INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) will host its 12th annual GLVC Football Kickoff event on Friday, August 2, setting the scene for the league’s 13th 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 10th 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 AM to 1:40 PM 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 seven seasons, excluding 2020 when the event was canceled 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 nine Conference teams will be represented by a coach and two players.
Ten-time GLVC Champion University of Indianapolis will be represented at this year’s GLVC Football Kickoff by head coach Chris Keevers in his sixth season at the helm. UIndy has compiled a 77-9 record in GLVC play since the league began sponsoring the sport in 2012, including a 6-1 mark to finish as GLVC Champions this past fall season. The Greyhounds have also garnered NCAA Division II playoff bids in eight of the last 10 seasons, including 2023.
Truman State University will see a new head coach on the sidelines, as Kellen Nesbitt takes over for long-time mentor Gregg Nesbitt. Kellen has been on the sidelines as an assistant coach the past 14 years and will take the helm on an interim basis for the 2024 season. Last year, the Bulldogs went 5-2 in the GLVC to finish tied for second and were 9-2 overall.
Mike Babcock returns for his 12th season at the helm for McKendree after a 5-6 overall record and finishing tied for second with Truman in GLVC standings at 5-2. The Bearcats also had the opportunity to represent the league in the fourth annual America’s Crossroads Bowl game.
Missouri S&T finished fourth in the 2023 fall season with a 4-3 league record while going 4-7 overall. The Miners enter the 2024 season under the direction of third-year head coach Andy Ball.
Head coach Robert Clardy is back for his 10th season at Southwest Baptist University, going 4-7 overall and 3-4 in league play this past fall to finish tied for fifth in the standings.
Quincy University will have a new skipper on the sidelines, as Jason Killday was named head coach for the upcoming season. A year ago, the Hawks went 6-5 overall and 3-4 in GLVC action, tying with SBU for fifth.
In its first year as a full-time league member, Upper Iowa University went 2-8 overall and 1-6 in league play under the guidance of Jason Hoskins. He enters his fourth year guiding the Peacocks this fall in their second year of league membership.
Two weeks after his induction into the Missouri Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame, William Jewell College hired Jason Ambroson to take over the reins for the Cardinals. He inherits a team that went 2-8 overall and 1-6 in the GLVC.
Lincoln University officially became the Conference’s 15th league member as of July 1, 2024, but this won’t be the Blue Tigers first Kickoff event, as the program competed as an associate football member from 2014-18. The Jefferson City, Mo., institution is coming off a 0-11 overall record last fall and will now be led this season by first-year mentor Moses Harper.
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 2024 GLVC Football Kickoff can apply for access by contacting GLVC Assistant Commissioner Lindsey Williams at
lindsey@glvc-sports.org.