Lee Pronschinske impressed by high-powered West Florida offense

CARBONDALE, Ill. — West Florida may be an unfamiliar opponent for Saluki fans, but the newest member of the FCS has earned the respect and full attention of SIU defensive coordinator Lee Pronschinske.

The Argonauts averaged 37 points and 463 yards per game last season, and ranked in the top 5 in Division II in time of possession.

“They find ways to get their playmakers the football,” Pronschinske said. “They do a good job of trying to utilize people's rules against them. They play to their strengths and attack the other team's weaknesses.”

West Florida has only played 10 seasons of college football, but dominated the Division II ranks, making six playoff appearances and winning a national championship in 2019. That team was led by former SIU quarterback Austin Reed.

“I would fully expect this program to make a Tarleton State-type jump at the FCS level,” Pronschinske predicted.

Pronschinske enters his second season as Southern's defensive coordinator.

StrongDawgs conversation with Defensive Coordinator Lee Pronschinske

SD: You’re facing an unfamiliar opponent in West Florida. What’s your impression of their program?

LP: West Florida is a really, really good football program, that since its conception, has been a top 15 program at the Division II level, which is hard to maintain. They've done a really good job of adapting to the transfer portal era that has gutted some really good Division II programs.

Coach (Kaleb) Nobles has done a phenomenal job. He was the quarterbacks coach when they won it in 2019 with Austin Reed at quarterback. You ask a lot of guys that have competed against West Florida at the Division II level, and they have a lot of respect for their standard of consistency, explosive offenses, and they had one of the best defenses in the nation last year. I would fully expect this program to make a Tarleton State-type jump at the FCS level.

SD: There’s very little public information about this team, but it appears the starting quarterback will either be the FBS transfers Donovan Leary from Tulane and Blake Boda from Arkansas, or an in-house player in Ty'ray Davis. You have to be ready for any of them?

LP: I think you nailed it. The Vegas odds are on one of those three cats coming out. One thing you saw last year with West Florida, even when they had Marcus Stokes, who's going to be the starting quarterback at Memphis this year, is they still played more than one quarterback. They weren't scared to bring in Ty’ray and let him operate the offense, so I would be shocked if we don't see at least two quarterbacks come next Thursday.

They will find ways to be creative and utilize their skill sets. And their running back, TJ Lane, is a really good football player and ran for about 900 yards last year. I anticipate whoever it is standing back there to  lean on TJ because he's a heck of a running back.

SD: You went up against a pretty explosive group throughout camp. That certainly had to be a good test for your defense?

LP: We were fortunate to have to go up against those guys every single day in fall camp, seeing the creative looks, schematically, from Coach Hill and the offense.

Turn on the West Florida tape, Coach Nobles and Donny Baker, their offensive coordinator, do a phenomenal job and operate an offense in a way I respect and admire. They find ways to get their playmakers the football. They do a good job of trying to utilize people's rules against them. They play to their strengths and attack the other team's weaknesses. I think they do a really good job of not trying to outsmart themselves. They go out there and execute and find ways to get the ball to their explosive playmakers.

SD: How much of a factor could playing in the humid environment of Florida have on your defense?

LP: It's hot and humid here. I think West Florida's got a cool venue there. There's going to be a little bit more wind. You could get a late summer tsunami-type rain. Those are things that we're going to have to be able to adapt and adjust, but it shouldn’t really affect us.

No matter where you play Week 1, the heart's going to be racing. You're gonna feel the effect of a sprint or a long drive more than you would Week 4, even if you're in better shape right now and feel better. There's just something about that first opportunity to get out there and get to play against a different color jersey that's gonna get your heart racing. Even for us coaches, it's gonna feel different. So we have to control our emotions and keep our focus on the main thing.

SD: You put a major emphasis on tackling fundamentals throughout camp. With the NCAA limits on how much live tackling you can do during training camp, how big of a concern is tackling efficiency going into Week 1?

LP: Wait and see, huh? You can spin zone in both directions. You can either invest a lot of your individual unit time on tackling and the right way to go about it, the fundamentals, the small details and going out there and executing, and then utilizing the very few opportunities you do get to tackle live, or you can be someone that sits back on the internet and complains about how these young guys don't know how to tackle anymore. Hopefully, we're going to see the fruits of our labor. Even if you don't tackle the way you want to tackle in Week 1, you got to trust the process and continue to grow.

SD: When you look at the progression of the defense from spring ball through training camp, what stands out to you the most?

LP: I would say the biggest point of emphasis we’ve had throughout that time is being sound in our alignment, our assignment and communication, which sounds cliche to say. We have a good mix of returning faces that played a lot for us on defense last year and young guys who are stepping into a bigger role. Then you add in the transfers and freshmen. We’re looking to recreate the type of communication we had throughout our defense last year. That's one of those things we had to make sure we didn't take for granted.

SD: In the spring, a major focus was improving 3rd down efficiency. How is that progressing?

LP: It's been good. Without talking about numbers during fall camp, I think we've found an identity that we're going to be able to work with and build from throughout the year. Third-down defense is a progression to where you have to be able to build off previous looks. You’re finding ways to attack offenses in the way they align and the way they try to attack spacing, and then be able to manipulate looks and the offensive line. I like the our ability to find ways to be on the attacking end instead of the defending end.

Pronschinske said SIU has linebacker depth to support front-liners Andrew Behm and Chris Presto.

