2023 Macadoodles Mailbag: 3rd Edition
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Every week, PowerMizzou.com publisher Gabe DeArmond answers questions from Tiger fans in the mailbag. This format allows for a more expansive answer than a message board post. Keep your eye out each week to submit your question for the mailbag or send them to powermizzou@gmail.com. On to this week's inquiries.
Money_22 asks: There was a post that said Mosley was close to playing again. Are you hearing the same things?
GD: Who knows? I've heard it's getting closer. But at this point, it's just going to happen whenever it happens. I can tell you he continues to be in the arena on the chances we have to be there. He's been traveling with the team. The best approach is to simply assume he isn't playing and then if he does it's a pleasant surprise. I'm not trying to dodge your question, but anyone putting a timetable on this is a little bit foolish because I'm not sure anybody knows. I certainly don't.
blackgold74 asks: We have four basketball commits for next year. How many spots do you foresee being open? What do you see as the team's major needs next year? Do you think any of the four will be major contributors? Who do you see making a big step up next season?
GD: With the addition of Curt Lewis, Missouri is currently at 13 scholarship players for next season. The Tigers currently have 12, we know they're losing three (Hodge, Gomillion, Gholston) and they're bringing in four. There is going to be movement. There is always movement. There are five "seniors" who have an extra year left. I would think Noah Carter, Sean East and Nick Honor are pretty likely to use that extra year. I am less sure about Kobe Brown and Isiaih Mosley. Then you get into which underclassmen (there are only four) might look to transfer. So that basically leaves six players who could leave after this year. For every one that leaves, Missouri would likely add one, probably a transfer.
As far as the specific needs of the team, you're going to have four guys who are 6-foot-9 or taller (Mohammed Diarra, Aidan Shaw, Jordan Butler and Trent Pierce). So size isn't a major worry, but if the Tigers have a spot and could find another versatile forward with a year or two left, it wouldn't be bad. Other than that, I think it just depends on who leaves. The attrition will determine the needs.
On your last two questions, I can't start forecasting individual players for next year yet. There are still about 15 games left in this season plus an entire offseason. Let's focus on that for the time being.
zoutiger22 asks: In the age of NIL, is it realistic for a school like Mizzou to compete for SEC championships in football and basketball at the same time?
GD: I don't think it's any less realistic than it was before NIL. I talked to someone earlier this week who said "Drink has never said he doesn't have enough (resources). Gates has never said he doesn't have enough." I think the important thing to realize about some of the NIL numbers that have been made public is that they're mostly not true. Yes, there are kids getting paid. Yes, some of them are making a good amount of money. Some of these multimillion dollar things I don't believe (all of these numbers, by the way, are over the course of four years--nobody's getting $10 million for a single season). Anyway, there's enough money for Missouri to be competitive in NIL.
So is it realistic for Mizzou to compete for SEC championships in both sports? I think the answer to that is whether you believe it's realistic for Missouri to compete for SEC championships in football. I'm not sure that answer is a yes. Now and again when things line up, it can happen. On a regular basis? I don't really think so. And it's going to get harder when divisions go away. At that point, you won't have to be the best out of seven. You'll have to be one of the two best of 16. That's a whole lot harder. But conference championships will also get less important when the playoff expands. You're not going to have to win one to get in a 12-team field. And that will be the more important goal.
fischerkings82 asks: Georgia picked up a Football FutureCast over the weekend for a class of 2025. We're 23 months from that signing day. Do the true blue bloods in Fb really try to gain commitments that early....and have you seen that change with the portal era? I don't think Mizzou even has a single commit yet for 2024.
GD: I'd have to think that's pretty unusual. Honestly, I refuse to start paying attention to 2025 kids. They aren't even juniors in high school yet.
cluvisme737 asks: Shaw was highly rated out of HS. Obviously he can jump and rebound pretty good for a true freshman. I guess my question is, what is his offensive upside.
