INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) will host its ninth annual GLVC Football Kickoff event on Friday, July 30, setting the scene for the league’s 10th season on the gridiron.
The annual celebration will be held at The Hettenhausen Center for the Arts on the campus of McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois, for the seventh time. This season’s event, which will serve both the league’s media members and passionate fans through several social media outlets, will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Central Time.
Located just outside the gates of McKendree’s Leemon Field, “The Hett,” as it is commonly referred to on campus, has been a perfect setting for the GLVC Football Kickoff the past six seasons, excluding 2020 when the event had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first two events in 2012 and 2013 were held at the Millennium Student Center on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
All eight conference teams will be represented by a coach and two players again for the 2021 version.
Seven-time and defending GLVC Champion University of Indianapolis will be represented at this year’s GLVC Football Kickoff by head coach Chris Keevers in his third season at the helm. UIndy has compiled a 55-5 record in traditional GLVC play since the league began sponsoring the sport in 2012, while it was 2-0 in the East Division this past spring during the shortened season, winning the championship game. The Greyhounds have also garnered NCAA Division II playoff bids in six of the last seven fall seasons, including 2019.
Truman State University’s Gregg Nesbitt will be at the event and on the sidelines for his 12th season in Kirksville, Missouri, after leading the Bulldogs to a 3-0 West Division record and an appearance in the championship game during this past spring season. In the last traditional fall season of 2019, the Bulldogs were 10-2 overall and 5-2 in the GLVC while they won the inaugural America’s Crossroads Bowl against Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) foe Ohio Dominican.
Lindenwood University claimed the 2019 GLVC title in its first season competing as full-time league members with a perfect 7-0 record, going 9-4 overall, and earned a first-round victory in the D-II playoffs. The Lions opted out of the spring season in 2021, but fifth-year head coach Jed Stugart will be attending his first Kickoff and returns to the sidelines this fall.
Mike Babcock returns for his ninth season at the helm for McKendree after a 5-6 record (4-3 GLVC) in 2019 and a 1-1 East Division record this past spring.
Missouri S&T was 2-1 in the West Division this past spring season but finished fourth in the fall of 2019 with a 4-3 league record while going 7-4 overall in Todd Drury’s first season leading the program. He'll be back for season three in 2021.
In his third year as mentor for Quincy University, Gary Bass led the Hawks to a 5-6 record overall and a 2-5 mark in GLVC action in 2019 to finish sixth in the league. They went 0-2 in the East during the shortened spring season in 2021, while Bass will be entering his fifth season this fall.
Head coach Robert Clardy is back for his seventh season at Southwest Baptist University, which went 3-8 overall and 1-6 in league play in 2019 with a 1-2 West Division record during this past spring.
Mike McGlinchey was hired in January 2020 to lead the William Jewell College program shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the country, so he has yet to guide the Cardinals on the sidelines during a traditional fall season. This past spring campaign, William Jewell went 0-3 in the West, while McGlinchey will be participating in his first Kickoff event.
In the coming weeks, the GLVC will release its list of player attendees and launch the official GLVC Football Kickoff website, as well as the fan-interactive schedule.
Media members interested in attending the 2021 GLVC Football Kickoff can apply for credentials by contacting GLVC Assistant Commissioner Lindsey Williams at
lindsey@glvc-sports.org.