SD: Talk about both the talent and the leadership you have in those two veteran linebackers, Andrew Behm and Chris Presto, and the necessity of keeping them healthy.

LP: I think the sky is the limit for those two when it comes to pure talent, football IQ, work ethic, preparation to perform and win. Keeping those guys healthy the whole year will be important. You’re going to have guys get banged up during a 12-game season, and a big piece of that is making sure we have really good depth across the board. I think that's one thing that we did show through fall camp. Guys like Ben Fiegel, Charlie Whelpley and D.O. (David Obadein), we’re starting to see those guys come into their own. We’ll find ways to creatively get (Behm and Presto) a break once in a while without sacrificing our ability to be aggressive and attack on defense.

SD: You like to rotate a lot of guys along the four-man front. How are you feeling about the depth on the D-line?

LP: In the three years I've been here, it's probably the most depth we have had. I think you're going to see a lot of different faces play. One thing that's probably going to jump out to Saluki fans that watch with a keen eye is going to be some of the packaging we do. We’re going to be a little bit more versatile in who we're putting out on the field, what we're executing. That's for two reasons. One, we have a lot of guys that can play and we want to make sure we're finding roles and creating buy-in for everyone that's a part of this unit. The other piece, too, is we want to keep offenses on their toes and be able to match bodies and be physical up front.

SD: You lost an All-American at the corner position. How has Gavin Shepard adapted to that critical boundary corner role?

LP: It’s been really fun to watch Gavin take a big jump this year. He went from not playing as a freshman and then played 600 snaps at field corner (in 2025), and honestly, not really be attacked very often. When he had opportunities to compete, he competed his tail off and was very successful. Corner is one of those spots where you might look at the box scores after the game and not see Gavin Shepard's name pop up a lot, but it's going to be because people aren't going after him.

---

Pronschinske is also the team’s safeties coach and provided a detailed preview of Southern’s eight-man safety group.

On Vinny Pierre Jr. (6-1, 208, Sr.), who led the defense in snaps played last season and had 71 tackles and two interceptions.

“It’s been really fun to continue to see his growth as an individual, not just his performance on the football field, but his maturity, the way he goes about his business, the way he's able to communicate with others, and just understanding what his leadership role looks like. He’s able to get us out of bad looks because he's just seen so much football at this point in time.”

Pierre Jr. led the defense in snaps played in 2025.

On Matthew McClelland (6-2, 206, Sr.), who missed all of last season with a knee injury, but led the Pioneer League in tackles in 2024 at Morehead State.

“You have a couple choices you can make after you deal with that type of injury, and he made all the right choices. He's going to see pictures before they happen, and he's going to make sure everyone's on the same page. I think a lot of guys that have the opportunity to play next to Matt are really excited he’s back out there, because they know he's going to communicate at a high level. He takes really good angles and finds himself around the football.”

On Rue Jackson (6-0, 192, Jr.), who played in 16 games and made 35 tackles at Copiah-Lincoln Community College the last two seasons.

“I think I think Rue’s going to become a household favorite for a lot of Saluki fans because of the way he plays the game of football. He has a vibe, an aura, a sense of love for the game, respect for the game. He plays it the right way. He’s added a dimension to this room that I think we needed, where it's a quiet confidence. He lets his play do the talking. We're going to find a lot of ways that we can utilize Rue.”

On Clayton Lakatos (6-1, 198, So.), who appeared in two games as a freshman last season, but made a big impact in the secondary during spring ball.

“Clayton has really grown as a football player. His DB skill-set is night and day different, and it just showcases his speed, his athleticism, his physicality, his nose for the football. His best skill is the way he's coachable. He doesn't make the same mistake twice. That's an intangible you can't coach.”

On Grant Thompson (6-0, 194, So.), who played in all 12 games as a freshman in 2025.

“Grant’s been in the program almost two years now because of his early enrolling, and he's got a versatile skill set for our position. He's one of our better press-man players and has good man-to-man skills. I'm really excited to see him take a take a jump from being a guy that played predominantly special teams to now going to go out there and showcasing his skills on defense and special teams.”

On Chase Reynolds (5-11, 191, So.), who played quarterback in high school and totaled 3,000 career yards and 35 touchdowns.

"Chase’s name continuously came up with Coach Meade (Smith) in workouts on the field and in the weight room. He’s got a really good chance to be a good player, whether it happens instantly or takes a little time. You hear Coach Frame talk about him a lot, too, so hopefully he help us out on special teams in addition to this group. He played quarterback in high school, safety, pretty good basketball player up at Collinsville."

On Joshua Tillman (6-4, 202, Jr.), who transferred to SIU from Northern Illinois a year ago, but did not see action in 2025.

“Joshua is an awesome young man. I’m really excited to see him continue to take some steps forward here. He's essentially starting his second year in the program, too, after transferring, still relatively young and looking forward to seeing his continuous growth throughout the fall on defense and special teams.”

On Hunter Niklos (6-2, 175, Fr.), a three-year varsity starter at Yorkville High School (IL) and the son of J.R. Niklos, an All-American tight end at Western Illinois and six-year NFL vet

“Hunter does whatever's asked of them at practice, whether it's scouts or special teams. It’s really hard to be a freshman safety. You gotta you gotta know what's going on around you and be able to get others lined up and communicating. It's been fun watching him go through the growing pains, because we’ve all been there. I appreciate him being able to take feedback, learn and grow from it.”