GD: I don't think we know yet. He can dunk. That's about all I know so far. Everything I heard throughout his recruitment was that he's a good athlete who can contribute defensively and on the boards early, but it was going to be another year or two before he was probably a big factor offensively. I'd assume his offseason will be consumed by two things: Lifting weights and shooting. He's shooting 58% from the floor, but honestly, I don't really remember a basket that wasn't a dunk. I'm sure there have been a couple (the stats tell me he's made two threes) but he's a one-trick pony offensively right now. I would assume you'll see some improvement next year, but I'd guess he's probably a junior before he's a big-time scorer.
jrl3m8 asks: How do coaches' kids factor in to scholarship situations? As employees of the university, do they get to attend school for free; so they aren't counted on the 85? Is it like 2-sport athletes, they can't not count towards scholarship limits bc they're getting a scholarship? Is it up to the coach on if they want to put the kid on scholarship. JT Odom going to UNLV is what spurred this line of thinking...essentially is Barry Odom willing to pay UNLV tuition to have an 86th scholarship (for argument's sake let's say JT is a starting caliber LB). It's kind of a question of how much is a coach willing to pay for a competitive advantage, right? Or are there rules in place to prevent this entire discussion?
GD: Rules probably vary by school. At Mizzou, the children of employees get 50% off tuition. So theoretically, a coach's kid could be a walk-on and pay half-price for school. The truth is, there are almost no rules now with NIL. There are players at a lot of places (Missouri included) who should be scholarship players, but are getting the cost of their scholarships covered in NIL deals. So they're not on scholarship and don't count toward the total of 85. It's a way around the limit and coaches all over the country are using it because if there's one thing that's always been true about college sports, it is this: Make a rule and coaches will immediately find a way around it to their advantage.
wehrli_22 asks: you have been asked about a variety items covering all sports regarding how to make the game better or about rule changes that would improve the game. Let's talk forward progress in football. If a defender makes contact with a ball carrier or QB behind the line of scrimmage and pushes that player backward, the ball is marked where the contact was first made (yes, there are nuances but let's keep it simple). This rule is fair for both the offense and defense. BUT, when a ball carrier is past the line of scrimmage and appears to be stopped, the ball carriers O-line begins to push from behind, driving to pile further downfield, gaining additional yardage. Why is this fair? In my opinion, the officials should call the play dead and mark the line of scrimmage where the ball carrier's progress was stopped. Really inequitable for the defense and overly advantageous for the offense.
GD: That just became legal in the last couple years. Remember the "Bush Push?" Technically it wasn't legal then. It is now. Like pretty much every other new rule in football in the last 15 years, it favors the offense. If you keep a team under 30 these days, you've played pretty good defense.
fourholesn1 asks: When you're binge watching the NFL all weekend does your wife nag you for it? If so, do you play the "it's my job" card?
GD: No, she doesn't nag me. And it's not my job. Truthfully, I only really watch the NFL all weekend during the playoffs. Other than that, I watch the Chiefs. I'll turn the Sunday or Monday night game on if it's a good game that really interests me, but I don't spend ten straight hours watching the NFL every Sunday.
Ted Masters asks: Do you think we will see a player make more per year in NIL than his Head Coach does from his salary?
GD: Not unless the salaries go way down. I can promise you there's not a player at Missouri making anywhere near $6 million in a year. I'm pretty confident there's not a player at Missouri making $1 million a year.
Bengalese asks: Always look forward to your Monday Morning 10. Kind of reminds me of Bernie Bits that were on a Friday. My question is how many "hits" does that column get? Also, I'm just curious about how many subscribers does PowerMizzou have? Keep up the good work.
GD: Appreciate the question and the kind words, but those aren't numbers we share.
Arete_King asks: Assume both Coach Drink and Coach Gates say you can have an exclusive interview with one of their players in the offseason to do an in-depth feature with, which one would you ask for and why?
GD: The first assumption here is that the player will be honest and forthcoming in his answers. If that's a given, it's Isiaih Mosley in basketball and Sam Horn in football. I think those are by far the two players fans are most interested in at this point.
Bmorrow23 asks: Gabe do you think that Moore can figure out a way to utilize the TE position more in his offense? Surely not all these guys are busts. Maybe Stephens was a miss in the portal, but Horstkamp and Whisner showed something to be recruited, thanks.
GD: More than ten catches for 112 yards? I'd certainly hope so. There are some tight ends where that's a good game. For one of them. For the entire position for a full season? Paltry isn't nearly a strong enough word for that kind of production.
Carlson2HOF asks: How would you rank these potential events in terms of excitement levels for the fanbase?1. Beating Alabama on Saturday2. Beating Arkansas on Wednesday3. Actually executing the “Tyler Macon Play” for a first down next year
GD: 1) Alabama
2) Arkansas
3) The fourth and 1 play
Some will definitely say they'd rather beat Arkansas. But beating a top five team that's unbeaten in SEC play and is mostly steamrolling everyone is a much bigger win.
amhorrell asks: Will Luper be on the team?
