Southeast Missouri State football's Knight embracing lessons on and off field

The words never really sank in for Alex Knight.

The Southeast Missouri State punter had heard coach Tom Matukewicz offer daily reminders that the players should live every day like it's their last.

It wasn't until tragedy struck his family in the midst of last season -- a plane crash that killed his cousin, whom he had a brotherly relationship with -- that he grasped the concept.

Now, as he embarks on his senior season, he's embracing that -- "Just live life and live full."

Here's how he got to this point and where he hopes this season takes him.

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Southeast Missouri State's Alex KnightLaura Simong

The Wednesday before the Redhawks were to face Jacksonville State on Nov. 14 last season, Knight received a phone call from his mom, Carmen.

She delivered her son "the worst news I've ever heard in my entire life" -- that his cousin, her godson, T.J. Virgin, had died when the small plane he and some of his co-workers were passengers on crashed into a building in Ohio.

Knight's face lights up when he talks about Virgin now, nearly nine months after his death.

He'd grown up with the 30-year-old Virgin, who was like a brother to him. Knight had a younger brother, but since they didn't like the same sports, it was Virgin who played football with him at his home in Florida. He doesn't get to wear it for the Redhawks, but growing up, Knight wore the No. 9 in honor of Virgin.

When it came time for the game in Jacksonville, Alabama, Knight taped up his wrists and inscribed, "For you, T.J."

The Redhawks lost to the now two-time defending conference champions and national runner-up Gamecocks, and Knight got plenty of work, punting seven times and averaging 47.1 yards per punt.

"I knew he was watching me, so it was just a blessing to be able to go out there and play for him," Knight said.

Knight capped his junior campaign as a second-team All-Ohio Valley Conference punter, and expectations are even higher this year, which is impressive for someone who'd never been a punter until after his high-school playing days were over.

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Southeast Missouri State's Alex KnightLaura Simon

Tony Bugeja serves as special teams coordinator in the Florida vs. Georgia All-Star Game each year. That's where he first met Knight.

The Boca Raton, Florida, native had been selected to participate as a placekicker in 2012, but shortly after Bugeja met him in the week leading up to the game, that all changed.

After getting a look at Knight, Bugeja almost instantly questioned if he was playing the right position.

Knight insisted he was a placekicker, but Bugeja, who played in the International Football League, Arena Football League and Indoor Football League and coached several college and NFL talents, told him otherwise.

"I've been coaching kickers and punters for, pretty much, too long," Bugeja said before bursting into laughter. "What happened was is here he was with his nice, tall frame, a nicely built kid, but his leg extension and his leg speed was so impressive -- and his height, having that leverage, and also with him being such a good athlete -- he was able to pick it up so quick."

Over the next week leading up to the all-star game, Bugeja worked with Knight. The team had no punter designated, so while Knight did some placekicking in the all-star game, he also punted. It was the first time he'd ever done it in a game, and he managed to average an impressive 53 yards per punt.

"We started cranking it out and getting it ready," Bugeja said. "...He had really good hands because he was an athlete, but I even had to show him how to actually catch the snap correctly -- the whole nine yards -- because he had never punted. There was another kid at his high school who had punted in front of him, and so he never had to worry about punting. The whole thing about it was he was such a natural at it, so good at punting, I couldn't let it slip through our fingers. I said, 'This is our opportunity. Let's let you shine during the all-star game as a punter. I really think that's your strongest suit,' and obviously after a 53-yard average, it definitely was."

Shortly after, he was offered and accepted a full scholarship to play football at Southeast under the former coaching staff.

That first year, he and Ryan McCrum battled for the starting placekicker role, which Knight won. He made 3 of 7 field goals and 17 of 23 PATs that season while also punting 46 times for an average of 36.7 yards per punt.

"Of course he took it over," said McCrum, who's been the Redhawks' starting kicker the past two seasons. "Then he switched to punting, which he's excelled in tremendously. He's always been a good guy. He's always had that competitive spirit about him, so that's always pushed me to be better for myself and my kicking game. We always just help each other out when we need it."

With an added emphasis on improving special teams once Matukewicz took over, Knight solely handled punting duties. He averaged 41.4 yards per punt, which ranked second in the OVC, and had 20 downed inside the 20-yard line 13 times.

