I feel like football could bounce back in a big way this year. Paxton will be back. Most of the experienced Offensive Linemen except for Gieg will be back and we have some nice Linemen transfers and recruits coming in. Tight Ends will all be back. Will lose Flournoy and Vick at receiver but I believe McDonald, Clinkenbeard, Anderson and Downing will be back and we redshirted three good Wide Receiver recruits last year and signed a 6'5" juco receiver this year. Not sure which Defensive Linemen will get another year with the craziness of elibiblity now but we have played alot of guys on the DLine over the last couple of years and a chunk of them will return. Norman, Walton, Cook and possibly Booker all back at Linebacker spots and we added one of the best FCS transfer linebackers. Lost Lawrence Johnson but will have several other experienced guys back in the defensive backfield along with a couple of nice high school and juco signings this year and three or four nice redshirted DB recruits from last years class. New kicker coming in from JUCO and two Punters back from last year. Instead of playing four at home and seven on the road like last year I think we are going to end up getting six home games this year and our schedule should be easier. All of that makes me confident as long as we can keep Paxton on the field and healthy. Looking forward to them posting the spring roster on the SEMO website so I can check for sure which of the four year guys are coming back for a fifth year due to people still getting that extra year for Covid.

I forgot to mention Running Backs. I am not sure if Darrell Smith is coming back. He looked pretty good in 2022. I know they were using the freshman Cole Ruble last year in those last couple of games after they took Hess out but I think Smith might have been injured. If both are back, those two might be the front runners out of the returning Running Backs. They did just sign two high school running backs and a juco transfer that started his career at SMU so I would say those guys might all have a shot as well. Over the years we have been pretty good at finding the right Running Back so I am not as worried about that position. I think one of these guys will shine or they may pull in another transfer right before the season starts.

(01-23-2024 03:27 PM)Myers Hall Zuke Wrote:  I forgot to mention Running Backs. I am not sure if Darrell Smith is coming back. He looked pretty good in 2022. I know they were using the freshman Cole Ruble last year in those last couple of games after they took Hess out but I think Smith might have been injured. If both are back, those two might be the front runners out of the returning Running Backs. They did just sign two high school running backs and a juco transfer that started his career at SMU so I would say those guys might all have a shot as well. Over the years we have been pretty good at finding the right Running Back so I am not as worried about that position. I think one of these guys will shine or they may pull in another transfer right before the season starts.

Thank you for all you do to keep us updated on the football team.

(01-25-2024 08:21 AM)semosupporter Wrote:  

(01-23-2024 03:27 PM)Myers Hall Zuke Wrote:  I forgot to mention Running Backs. I am not sure if Darrell Smith is coming back. He looked pretty good in 2022. I know they were using the freshman Cole Ruble last year in those last couple of games after they took Hess out but I think Smith might have been injured. If both are back, those two might be the front runners out of the returning Running Backs. They did just sign two high school running backs and a juco transfer that started his career at SMU so I would say those guys might all have a shot as well. Over the years we have been pretty good at finding the right Running Back so I am not as worried about that position. I think one of these guys will shine or they may pull in another transfer right before the season starts.

Thank you for all you do to keep us updated on the football team.

You're welcome!

https://www.semoball.com/story/3022142.html

It's the wild west with NIL and collectives right now. The NCAA and IRS trying to reign things in. Some schools have moved forward aggressively and will adjust with regulation and guidance. Our athletic director has been on record directing boosters to donate to the athletic department instead of NIL due to the fact that Semo's athletic department is not fully funded. He's got a compliance background and I would assume he doesn't want to be on the leading edge of the NIL collective wave. The other part is that I doubt we have the community support to significantly fund something like this. So we could take a step back as schools we compete with for athletes already have collectives set up. This goes for football and basketball. For those who can't open the article, SIU and Missouri State already have collectives set up. I've read SIUE has one coming soon as well.

Apparently Dalyn McDonald is out of eligibility...according to his twitter feed he is now a SEMO Football Coach.

Looks like Adrian Fox is signing with SEMO.

(02-02-2024 12:55 PM)semoathleticsupporter Wrote:  Looks like Adrian Fox is signing with SEMO.

He will be a PWO, correct? I don't think he is getting a scholarship unless they lost one of their other scholarship quarterbacks.