Statesmen and Fighting Okra fans got an update on all things Delta State University sports this week. DSU Athletic Director Mike Kinnison was in town as the weekly Rotary Club program. Beginning his 29th season wrapped in the Statesmen’s green and white, Kinnison put a spotlight first on the gridiron and the long COVID restricted wait it’s been.
“When that ball is kicked off (tonight at 6:00 p.m. against Bethel University) it will culminate 656 days since they played last – not quite two years,” Coach Kinnison said. “Our conference canceled fall sports last year.”
Delta State has 14 sports that Kinnison oversees and “we didn’t play in any events last fall. We didn’t sell any tickets and that’s just the nature of Division II. Some moved football to spring but we just couldn’t do that. The conference moved other sports to the spring and compressed the schedules and we ended up with just a mess,” Kinnison explained. “We had so many sports going on, trying to balance them all in the spring with condensed, shortened, compressed, canceled- the difficult part was, you didn’t know from week to week if you were going to play or not.”
The former math teacher had all of his statistics, algebra and calculus skills maxxed out as he juggled schedules, COVID protocols, CDC guidelines and more.
“All of our athletes had to be tested three times a week. That’s a lot of swabbing,” he said. “The last test had to be within 48 yours of their competition. That’s tough on morale.”
Looking at this year, Kinnison is “cautiously optimistic that we’ll be able to play. Right now, we are full speed ahead.”
At the moment, there are no restrictions on crowd size, according to Kinnison but he noted that could change at any time. The whole athletic department is optimistic about all of the 2021 sports schedules.
“We’ve had a strong campaign to get all of our athletes and staff vaccinated. We are in that 90 percent mark – not 100. Last year if there was one negative test, the whole team was quarantined. This year, if vaccinated athletes don’t have symptoms they can play,” he said. “We’re trying to keep morale up and that’s difficult. Athletes and coaches want to play. They want to compete. They want to put on that uniform and see how good they can be.”
He explained the department learned a lot in 2020.
“We learned about how to do things remotely or semi-remotely. We learned a lot about ourselves administratively. We learned how to be very, very flexible. We learned the value of hard work.”
Focusing more on football, Kinnison noted that DSU plays in what he describes as the “SEC of Division II. The last three years the National Champions have come from the Gulf South Conference. Valdosta (State University) and (University of) West Florida have won it twice. We feel like it’s a good conference for us. We like where we are and we are a founding member of the Gulf South Conference. I remind our athletes of three numbers – 67, 37 and 14. We have won 67 Gulf South Conference Championships at Delta State. We have won 37 Regional Championships at Delta State and we have won 14 National Championships at Delta State. Our tradition is strong. Our legacies or our legends so to speak are strong. We have the Margaret Wades, the Boo Ferrisses, the Lloyd Clarks – people who have carved things out for us in a big way. Let’s throw Steve Campbell in there who won a National Championship in 2000. (Kinnison won a National Championship in 2004). We have a lot to be proud of and a lot to use to show our athletes they are playing on the shoulders of legends.”
He noted that being good is not enough, “you have to be excellent to succeed in such a highly competitive conference.” Statesmen football, like many other colleges and universities, returned a lot of seniors who were given an extra COVID year of eligibility.
Turning to soccer, Coach Kinnison explained the women’s program opens this weekend at the University of St Louis and the men open in Conway, Arkansas. Cross Country has their first meet at Mississippi College as well.
Men’s Tennis was nationally ranked last year and has a “strong international flavor. That’s typical of our conference and that’s an important piece for us. It doesn’t mean our whole team is international but certainly a strong part of it.”
In wrapping up, Kinnison is excited about all Statesmen sports and he’s enjoyed keeping his coaching staffs intact. He also explained the program’s mission for the 350 athletes he oversees.
“We want to prepare them for life – to be good people for life. We want to look at them, five, ten to fifteen years down the road and see good mothers and fathers, good husbands and wives, good businessmen and women – productive people who are doing good things in society. I personally believe a part of that process is championships. Being part of something bigger than yourself. Part of a collective effort that is beneficial for the whole group. That’s an important quality you take beyond your playing days.”
Competing on a national level is one of Kinnison’s goals as well. He works hard to achieve that by combining the needed ingredients.
“It takes great recruits, good athletes, great facilities and great resources both physically and financially and finally it takes great leadership administratively and from your coaches. It takes a lot to compete nationally because there are a lot of great teams out there. That’s the image and thought process I want all of our coaches to have. Therefore, I encourage them to play the toughest schedule that you can. It doesn’t matter where. If they want to play in the parking lot, you play them in the parking lot. It doesn’t matter.”
He touches on the recent NCAA regulations on paying athletes.
“I think we’re losing the spirit of college athletics. It concerns me. We have NIL name, image and likeness where college athletes can license their own image and get paid,” he said. “I think there are things that can be done for athletes that don’t put them in the mainstream of being influenced by the wrong people. I’m not saying it’s wrong but I’m saying its dangerous.”
He also touched on his thoughts about the Transfer Portal. He doesn’t like the idea.
“I’m old school. You start something, you finish it,” he said. “Now athletes can put their name out there and see who’s interested but he still keeps his scholarship and practices with the team. I think that upsets team chemistry and as a coach, you’re coaching an athlete who’s in the portal but your school is paying his scholarship. I think we’re going to quickly lose the true spirt of college athletics. I think you need to play for the name across the front of your jersey and form great relationships with your teammates and being a great teammate.”
He invited fans to check out www.gostatesmen.com to learn more about each and every sport at Delta State. There is also the Statesman Nation app for your smartphone that gives plenty of information about everything DSU sports. Sports are broadcast on 107.5 FM and there are livestream options as well.
“Delta State is a great place to work,” he said. “My wife, myself and my two daughters between the four of us have seven degrees from Delta State. We’re pretty well invested emotionally, financially and every other way.”
