You can visit the United Nations in New York, or perhaps an easier, more leisurely trip: Check out a Murray State Racers football game in the program’s centennial season.
First-year coach Jody Wright, along with a staff turning heads around college football for its blend of energy and experience, has assembled one of the sport’s - heck, any sport’s - most diverse rosters.
Consider:
The Racers have players who originally hail from Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and Russia; their roster also has players representing 23 different states.
There are Power 5 transfers – including 27-year-old Louisville graduate defensive back Shaverick Williams – and products from junior college outposts in California, Kansas, Mississippi and Texas.
“This is without using NIL money, we went and recruited and we maybe had to recruit 40 or 50 guys at one position; our staff worked every single weekend in April and May and had official visits through the weeks, weekdays, anytime we could,” the affable Wright tells FootballScoop. “It was like speed dating,
“We’ve got guys from everywhere, but guess what? They love football and want to be here. We’ve got guys from England to Australia, Russia and Canda. We’re the ‘Bad News Bears’ of FCS football, but I hope we can turn out like the (fictional movie squad) ‘Bad News Bears’ that made the World Series.”
A gridiron lifer who counts Nick Saban, Sylvester Croom, Dan Mullen, Bill Clark and Shane Beamer among his collegiate mentors, as well as his late father, legendary Alabama high school coach Lynn Wright, Jody Wright oozes football like Kentucky’s bluegrass exudes bourbon aromas.
Wright’s climb through the coaching ranks include on-field roles at Power Conference programs, most recently as part of Beamer’s ongoing attempt to rebuild South Carolina, and in top-tier personnel roles in helping Saban build Alabama into this century’s preeminent program; there’s NFL coaching on Wright’s resume, too.
He's forging an iron bond with his boss, Nico Yantko, who's also being touted as a rising name to know within college athletics.
Murray State’s staff also features coaches with elite FCS experience – defensive coordinator Ryan Smith arrives following brilliant work at Florida A&M; Jimmy Ogle’s running the offense after helping previously guide Jacksonville State to the FCS Playoffs title game – as well as former NFL staffers including wideouts coach/passing game coordinator Nick Williams to ex-South Carolina coaches Jaylin Dickerson and Zeb Noland.
Special teams coordinator Tyler Zielenske not only brings SEC experience from working with the Gamecocks but also an ACC Championship ring from his time on Pat Narduzzi’s Pitt Panthers staff.
“The first thing I could control was to hire a winning staff,” Wright, minutes off the practice field, shares with FootballScoop. “I made sure that we hired great men first, all great coaches and great recruiters.
“I can’t say enough about my staff. In my opinion, I think I’ve got one of the best defensive coordinators in the game; what he did at Florida A&M the past couple years, I’m not sure anybody in the FCS level played better defense.
“Adam Ross and Jimmy Ogle, we’ve got unbelievable coordinators and assistant coaches.”
The Racers will need every bit of their players’ and coaches’ experiences for a chance to navigate a schedule that ranks alongside Florida’s for team-for-team, game-for-game toughest in all of college football.
Murray State opens its season in less than three weeks at preseason No. 11 Missouri, fresh off the program’s best season in a decade, and also has an additional money game at Kentucky later in September.
As if that’s not demanding enough, the Racers also confront a gauntlet with five teams dotting various FCS preseason Top-25 polls.
All in a program toiling forward after consecutive 2-9 campaigns, zero conference championships in more than two decades – 2002, to be precise – and with a Roger Maris-esque 61 new players on the roster.
So Wright, sometimes with do-everything super-utility staffer Grant Kimberlin in tow, other times with assistant coaches tagging along, speaks to anyone willing to entertain a conversation regarding Racers football.
Alumni outings. Chamber of commerce glad-handing meet-and-greets. Fraternities. Sororities. Wright barnstorms, stumping for Murray State.
“I’m not a big moral victory guy, but it’s the 100th year of Murray State football and that’s a huge deal,” Wright, noting Frank Beamer and Houston Nutt among former Murray State coaches, says. “I’m going to put winners in those helmets. We’re going to win, and we’re going to win now. That is our motto every day. We’re trying to win now. Fans want to win now. We want to win now. In today’s culture, with how you can rebuild a roster so quick, if you’re dumb enough to try to recruit 60 new players, God bless you and good luck.
“I hate excuses. So, let’s find a way. I would tell our fans and Murray State, they’re going to see a difference out there. There’s a bunch of winners out there playing. We’re going to do winning things, with winners out there, and then the winning is going to happen.
“It might not happen every time, but it’s going to happen. When Murray State plays, I want our fans, our alumni, our leadership and anyone who sees us play, I want them to say, ‘That’s a bunch of winners out there.’”