Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Football Holds Awards Banquet
01/17/2004 | 12:00:00 | Football
Jan. 17, 2004
CARBONDALE -
The Southern Illinois University football team celebrated its magical 2003 campaign Saturday afternoon at its annual awards banquet in the ballroom of the SIU Student Center.
The Salukis are coming off a 10-2 season in which they won their first-ever Gateway Conference title and advanced to the Division I-AA playoffs for the first time in 20 years.
Highlights of the banquet included a video tribute and recap of the past season, a emotional speech by head coach Jerry Kill and individual recognition to the various players, coaches and support staff that made the season a success.
Individual award winners announced are as follows:
Offensive Lineman of the Year: Elmer McDaniel
Offensive Back of the Year: Muhammad Abdulqaadir
Defensive Lineman of the Year: Billy Beard
Special Teams Player of the Year: James Smith
Work Team Players of the Year: Allan Turner (Offense), Natu Visinia (Defense)
Freshman of the Year: Patrick Jordan
Bobbitt Spirit Award: Tom Koutsos
Toughest Saluki Award: Joel Sambursky
Tony Bleyer MVP: Tom Koutsos
The following is a partial transcript of head coach Jerry Kill's speech:
Honoring SIU's seven seniors, Abdulqaadir, Koutsos, Courtney Abbott, Brandon Robinson, George Mooney, Wesley Proctor and Eric Egan: "These are the people that are the coaches of the year. This is why I have the opportunity to be a part of such a great game. If we didn't' have this, we wouldn't be up here. These are great young men. I want to make sure they are honored and go out the way they should
On Egan: "The best compliment I can give Eric Egan: There is nobody that I've coached in 20 years that's gotten more out of his body than he can get than Eric Egan. He leaves the game the way it ought to be left. He can't say, `well, I wish I'd tried a little harder, I wish I'd done this, I wish I'd done that.' He did a great job and got every ounce of his body into the game. He leaves the game on his terms."
On Proctor: "Wes Proctor is not only my bodyguard - as you can see, he's a large man. His nickname is "the Priest." I will tell you `the Priest' is a tremendous story. It shows you what dreaming and staying persistent (gets you). He's what life's all about, because he's gone through some struggles. He walked on at our place. He had to learn a new system. He fought through some personal things. I tell you what, it's not going to be the same walking out there on the practice field without Wes Proctor. I told his family today that I wish he had another year or two, because he's just now coming into his own. But he's a great young man. Wes, I love you, and I appreciate what you've done."
On Koutsos: "Tommy Koutsos (laughter and applause). I tell you what, first of all, the awards are voted on by the players. So, Tommy, I think it's a great honor that you got the Most Valuable Player and I think its very fitting, I think coach (Tommy) Liggins (former SIU assistant, current Murphsyboro High School head coach) is the man who recruited you (is in attendance). But, you've given so much to Southern Illinois and this football program...you know, Tommy didn't know - I'm going to shoot you straight - Tommy didn't know about me in the beginning. He's is as loyal of a human being as you will find. And he was very loyal to the previous coaching staff, which you should be. And it took him a while to figure it all out and say, `You know, I've got to go on. You know what, when he came back and sat in my office this year and we had a great talk, I knew he was going to do something special. Tommy Koutsos, I will tell you in front of all these people: I love you, I'm going to miss you, I thank you for giving so many great seasons to Southern Illinois."
On Mooney: "George Mooney said it right: He did it all (referring to Mooney's comments earlier on importance of the offensive line). He's right, the big guys never given enough credit. George has been very inspirational for our program. He's been moved from offense to defense and he made a move for us to the offensive line. He gave up a lot of things to do that for us. He played very, very many valuable minutes. He's a great young man. His brother is in our program. We are very, very proud of George. He'll be very successful in life."
On Abbott: "These last two guys I'm going to talk about don't ever get enough credit. I mean, Courtney held the ball, I don't know how many fake passes or reverses or throws he made - he was a quarterback at one time. He was a great receiver in our program. He's a great human being, one that his future is unlimited. He's been a joy to coach and I just love him to death."
On Robinson: "Brandon Robinson transferred to us from (Purdue). We recruited him where I was at before. We didn't get him; he ended up going to Purdue, but we handled ourselves pretty good in the recruiting process and he ended up coming back to us. I remember him saying, `Coach, I don't need a scholarship, I don't need anything. I just want a shot. I want somebody to believe in me and give me a shot. I think our football team would tell you he's probably the most underrated football player on our football team. He played tremendous for us - he did so many things. He could have been a guy with a big ego and griped and complained that he wasn't getting enough touches - although he did remind me every once in a while that he needed the ball a little earlier in the game. And I tell you what, with the athletes we had, it's hard to give them all touches. But Brandon is a young man that has persevered. He's gone through a lot in his lifetime and his family should be very, very proud of him. I think the world of the young man, he knows that, and his future is very, very bright."
"I think the thing about these young men, is we met on a day in a room with another group of men - our warrior elite captains - and we sat there and they went through every goal they wanted to accomplish. And they accomplished about every football goal that they could, except for the national championship. Not very often will you have that. Again, we don't have a large group (of seniors), but to replace this group, the guys coming in next year have a tremendous challenge. This group has put there mark on college football at Southern Illinois. I love each and every one of them."
On original coaches, Matt Limegrover, Tom Matukewicz, Jay Sawvel, Brian Anderson, Eric Klein, Pat Poore, Tracy Claeys, Anthony Randle and Robert Reeves:
"These guys have been with me a long time. And they've all had opportunities to leave and go to other programs. When we took this job these were the guys I talked at. And I said, `guys, we are going to make the biggest turn-around in college football, and I want you to go.' And they didn't hesitate one bit. Now, we had a few that hesitated, didn't we men? They're all wanting jobs now. They want to come work here now. These are the guys that came at the very beginning. Believe it or not, we left our families at home and we lived in the same place, you know, money is tight. We had four in one apartment and four in another. I can't say enough about what they've done for this program."
"In closing, I can tell you this, I am a totally blessed human being. I have a beautiful wife and family. I have a beautiful place to work. Paul Kowalczyk rolled the dice. He gave me a chance. And it's like living a dream. I'm totally blessed with the young men that we work with."
"I think the thing that makes it so special is that we get to coach young men and we get the chance to have input. There's a lot of great sports out there, but there is no greater game than the game of football. And I'll tell you what, we can take 80, 90, 110 guys out to a football field. It doesn't matter what your skin color is, it does matter if you're rich, poor or don't have anything. We come from all different backgrounds. And we put them on the football field and they get along. And they work together and they develop a team chemistry and they win. Now - what a great country we would have if everybody did that. Would everybody agree with that."
"I love our football team. I don't like them. I don't think they're okay. I love our football team. I love the kids when they're not doing well. I love them when they screw up sometimes. And I love them through the good times. But I love our football team, and I love the gentleman that gave me a chance to do this."
"And I told my wife, if I die, the other day, except for my children, bury me on the football field. Make sure, cause I'm a hard guy to play for - they never get to see me like this - is make sure to tell those players that I care. Thank you for the greatest night of my life."
Tom Koutsos: "It was a real nice day. It was real nice day for the fans, the people of Southern Illinois, the team and a real nice presentation for the seniors and a real nice way to go out." On the video: "It was real nice. I didn't expect it to be that special. Whoever did that video, hats off to them. They did a great job with the video. It's something we'll keep for the rest of our lives."
