Toriano Pride Jr. seemed to have everything he'd wanted when he came out of East St. Louis High School in 2022. He was a four-star recruit, the nation's 85th-ranked player, had helped lead his team to the Class 6A state championship game and was committed to Clemson.

When he was playing for Dabo Swinney's Tigers, he found success early, playing 331 snaps across 14 games (two starts) as a freshman, recording 22 tackles, a tackle for loss, a sack, four pass deflections and an interception.

However, the distance between him and his family was the main reason he wanted to return to his home state. The only person who was consistently bridging the gap between home and Clemson was Pride's father, Toriano Pride Sr.

"What's crazy is a lot of people didn't think I was going to come back because it was something I'd tell my dad, but my dad didn't know I wanted to come back home," Pride Jr. said. "I knew by Week 6 that I was coming back home."

Pride Sr. has been to many practices and every game since his son started playing Little League football.

"I've never missed a game. I'm always there," Senior said chuckling. "He doesn't even ask me anymore. He's just like, 'So, what time (are) you going to be there?' And I was like, 'I'll probably get there a day before y'all or whatnot.’ So, I'm always there.'"

Senior, who owns a real estate company and a credit restoration company, stays busy, but he makes it a priority to attend every one of Junior's games because it is one of the few things his dad couldn’t do for him.

"I played football, and my dad provided everything for me," Senior said. "The best cleats, the shoulder pads, everything. One thing that he couldn't do is be at every practice because he worked. I would see other guys at practice, (and) other dads at practice and in my mind, I'm just like, 'I wish my dad could be here.' But I knew my dad worked seven days.

"It was kind of one of the things, like, when I had me a son, (the) first thing I'm going to do, I just want him to see me there all the time. No discredit to my father because he provided. I never had an issue with not having."

Senior has seen Junior play more than anyone else and he knows when something isn't right with his son. Something that was evident when he stayed at Clemson for a month attending practices and games.

To Senior, it wasn't just distance that was bothering Junior.

Junior played in all 12 regular season games in 2023 but had just 150 defensive snaps, 133 of which came in the first six games of the season. He’d finish 2023 with 14 tackles, a tackle for loss and four pass deflections..

"I can just tell from his body language on the sidelines when he wasn't getting into games (and) was just doing special teams," Senior said. "At that point, I flew down, and I stayed down there for a month, and I would come to practices, and it was just different because he was rotating with the ones and twos, but then on Saturday, he wouldn't get anything. He wouldn't get any time.

"I'm thinking, 'Something has to be wrong here.' So, he could see it. I could see it. I never said anything to him because he knows me. I'll pull the trigger kind of quickly. So, I just left it alone for him. When he came to me and said, 'Dad, I don't think this is really working out.' I said, 'So what you want to do?' He was just like, 'We've just got to figure out.' But I knew what that meant. He knew what it meant."

Junior announced his intentions to enter the transfer on social media on Nov. 30 before officially committing to Eli Drinkwitz's Tigers on Dec. 6.

Somewhat of a full-circle moment for the Prides.

When Junior was deciding what school to commit to, Mizzou was high on the list. He and his dad both liked the school, but Senior believes part of the reason Junior didn’t commit to Mizzou was because Junior seemingly wanted a fresh start in a new location away from home.

“I really loved Mizzou and he really loved Coach Drink,” Senior said. “I'm going to be honest with you, I think because we used to go to Mizzou all the time, he just wanted to get away from me and get away from St Louis. That’s just really what I feel because I've been so much of a big part of everything that he had going on from Little League to high school, I think he was just kind of like, ‘Now, I get away from my dad and can become my own guy.’ I can respect that because that's kind of how I was. I wanted to get away from St. Louis.”

Junior and Mizzou weren’t a fit in 2022, but they’re a fit now. He feels like himself again, humble and reserved off the field, but one of Mizzou's biggest trash-talkers and high-energy players on the field.