GD: As far as I know, yes.
Madisonvalley asks: Do you think Drink willTry to set up a meeting with the Dallas Cowboy staff?
GD: I suppose it's possible. But he knows Kellen Moore already. He could probably have had that conversation anyway.
MyDogPete asks: Who's calling plays for the offense this year?
GD: Kirby Moore. He's the offensive coordinator.
I_Hate_the_Cornhuskers asks: With Kevin Warren moving on to the Chicago Bears, does that cement Greg Sankey as the most powerful person in college athletics by a large margin?
GD: Probably yes. But I think he already was.
mitchellautomobile asks: Could you please tell us what Rivals formula or equation is or how they determine their star rankings? They do not seem to be very consistent. Like the recent article today of a player being recruited by practically every blue blood in the country and only being ranked as a three star..
GD: Not really. I don't have anything to do with the rankings. Here's an explanation of what the rankings mean. But it's not like they give X points for speed and X for agility and X for offers, etc. It's a subjective measure.
SwaggyG asks: What is the biggest competitive disadvantage Mizzou needs to address if we want to close the gap with the blue bloods in basketball? In football?Some areas to consider: facilities, $NIL$, strength & conditioning program, mental health support, stadium/gameday atmosphere, coaching, proximity to HS talent (as in invest massively to improve HS talent through camps/programs in the area), build a national brand, etc.
GD: In basketball, it's probably recent history. Kids now don't remember Missouri being a nationally competitive basketball program. The image has to be rehabilitated. This year is a good start.
In football it's a combination of tradition and geography. Missouri hasn't been all that good or relevant the last eight years. They were for a while before that, but again, most 17-year-olds don't have any recollection of that. But geography is a factor too. The most talent in the country is in California, Texas and the Southeast. Missouri doesn't really recruit high school kids out of California. The ones they recruit in Texas and SEC territory, the problem is that they're going to have other SEC options closer to home. If you offer a kid from Florida, he's got to pass every other SEC school on his way to Mizzou. A kid from Georgia is closer to every other SEC campus (at least for another year or two) than to Mizzou. The big-time kids in Texas are closer to a lot of places. So often times, you're taking the kids who maybe don't have those options and then trying to beat teams full of the kids that did have those options. It's not easy.
carnell75 asks: Out of this batch of Early entree recruits who do you think will contribute this year?Out of the transfers from this post season who do you foresee cracking the two deep and why?
GD: The early enrollees from high school are Brayshawn Littlejohn, Jahkai Lang, Marvin Burks and Blake Craig. I don't really see any of them being contributors outside of special teams as true freshmen.
The transfers should basically all be on the two-deep. That's why you're recruiting them. They're kids who have already been in a college program for at least two years. If they're not contributing here in year three, you probably shouldn't have taken them. I think Riley Williams is the starting punter. I think Theo Wease starts at receiver. And I think either Joe Moore III or Austin Firestone probably does at defensive end.
RockwallTiger asks: Why so many incoming transfers in the defensive backfield? Maybe the most talented position on the team, with good young players in reserve.
GD: They've only taken two transfers in the secondary (Tre'Vez Johnson and Sidney Williams) unless someone is slipping my mind. Missouri is going to lose its entire starting secondary after next season. You need some guys who have seen the field before. They do have Marcus Clarke and Dreyden Norwood at corner, but there aren't any safeties who have real experience (other than Daylan Carnell, who I kind of count as a linebacker). They have a bunch of guys who might be good, but we don't really have any proof of that.
I think fans who follow recruiting tend to overrate the depth of their team. They know who these guys are because they've followed them since they were juniors or seniors in high school and it's just assumed they're all going to pan out. They won't. Some of them won't ever play. Some will be backups. Some will transfer.
You're never recruiting just to have 22 starters or just for one year. The difference between Missouri and some of the better teams is that depth. Missouri's starting 22 might be good enough, but when Alabama, Georgia, etc are bringing four- and five-stars in their second and third year in the program off the bench, you're in a lot of trouble trying to compete with that. Mizzou is never going to outrecruit those schools, but the goal is just to close the gap some. They've done that over the last couple of years. You recruit as many good players as you can and you let them sort it out. In a really good recruiting class, you might get contributions from 60% of the guys you sign. I don't think anybody would look at any position on Missouri's roster and say "Yeah, that was plenty good last year and will be for the next two or three years. No reason to add anyone there."
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