Southeast Missouri State University student publication

SEMO football’s Coach Matukewicz leads on and off the field

Thursday, January 26, 2023

SEMO Football coach Tom Matukewicz, or “Coach” Tuke as he is known to some, has brought plenty of success in his nine years at Southeast, including two Ohio Valley Conference Championships, two NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoff appearances and the team's only FCS Playoff win.

Before he made his way to Cape Girardeau, Matukewicz’s first college coaching job came with Fort Hays State in 1996. In more than 25 years of coaching, Matukewicz said these relationships with his players are one the most important things he’s learned.

“I have great clarity on why I coach, and that helps me keep the main thing, the main thing and that's relationships with our players,” Matukewicz said.

The other important lesson Matukewicz said he has learned over the years is to not imitate anyone else’s style and be the best version of himself.

“What's important is that I try to be the best version of Coach Tuke I could be,” Matukewicz said. “You don't want to try to do it somebody else's way, because it comes across as inauthentic and fake.”

At the end of the 2022 season, coach Matukewicz was named OVC Coach of the Year. The award was Matukewicz’s second time winning the honor after he did so in 2018.

Coach Matukewicz said he was proud to receive the award, but ultimately the spotlight should be put more on the entire program rather than just him.

“A Coach of the Year Award really should be named Program of the Year, so I am very proud to accept that on behalf of the program,” Matukewicz said. “Coming off a losing record to have a turnaround season like we had this year just makes me proud to be this team's football coach.”

Sophomore Quarterback Paxton DeLaurent said this team-first mentality is what makes Coach Tuke so successful.

“I think he just really understands how to bring a team together, and just to control a program. I feel like the whole program was immunity the whole season,” DeLaurent said. “We all cared about each other, and that's just a direct correlation of who he is as a person.”

The togetherness of the team showed itself on the field, as the Redhawks finished the season with a 9-3 record. The team was also Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) champions and made their way to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs, both for the first time since 2019.

Defensive coordinator Ricky Coon said one of the main reasons Matukewicz is able to unify the team as one and lead so well is because of his care factor with the team.

“He genuinely cares about those around him. He cares about the coaches, he cares about their families, and likewise with the players,” Coon said.

Sophomore all-OVC linebacker Bryce Norman similarly vouched for Matukewicz as a person and said he was grateful for what Matukewicz has done for him.

“I didn't have many offers out of high school, and he was the only guy that gave me a D1 offer and took a chance on me,” Norman said. “He’s just been a great guy and taught me how to actually become a man in the past couple of years. And all my success is pretty much because of him.”

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