The Southeast Missouri State University football team acquired 22 new players from its 2014 recruiting class under the leadership of new coach Tom Matukewicz.

As many as 45 recruits visited the campus. Their visits started with meeting Matukewicz at the Drury Lodge and then they began their tour of Southeast's campus at the Alumni Center, where they had lunch.

"They got to meet the cheerleaders and band who tried to make it a special experience and a great first impression," Matukewicz said. "I also talked to them and introduced the staff and they met with [Mark] Alnutt, the athletic director."

After the recruits received a welcome to Southeast, they toured all of the facilities so they could also learn about the academics that Southeast has to offer, as Matukewicz wanted them to "be embellished by the university right away."

"First and foremost you have the campus which is a great sell," athletic director Mark Alnutt said. "When we get our prospective student athletes on campus, we use that opportunity to show them our campus. We always say this and not with just football, but for all of our sports, 'If we are able to get a kid on campus then they are able to see the value in what the campus has to offer, not just in their sports program, we feel it is a win.'"

The recruits and their parents also had a seminar where they could ask current football players questions without any of the Southeast coaches in the room.

"They were able to ask as many questions as they wanted and they were able to talk clearly with our current players," Matukewicz said. "I think the parents really appreciated that."

Following the player panel, the recruits then had dinner with Matukewicz and other members of the coaching staff at Port Cape Girardeau Restaurant and Lounge.

The day ended the recruits going on the football field at night to watch a video that Matukewicz and the staff put together from last season's games with all of the lights off.

"I'm very impressed with this recruiting class," Alnutt said. "Also on the point of view with what the staff was able to accomplish in such a short time."

Matukewicz explained that recruiting is a 12-month process and that the hardest part of the whole method was that he and his coaching staff had just 20 days to complete the procedure.

Matukewicz was named the head football coach at Southeast on Dec. 18 and with that came the hiring of a whole new staff.

The hiring of all of these coaches concluded on Feb. 13 with the signing of former National Football League player Willie Ponder as an offensive assistant.

"We had to get organized," Matukewicz said. "There were no visits set up, commitments or anything, so we started from scratch."

Matukewicz spent most of his time and energy on the recruiting process and he said that he wasn't able to spend as much time as he wanted to with the team because of it.

"I've always dreamed about being able to recruit as a head coach," Matukewicz said. "I finally got that opportunity here at SEMO to do so. It took a lot of work and the unfortunate part about it is I kind of cheated my team to recruit."

Going into the offseason however, he's looking forward to spending time with his players and he said he feels confident about his 22 recruits.

"I feel really good," Matukewicz said. "It's kind of the foundation, our first initial recruiting class, of this coaching staff and we have a good core of players back but something that everybody will point to someday is our initial recruiting class."

Matukewicz said that he and the rest of the team are excited for the upcoming season. The team will open its season against Missouri Baptist University on Aug. 28.

"We're excited about opening up on a Thursday night during the first week of school," Matukewicz said. "There will be a lot of buzz with school starting and a new tradition being started with the football team."

Matukewicz's ultimate goal for his team is for them to one day be able to consistently compete for the Ohio Valley Conference championship, but he said that if he just focuses on contending for conference championships that his goal will never be reached.

Matukewicz said that he is concentrating on a process that he has learned from his past coaching experiences.

"Kind of that philosophy that I've been a part of with turnarounds with three different programs," Matukewicz said. "We will build this team brick-by-brick, and we're now just going to try and lead the country in attitude and effort."

Alnutt stated that the upcoming football season will be a transition year since it's going to be the coaching staff's first season. He also said that he not only wants to see improvement on the field but off the field as well as inside the classroom and with the community service each athlete is required to do.

"If they're winning in the classroom and all of the other obligations that they have, they're going out and performing at a high level with the community service, then we have the opportunity to transition that into the field of play."