Last year he punted 64 times, averaging a league-best and fifth-nationally 44.8 yards per punt. Twenty-nine landed inside the 20-yard line.

"Whenever he has a good punt or something, he's all hyped about it," McCrum said. "Even whenever he's not even having the best day, he's still trying to get everybody else included and trying to get everybody else going on our special teams, always just really trying to get everybody to go do their own craft and work on it."

Knight's received several preseason accolades heading into his senior campaign. He was named a Football Gameplan second-team preseason All-American, a Lindy's Sports second-team preseason All-American and a third-team STATS FCS preseason All-American.

"I was really blessed to receive the accolades, but I still think I have a lot to improve on since last year," Knight said. "I feel like I kind of had an off year last year, and I can do way better this year."

Southeast Missouri State's Alex KnightLaura Simon

The 6-foot-1, 199-pound Knight reunited with Bugeja in Florida this summer for an intense summer academy at a training center called Fourth Down Solutions.

There he worked alongside NFL punters Pat O'Donnell (Chicago Bears), Matt Darr (Miami Dolphins) and Ryan Quigley (Jacksonville Jaguars) for several weeks and received insight into how the most basic changes can affect his punting.

"Like, for me, like, keeping my body tight and small steps," Knight said of the most important thing he learned. "For me punting, I'm a taller guy, so if I get too long, it can hurt me. All the pros say you've got to be tight as possible because the tighter your body and your steps are, the less mistakes you can make."

Bugeja noticed a significant improvement in his drop table and the control it gave him. Knight's constantly been going over his drops in fall camp and practices it some more at home in front of a mirror to see if his body position is correct.

McCrum noted the height and distance on each punt is greater than it was during spring practices.

"I think I always just see steady improvement with him," special teams coordinator Matt Martin said. "One of his, probably only, weaknesses is he's just a little bit inconsistent, but those inconsistencies have been very limited so far this fall. I think I just see steady improvement with him pretty much every day, and he's really been hitting the ball well right now."

Bugeja said he's become more consistent since he "found his rhythm. He found his comfort this year and it's just so helpful when they do that."

He rattled off a few characteristics that go into a next-level punter, which included being a diligent worker in the weight room and sporting a stature taller than 6-foot. Knight has both.

"But more importantly, it's just having somebody who's coachable but also is very calm under pressure," Bugeja said. "The unique thing about a punter -- placekicker you have your holder and your snapper to kind of get the ball there, and then they hold the ball fro you, so it's a stationary ball -- is as a punter, you're everything. You have to catch it. You have to mold it or set it on the table. You're everything. You're the tee. You're the whole nine yards. Punting takes such a unique ability, and when you find a great one like Alex is -- he's a really good punter -- when you find one like that who has that natural difference to them, [it's huge].

"You can take all these kids out on a field and say, 'Alright, everybody kick a ball,'" Bugeja continued. "Out of 100 kids, you'll have your average kids and some kids that are OK, but with him, he's that type of kid that he just sets the table. He sets the bar. He just hits that ball, and the nice thing is he just makes it look so easy. That's the crazy thing about it. When you have the kids like Alex -- and it takes some time to get that smoothness, find that rhythm, but when they do find that rhythm? Oh, wow, it's actually pretty neat to watch.

"It's almost like a dance. It's really neat to see, and I'll tell you, it's an art. There's no doubt about it, it's an art. It's kind of like a golf stroke -- you've kind of got to keep practicing and keep practicing, and he's been real diligent on getting better each and every single year. Right now, he's one of the NFL's small-school [players to watch], and he's definitely shown that he has the potential to see the next level and possibly play at the next level if things go that way."

Like nearly every other player who steps onto a football field, Knight has NFL aspirations, but if not, he's going to graduate from Southeast and figure things out from there. It will be a life he plans to live full on a daily basis.

"I'm going to take my best shot, and hopefully it all works out," Knight said. "But I'm not going to be thinking about that at all this year because my goal is to be the best Redhawk I can be for my senior year. I don't want to worry about any NFL people, the talk. I know it's a big deal, but at the end of the day, as long as I have fun this year and enjoy my senior year, I'll be happy with it."