Just four months removed from its last game at Houck Stadium, the Southeast Missouri State football team is back on the gridiron for spring football under its second-year coach Tom Matukewicz.

Southeast started its spring schedule on March 10 at Houck with its first of 14 total practices before the team's spring game on April 18.

"Well, I told myself this morning that there's no way that I'm not having a phenomenal day," Matukewicz said after the first practice. "And so we worked really hard. We're only limited to so many practices, and I was going to make sure that no one is going to steal my joy. They tried to, but I stayed disciplined and just had a great day and I'm real excited to see what this team will turn into."

Returning to the team are a few All-Ohio Valley Conference selections that include senior wide receiver Paul McRoberts and junior kicker Ryan McCrum.

McRoberts led Southeast in receiving yards with 711 and receiving touchdowns with nine last season while only playing in seven games due to a Lisfranc, or midfoot, fracture.

McRoberts suffered the injury in the fourth game of the season in a game against No. 3 Southeastern Louisiana where he caught the game-winning touchdown pass in the final seconds.

Southeast will have a new quarterback under center this year due to former Redhawk quarterback Kyle Snyder graduating. The current No. 1 quarterback is senior Alex Niznak, who only had 12 pass attempts all last season.

Other returners on this receiving core include sophomore Adrian Davis and senior Peter Lloyd.

"[Receiving core is] just taking it one day at a time," McRoberts said. "Since we had a break when the season ended plays are new to us still. Not so new to the vets, but new to the new people and different techniques and things like that. So it's a whole new ball game and we've got to adjust to each other and a quarterback, so it's something that we've got to take one day at a time."

Southeast lost both of its offensive tackles due to graduation and it is a major concern for Matukewicz and the staff to find those replacements.

"[Junior offensive tackle] Michael Cook and [sophomore guard] Alex [Snyder] are two guys that we're looking at trying to secure that [offensive tackle positions]," Matukewicz said. "We've talked about moving [junior guard] Garrett Baker out there, you know we moved some O-lineman last year. Corey Porter was a center that we moved to left tackle. That'll be a puzzle piece we'll work through, and so we're really just trying to find out who our best five players are and then we'll figure out who can play left tackle or right tackle."

The Redhawks return three of their starters from the offensive line last season including Baker, senior guard Traven Mable and junior center Jake McCandless.

Other notable returners on Southeast's roster for next season are senior running back DeMichael Jackson and junior inside linebacker Roper Garrett.

Garrett suffered a broken leg in the ninth game of the season last year against Eastern Kentucky on Oct. 25 and was back on the field for the Redhawks at spring practice.

"It was good [having Garrett back on the field]," defensive coordinator Bryce Saia said. "He was part of the crew that you saw on crutches last fall. He's a really good player, that's why he was one or two in the OVC and the top 10 in America in tackles. The first year within our package he's already there, so it was great to see him [on the field]."

Garrett tied for 10th in the FCS in tackles and tied for second in the OVC by averaging 10.7 per game and was just four tackles shy of 100 on the year.

By forcing five fumbles in nine games, Garrett was second in the FCS with .56 per game and led the OVC.

Six other defenders will return to Southeast's defense along with Garrett, and the team will continue with its 3-4 scheme that Saia said proved to be successful.

"The scheme has proven and I think from when we were healthy last year people saw what this package and scheme can do," Saia said. "The good thing is that our talent level is rising with our recruiting, so hopefully we can get it to the point where as coaches we can kind of get out of the way and just let them play."

Saia added that he and the staff learned that a team has to be two-deep at each position if it wants to make it through a year.

Matukewicz said he wants his team to leave spring football with a better understanding of how to play the game and also to get his players plenty of reps to perfect their craft without getting injured.

Southeast returns to practice this week on Tuesday and Thursday at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex and on Saturday at Houck Stadium. All practices are open to the public.