an organization. That's a work in progress. I've kind of defined that role between me and the staff and then we'll see how that goes, and then if we need to adjust it, we'll adjust it."

Lead, teach, recruit -- in that order -- are the jobs that he's handling right now.

"Like my No. 1 responsibility is to lead and there's a lot of ways to do that, but No. 1 is to create that culture and hold people accountable into that culture," Matukewicz said. "Teach, and right now what my main focus is on is the coaches. I want to teach the coaches and make sure they understand how I want information disseminated, how I want you to handle kids. How, how, how, how. So I'll sit in a position meeting every day different, and I'll work through that position so I'll be able to give a guy true feedback.

"And then recruit. I'm going to recruit the janitor. I'm going to recruit the science teacher. I'm going to recruit a donor in St. Louis. Like I'm recruiting every day -- not just better football players. But really that's how I see my role on a daily basis is lead, teach and recruit. I will be involved schematically, but just how much, I'm not sure. Right now I don't feel like I have any energy to, like I'm wore out. I speak all the time and I'm going, going, going, so hopefully this thing slows down and I can actually be a football coach here soon."