Saturday, the FCS playoffs are going to kick off.

Chandler Kirton probably won't be watching. Not yet, at least.

Kirton is – well, was, now that we've officially put a bow on the 2025 Austin Peay football season – one of the captains, senior leaders, elder statesmen and overall vibes coordinator for the Governors in Jeff Faris' second season. He had a front-row seat for every moment – good, bad or otherwise – of Austin Peay's season.

And he believes in his heart that the Govs should be out there on Saturday with a chance to play for a title.

"I'll probably watch toward the end of the playoffs," Kirton said. "But knowing this team should have had the opportunity to play Saturday, it would probably sting a little bit if I did watch it. And you know, good luck to those teams that did make it, but I believe we should have been one of those teams."

It was there in front of them as the Govs took the field on Saturday at fourth-ranked Tarleton State. The terms were simple: win, and the Govs were almost definitely in the FCS Playoffs. Lose, and it was going to be left up the committee.

The stakes, as they say, could not have been higher.

"When I walked on the field Saturday, I knew it was a must-win game," Kirton said. "And we came out firing and I knew we would fight to the very end, and we did. We gave ourselves an opportunity."

More than an opportunity. The Govs delivered haymaker after haymaker to the Texans in a wild back-and-forth overtime affair determined by a single point. If the dividing line between Austin Peay and the team that took the No. 4 overall seed and a first-round bye in the postseason was one point, on Tarleton's homefield, that's the definition of playoff-worthy.

The rest of the resume' was pretty good, too. Austin Peay was one of two FCS teams with both an FBS win (Middle Tennessee) and a ranked FCS win (West Georgia) this season. The other team to pull that off? Tarleton State, actually, over that same West Georgia team and Army. Austin Peay also went to Georgia and held the Bulldogs, those Bulldogs, to fewer points than Tennessee, Ole Miss or Texas surrendered to Gunner Stockton and the Dawgs. A 6-0 home record, unbeaten in the Fort for a whole season for the first time in half a century. Money in the red zone – fourth nationally in red-zone scoring. A top-15 offense.

All pretty good. All the sort of top-line items you might put forth as an at-large team and expect to receive serious consideration.

Chandler, what would you have told the committee if given the chance?

"I'd start by telling them we have one of the best quarterbacks in the country," he said. "Chris Parson is a special football player. We're not in the situation to win that game without him. He's the heartbeat of the team. He pushes our offense to greater heights. And defensively, I mean… we went toe-to-toe with the University of Georgia. We went over and dominated an FBS team in MTSU. There are plenty of games on our resume' where our defense just went out there on a given week and dominated and gave us the opportunity to win. The whole body of work, I really thought, was playoff-worth resume'."

But as the Govs walked off the field in Stephenville, they knew that it was out of their hands. And it stung. Because they were close.

"It's not the greatest feeling in the world, especially when you have the opportunity to solidify yourself and you just couldn't make it happen," Kirton said. "You just hope that the stats and the body of work will be enough, because nobody knows what we've been through as a team. They don't know the highs, the lows, the struggles, everything."

Selection Sunday came. Names were called. Austin Peay's wasn't one of them. And Kirton felt the uniquely acute and familiar sting of being at the doorstep of the big dance but denied entry by the bouncer.

"In 2022, we had the three-way tie for the ASUN Championship and we watched the selection show and found out we weren't in and those seniors weren't in and… it's really just gut-wrenching," he said. "So for the guys this season, who never had the opportunity to experience the postseason, I feel for those guys. I would get that opportunity [in 2023]. These seniors, they won't. That's the frustrating part."

The silver lining, if there is one, is that there is a familiar path forward for Austin Peay after a disappointment. Kirton was part of it; after 2022, the Govs left no doubts in 2023, winning the United Athletic Conference outright and securing their postseason fortunes. Kirton knows the blueprint, and he's confident, even after playing his final snap as a Gov, that Austin Peay will be back in the postseason soon enough.

"After 2022, going into 2023, we said we weren't going to make it close," he said. "Win it outright. Go do it. Don't leave it up to a committee. And I think that's the thing next year's team can take into this offseason and build on. I know Coach Faris is going to have those guys ready to go and they're going to come out firing next year."

Nobody knows what next year will hold. There will be new faces in place and old ones to replace. To use some coaching parlance, champions are forged in the offseason, in the weight room and in film and individual workouts, as players use the fuel from previous disappointments to fire their ambitions for the upcoming campaign. Nothing is promised next year except for the schedule; everything else has to be earned.

For the Govs, next year starts now.