Southeast Missouri State head football coach Tom Matukewicz recently referred to the 2023 season as “a painful gift.”

A 4-7 season was an example of failure being the greatest teacher.

“What I learned is that it takes what it takes,” Matukewicz said. “You want to be a good football team? You have X, Y, and Z and you better be able to get good at X, Y, and Z. It’s the one thing you can’t cheat.”

The Redhawks have a group of seniors who have matured over the offseason, having learned the lessons that would take them not only through this season but through life. Starting with senior quarterback Paxton DeLaurent, who has returned both bigger and stronger, not just physically but also spiritually.

“The top lesson is probably just continue to have faith in God, that things are gonna work out,” DeLaurent said. “He's using you for a purpose. Ultimately, I play this game to grow in my leadership, to become a better person, to help teammates do that.”

DeLaurent said he has adopted new ways to find that mental and spiritual center.

“I've got into actually meditation in the morning, a lot of prayer,” DeLaurent said. “When I center my life around God, that's when I'm at my best. When I'm not then I start to become a little selfish and that can affect decisions, how you lead the team, and stuff like that.

“I've done some sports therapy with sports psychologists,” he added. “Coming off my injury, that was when I was really struggling with that, and our school has free assets for that.”

In his first year with the Redhawks, he threw for 2,684 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2022 to help the Redhawks win the Ohio Valley Conference title and an FCS Playoff berth. He threw 900 less last year and missed the final third of the season due to injury.

“I'd say Lesson 2 is being able to bounce back from adversity in a like intellectual way,” DeLaurent said. “You can get emotionally hijacked, you start asking yourself questions like, ‘Why did we lose that game? What mistakes were made? What technical things can we do differently?’ That helps you instead of just being like, ‘Damn, we suck’ or ‘Damn, we're so good.’ When you're winning, you need to get technical each way with successes and failures.”

The third lesson DeLaurent learned leading to his senior season is even as a veteran in the college game, trust is the key to success, especially in the coaching staff.

“They're gonna put you in the best situation and they believe in you,” DeLaurent said. “I think that's something we struggled a little bit with last year as a team. We a lot of older guys that have been around the game a lot and you just have to continue to trust the coaching staff and their decisions.”

Without receiver Ryan Flournoy and running back Geno Hess, it is now his team to lead. He has admitted to feeling the pressure going into the season and how he handles that mental battle from within is the fourth lesson.

“I've been watching stuff,” DeLaurent said. “Kobe Bryant has been talking about how pressure is self-inflicted. And I've been trying to get to that state because I feel like there is so much pressure on me to lead this offense to start getting it rolling. But ultimately, they just need me to be me. So I just need to understand that pressure is coming from myself, it’s intrinsic. No one's putting that pressure on me. I know that if I do my job, they’re gonna be happy if I give it my best effort, so I just need to understand that. That's the only thing that feels different.”

The Redhawks will go where DeLaurent goes. Fortunately for SEMO, DeLaurent seems prepared, having learned important lessons from the past.

The 2024 season starts early for the Redhawks, as they travel to Montgomery, Alabama, to take on North Alabama in the FCS Kickoff on Saturday, Aug. 24.