Southeast Missouri State football currently is in transition with the promotion of Jon Weimers to offensive coordinator and the hiring of Ben Blake as the offensive line coach.

Weimers came to Southeast with coach Tom Matukewicz two years ago. Sherard Poteete formerly held the position.

Weimers said collegiate football is a relation-driven business, which was a large reason why he was the one to receive the promotion in the first place.

"We've got a high amount of respect and trust for each other in this program as coaches. It helped a lot that my relationship with coach [Matukewicz] is so great," Weimers said.

Weimers has been involved with coaching for 15 years, and earned the promotion after serving at Emporia State from 2004 to 2006, Concord from 2007 to 2008, Coffeyville Community College from 2009 to 2010, and a year serving as William Penn's offensive coordinator prior to coming to Southeast.

Weimers said he has switched from offensive line coach to offensive coordinator before, but this time at Southeast, it will be more of a transition for him.

"We want our offense to be able to play fast," Weimers said, "We will strive to create the culture of a disciplined offense -- a mistake-free offense -- and mostly an offense that has the ability to be explosive."

Weimers is excited to get to work with the entire offensive line more directly and to get to know each individual player.

"The offensive line coach is a full-time job, and coach Ben Blake will be great at that," Weimers said. "But as coaching linemen, we stuck together and it was hard to get to know the receivers and running backs at the same time."

Differing from his former position, Weimers will work with the quarterback position more directly than he used to in the past.He said Southeast has three quarterbacks returning that are capable of filling the spot.

The returning starter, sophomore quarterback Dante Vandeven, passed for 1,568 yards with 11 touchdowns and rushed for 292 yards with six touchdowns during his freshman season as a Redhawk.Vandeven took over the starting position during the team's game against Indiana State in week three and looks to take it again next season.

Weimers spoke highly of Vandeven's character as well as on-field ability.

"On the field, he is a focused kid. He's very fluid and doesn't get rattled often," Weimers said. "He's simply got a great quarterback head to complement his mentality."

As for Vandeven, he said he is happy with the coaching swap and is excited to work more closely with Weimers.

"You have to clear everything that happened from last year and start this season with a new coach and a clean slate," Vandeven said. "But it doesn't really feel like he is a new coach, which is great. He has been in the program for a while now, and I really feel like he will be the perfect fit for the position."

Weimers said he has had the dream of being an offensive coordinator at the Division I level for as long as he can remember.

"It's a phenomenal time to get to take over this position, because I know the direction that this program is going," Weimers said. "The other coaches that we have hired on the offensive side are phenomenal people, and very good coaches and leaders as well."

The new offensive line coach, Ben Blake, was hired Jan. 21. Blake's two reasons to accept the position were that he felt like he fit here and that it would work with his family's agenda as well.

"This coaching staff is all focused on a common goal, and that was a big deal to me," Blake said. "You get into some programs and realize that everyone is out for themselves and that's when you encounter problems and lose sight of winning. That's not what this program is about."

Blake has 13 years of coaching experience as an offensive line coach, run game coordinator and strength and conditioning coach, among other positions.

Blake has strong priorities, such as family and respect, and said he feels Southeast carries the same values.

Blake is eager to begin working with the veteran group returning to the offensive line. He understands they will learn a lot about each other in the beginning, but is appreciative to be a part of Southeast right now.

"I can see the way coach [Matukewicz] has implemented the mentality of 'Brick by Brick,' and I'm simply another brick. I'm really looking forward to doing my part to build this wall to completion and seeing how far it can go," Blake said.