“I’m a quiet person but when I’m on the field I just talk,” Junior said. “It gets me through a lot of things. When I have fun, I talk, I'm goofy, I troll. If you’re a receiver and you drop the ball that’s all you're going to hear from me.”

During fall camp, he split first-team reps Nic DeLoach, but regardless of whether he starts or not, he will be an integral player for the nation’s 11th-ranked team less than two hours from where his support system is.

"I don't want to say it's self-explanatory, but everybody will play a lot better if they know their mom, sister, grandma and pawpaw at every game," Junior said. "They can come down the road and come to some of the away games. Just know you got them in the stands, not just one person. I feel like for me, that will make me happy because I want my mom at all my games."

Football runs in the family. Senior was a running back at Jackson State before playing overseas and having a stint in arena football. So, it’s no surprise he was the one who got Junior into football, and he didn’t waste any time, either. As soon as Junior could walk, he had a football in his hands.

“Right when he first started walking we just played football in the hallways,” Senior said. “I was smacking with the pillow, and his mom would be like, ‘Why are you doing that?’ But he liked it. So, that's something we just always did.”

Junior was always active as a kid. So, Senior knew he had to put him in more sports than just football. Junior swam, ran track and played soccer and baseball. His dad said he was a good swimmer and baseball player, but because Senior ran track and played baseball he steered Junior in that direction to go with football.

Of course, football would win out and it was during this time he’d meet some of his future Mizzou teammates like wide receiver Luther Burden.

“St. Louis is a small city. Everybody knows each other,” Junior said. “Like, me and Luther have been playing against each other since we were 10 years old. We got a picture from us like when we were in Little League. just playing against each other in high school. Same with Mookie (Cooper), I played against him in high school. Joe Moore, Brady Cook and I think with me going to three different high schools. I've played a lot with a lot of St. Louis guys.”

The St. Louis to Mizzou pipeline has been heating up in recent years, whether it’s via high school recruiting or the transfer portal. Missouri has 19 St. Louis-area players on its roster and in recent years players have spurned other programs to play for Drinkwitz.

Cooper transferred from Ohio State in 2021. Later that year, Burden de-committed from Oklahoma to commit to Mizzou, and a year later, free safety Marvin Burks de-committed from Ole Miss to commit to the Tigers in 2022.

“When we first got here we were adamant and still are adamant about recruiting the local area as hard as we possibly can, and probably overextended ourselves in St Louis to as far as recruiting,” Drinkwitz said. “Now, it's been to the point where we're recruiting the right players from St Louis, and not everybody from St Louis wants to play at Missouri, and I get that. Not everybody that wants to play at Missouri is going to be offered a scholarship.

“Now we've got the right fit, and we're showing what the possibilities are, whether you're talking about Marvin Burks, Brady Cook, Cody Schrader, Mitch Walters, Luther Burden, Brett Norfleet, Drake Heismeyer, I know I’m leaving a lot of guys out. Toriano Pride, Nic DeLoach, all of these guys are the right fit for Missouri. They've embraced what it means to play here, and also what that means to represent the University of Missouri in their city of St Louis, too. So, I think it's been an awesome thing.”

Of course, it starts with Burden, though, who Junior credits for making Mizzou a viable option to play for.

“He made a huge difference,” Junior said. “Everybody knows he made a big difference because he could have went to any other school. I think he was like the No. 1 receiver in our class in the country. So, it shocked the world and he wanted to stay home but everybody thought he was a fool for it, but now look at him.

“I think now it’s more of a trend. It's been a trend. … I feel like how they did last year and how we should do this year and what we are capable of doing. We should get a lot more St. Louis recruits as long as Coach Drink keeps doing what he do.”

For some, like Burden, it happened right away. For others, like Pride, it took a detour. But the paths have met back up in Columbia for one of the most anticipated seasons in Mizzou history. The biggest question now is when is the family is getting to town.

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