Young SEMO FB staffer has unique perspective on 'Game Ball Brawl' game

Of the several thousand people who gather on Saturday at Houck Stadium to watch the “MRV Banks Game Ball Brawl” football game between visiting Lindenwood (1-0) and No. 14-ranked Southeast Missouri State (6 p.m., ESPN+), no individual will have the perspective of Cade Brister.

“It’s not about me at all,” Brister said of this week’s game. “These seniors… it’s all about them this week and how they want to start their (Bog South-OVC Football Association) play.

“This game has nothing to do with me at all.”

That is true. However, Brister can’t hide the fact that he is in an incredibly unique situation.

A year ago, Brister was wearing the Old Gold and Black of the Lions and wreaking havoc on the Redhawk defense in the two program’s initial game with each other.

He was a four-year starter at quarterback for Lindenwood and graduated as one of the top players in the history of the program.

Against SEMO, Brister threw for three scores and ran for another, in accumulating 426 yards of offense. With 19 minutes remaining in the game, he threw a 19-yard scoring strike and pulled his team to within a 21-14 margin, before the Redhawks tore off three scores in the final period to win comfortably.

Fast-forward to Tuesday, and Brister was running around Houck Stadium with a SEMO Football shirt on “Just trying to get my coaching career started,” Brister said.

Last spring, Brister was hired by veteran Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz – against his gut feelings - to serve in the role of Defensive Quality Control/Video Coordinator for SEMO.

“I didn’t want to hire him,” Matukewicz said. “I loved him as a competitor. My (coaches) wanted to hire him, but I had to be convinced.”

What Brister brought to the field were traits that Matukewicz thought (eventually anyway) would benefit his program.

“We really respected him as a competitor,” Matukewicz continued. “Ultimately, we hired him because I wanted our great players to be around other great players.”

Brister initially knocked on his own door at Lindenwood, but “it didn’t work out” at his alma mater. He reached out to Matukewicz because he had “a lot of respect” for the Redhawks.

“It’s a top FCS program,” Brister said. “I had a lot of respect for them after playing against them last year, and they do things the right way.

“It’s always good to connect with different people and learn a different side of a program.”

And a “different side” of the field.

Brister has had to turn his perspective around and focus on the defensive side of the ball in his current role, as opposed to learning the nuances of an offense.

“I’ve had to switch my eyes a little bit,” Brister said. “In the spring, it was like reading Chinese a little bit.”

His role is to be a “handyman” to the Redhawk defensive coaching staff, according to Brister.

“I provide them with enough so that they are just coaching football,” Brister explained of the wide-ranging duties.

The video coordinator role is his “main role,” Brister said.

“Technology is not friendly all of the time,” Brister laughed.

Surprisingly, Brister hasn’t been tapped for his Lion intellect much this week.

“They already know,” Brister said of the SEMO coaches knowledge of what Lindenwood wants to accomplish. “But really, watching them on film, they are really doing a little bit different stuff.

“I don’t have a major voice in (the defensive) room anyway.”