Southeast Missouri State football team opens fall camp Thursday

Some people head to the beach to unplug. Others go camping or fishing.

For Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz, the start of fall camp on Thursday will mark the start of him breaking free of any distractions, which he said is probably his favorite part of the preseason. The Redhawks hold their first practice from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at Houck Stadium.

"We work about 15 hours a day, and it's so consuming that you don't have time to respond to emails or call people back," Matukewicz said. "It's literally you get up and you work until you can't work anymore and you go to bed and you start over again. It's like going fishing for me."

The players report to camp today after a brief respite from summer workouts. They'll have team meetings once they arrive in preparation for the first practice of Matukewicz and staff's second season.

"I think they have made themselves individually a lot better," Matukewicz said of his team's offseason. "My concern is are we going to be able to come together as a team and care about one another and those type of things. I don't worry about our football part. I know we're going to get our schemes and things like that. I just want to make sure we come together as a team."

He noted that having transfers that will play significant roles on the team makes chemistry a challenge as well as not having a starting quarterback chosen yet. Junior college transfer Tay Bender and returning senior Alex Niznak are the front runners for the job.

Matukewicz's top goal for the team is to remain healthy through the preseason. He studied preventative measures for injuries over the summer with the team's athletic trainers and strength and conditioning staff and plans to teach the players what he learned.

The biggest area of improvement he's focused on is turnovers. Last season the Redhawks were last in the Ohio Valley Conference -- along with Murray State -- in turnover margin at minus-9. They had 13 interceptions and 12 fumbles in 12 games while forcing just 17 turnovers.

"I've named myself the head coach of the turnover margin, so if that doesn't get fixed you know who to blame," Matukewicz said. "That was really disappointing. We started to get better at the end of the year, but we just didn't value the ball like we should've. And I'm going to make sure we understand the ball is everything and we have no chance if we don't take care of that thing and if we don't create some turnovers."

Matukewicz also hopes his team continues to make strides defensively. The Redhawks had the second-best red zone defense in the OVC. They were seventh out of nine teams in sacks and opponent third-down conversions and fifth in opponent first-down conversions.

"I don't think we're going to win a championship until we start playing championship-level defense," Matukewicz said. "When we got here, I think we averaged about 36 points per game [allowed]. Last year it was 30. Now can we get into the 20s? Then I feel like we're going to be a lot better."

During Matukewicz's first season a year ago the Redhawks were 5-7 and 3-5 in conference with two of their wins coming over ranked opponents for the first time in program history.

They were predicted to finish sixth in the conference in the preseason poll voted on by OVC coaches and sports information directors and were picked fifth in the media's preseason poll.

Southeast's first practice with full pads will be on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon at Houck Stadium and the team will scrimmage starting at 10 a.m. on Aug. 15 and on Aug. 22 at Houck.

The Redhawks' season opener is at Missouri on Sept. 5. Kickoff at Faurot Field is set for 3 p.m.

"You make your biggest improvement from Game 1 to Game 2. I feel the same way as a program -- we make our biggest improvement from Year 1 to Year 2," Matukewicz said. "Whether that translates to wins or not is one thing but just all the other stuff -- that people know what's expected of them, they don't break a lot of team rules, they handle their business off the field, they know what to expect in fall camp, so I think it'll definitely be improved in Year 2."

Flye injured

Southeast sophomore cornerback JJ Flye will begin the season on the sidelines while recovering from an injury sustained in an accident on July 4.

Matukewicz said Flye's injury happened when a firecracker went off in his right hand. In addition to skin and nerve damage he had to have pins inserted into his wrist.

Matukewicz was not certain on what the time frame would be for Flye to return, but will "certainly be out at least the first game."

Flye, from Southaven, Mississippi, played in eight games and started one as a true freshman last year. He had 14 tackles, including a career-high eight in his start at Tennessee Tech, and broke up two passes.

Practices begin

The Redhawks soccer and volleyball teams are set to begin their preseason camps over the next week.

Southeast soccer will hold its first practices today with three different training sessions. The Redhawks were co-Ohio Valley Conference champions last season, posting an 8-2 conference record. They were 11-6 overall.

Southeast hosts Memphis in an exhibition at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 12 and opens its season at Division II Missouri S&T in Rolla on Aug. 21.

The volleyball team begins practice Monday. The Redhawks finished eighth in the OVC standings with a 9-7 conference record. They were 11-20 overall.

Southeast begins its season by hosting the Drury Hotels Redhawks Invitational. The Redhawks will open the tournament against Arkansas State on Aug. 28. They'll also face Saint Louis and Missouri-Kansas City in the four-team tournament.