Thankful People: Decision to stay at SEMO paid off for DC Pippin, playoff-bound Redhawks

DC Pippin enters his first FCS playoff home game with a chance at making history for Southeast Missouri State.

The senior from Springfield, Illinois, who was recently named first-team all-conference, is three field goals away from matching the FCS single-season record, set by Adam Keller of North Dakota State in 2014. At the same time, Pippin (34) is one kick from tying the single-season record for field goal attempts, set by William & Mary’s Brian Pete (35).

For Pippin, such a season started with a decision to stay at SEMO or transfer to another school. It’s a decision that an increasing number of college football players make at the end of each season.

“At the end of the day, you got to live with the decisions that you’ve made,” Pippin said earlier in the season.

Pippin faced a fork in the road after a 2023 season that saw some success for him, but failure for the rest of the team. He went into the transfer portal last December, but chose to return to the Redhawks as a walk-on.

The potential for greater playing time or to join a team in a better position to win draws a lot of players to the transfer portal. Pippin’s love for his teammates and what he had in SEMO made him realize “this is where I wanted to be and finish my career.”

“What’s truly important is here,” Pippin said. “You can look for happiness and all kinds of other places but, at the end of the day, what’s important is that you water the grass that you’re standing on.”

The decision to stay paid off for both Pippin and the Redhawks, who were equally thankful to have a kicker they could rely on.

Pippin leads the entire FCS in field goals per game (2.17), field goal attempts (34) and field goals made (26). SEMO’s 28-21 loss at Tennessee State on Nov. 23 was the only game this season Pippin didn’t line up to kick a field goal. He had kicked four or more field goals in five games, including making four of six during a 19-0 home win against Northwestern State on Sept. 28.

“My holder, Adam Hess, reminds me that you can't let the last kick define you in a good way or a bad way,” Pippin said after that game during a rare postgame news conference appearance. “You just got to reset and make the next kick."

Pippin said before the start of the season that he matured in his role as the Redhawks’ kicker. He reached the point in his collegiate career where his success was more determined by his head and his heart rather than his foot.

"At this point in my career, it's almost all mental," Pippin said. "You've done all the things physically, you know what to do there, but just getting better mentally every day because you're gonna be in different situations and need different mental strengths, and just building that all the time is important."

It goes without saying Pippin is thankful for making the right decision to stay at SEMO and be a crucial part of the Redhawks’ return to the FCS playoffs. The Redhawks have appeared in the playoffs five times in their program’s history, starting with their first appearance in 2010 under head coach Tony Samuel. The next four appearances have been led by current head coach Tom Matukewicz, a run that includes three OVC championships.

The Redhawks will host their second-ever playoff game at 11 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 30, against the same opponent as their first home playoff game, Illinois State.

SEMO (9-3) will host No. 12 seed Illinois State (9-3) despite being the lower seed. Illinois State’s stadium, Hancock Stadium, is reserved Nov. 29-30 for the IHSA football state championship games.

The winner between the Redhawks and Redbirds will travel to No. 5 UC Davis on Dec. 7.