Badie's unlikely emergence fueled by quiet confidence
In the two weeks since Missouri beat Purdue, running backs coach Cornell Ford has continually faced the same question: On the game’s final drive, what made him sideline junior Damarea Crockett and sophomore Larry Rountree III in favor of Tyler Badie?
The decision ultimately paid off — Badie gained 20 yards on a memorable catch and run following a Drew Lock scramble and also rushed four times for 26 yards, setting up the game-winning field goal. But still, fans and reporters alike were so surprised that the coaching staff would play a true freshman and former two-star recruit on such a vital possession that Ford has frequently found himself explaining his rationale. Ford himself nearly second-guessed the decision during the drive.
“There was one point where I thought, man, should I have him out here?” Ford said Tuesday. “And I thought, you know, he has been money in all of those situations all summer. He made more plays in two-minute than any of our backs — probably than any of our receivers. … Let’s just go with it, because he’s been pretty good at it.”
That Badie is contributing for Missouri at all as a true freshman would have been considered improbable a year ago. Badie didn’t start at running back until his senior year of high school, and at 5-foot-9, college coaches dismissed him as too short to play at a high level. Missouri was the only Power Five school to extend Badie a scholarship offer, and by time the Tigers did so, he was already committed to Memphis.
But Badie’s combination of athleticism, toughness and self-confidence led Ford to take a chance on him as a prospect. Once he reached campus, those same traits allowed him to surge up the Tiger depth chart, carve out a role alongside the more experienced Rountree and Crockett, and come through in the team’s most important possession so far this season.
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Brian Stewart may have been the only person watching the Purdue game who wasn’t surprised to see Badie trot onto the field with 3:28 remaining. The sight led Stewart, who coached Badie at Briarcrest Christian high school in Memphis, to think back 11 months earlier, when Briarcrest was playing Memphis University School.
Seeking its first win against its rival since 2003, Briarcrest trailed by three points in the final minutes. Then came what Stewart termed “the Tyler Badie Drive.” Badie touched the ball on nearly every play of the possession, either as a running back or a receiver, and ultimately scored the game-winning touchdown on a 19-yard run with 33 seconds remaining.
“He’s always been that type of person that’s making a play,” Stewart said. “He’s been the guy that’s just like, okay, get him the football, find a way to get it to him, he’ll make the play for you.”
Stewart raved about Badie, offering superlatives to describe everything from his pass-catching ability to his team-first attitude. Yet when Badie first arrived at Briarcrest as a junior, he wasn’t the best running back on his own team.
Badie was born in New Orleans, but as Hurricane Katrina approached in 2005, his family packed as many of its belongings as it could into one car and drove to Baton Rouge. Badie was six years old. Shortly thereafter, the family relocated to Baltimore, where they remained through Badie’s sophomore year in high school. They moved again when his mother got a new job in Memphis, and when Badie arrived at Briarcrest, the team had a starter returning at running back. So, as a junior, Badie served as the change-of-pace back while starting at cornerback.
Stewart believes that is one of the primary reasons Badie never earned higher ratings from recruiting services: When most players announced their college decisions prior to or during their senior seasons, little film existed of him playing running back. Badie’s size presented another obstacle. Several college coaches told Badie they didn’t believe he could add enough weight to his diminutive frame to survive a full season of college football while still maintaining his speed.
Despite the fact that he had run the ball sparingly as a junior and college offers failed to materialize, Badie said he remained confident that he could play running back at the next level.
““I just knew,” Badie said, matter-of-factly. “… I believed in myself. So as long as I had that, I was fine, and colleges would tell me, oh yeah, I’m too small, but it didn’t matter to me, because I was going to prove them wrong regardless.”
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When Ford takes notice of a player who hasn’t earned many offers from schools comparable to Missouri, he naturally asks himself why. What is he missing that could keep the kid from succeeding in the SEC?
That same question surfaced when Ford watched Badie’s film for the first time. At that point, Badie’s senior season had ended. He had committed to Memphis five months earlier, but Missouri was looking to sign another running back during the February signing period, and Ford liked what he saw in Badie’s film. He decided to “trust his gut” and offer Badie a scholarship.
Ford said he was drawn to Badie’s combination of elusiveness and toughness. Stewart glowed when speaking about Badie’s toughness, which he said helps Badie overcome his small stature. He recalled one game when Badie injured his shoulder, and the team trainers told Stewart he likely wouldn’t be able to return to the game. Badie ended up scoring the go-ahead touchdown.
“I looked at him and I said, ‘Tyler, on a scale of one to 10, what’s your pain level?’” Stewart recalled. “And he said, ‘Zero, coach. I’m good.’”
Initially, Ford said Badie was suspicious of Missouri’s interest. The lack of Power Five offers even after his strong senior campaign had left Badie with a chip on his shoulder, and he wasn’t sure whether to believe it when Ford said he could not only contribute, but potentially play as a true freshman at an SEC school that had two established backs returning. Plus, Ford said, Badie initially balked at the idea of reneging on his pledge to Memphis. Eventually, Badie came around to the idea. He remained committed to Memphis all the way until his Feb. 7 signing ceremony, but he ended up putting on a Missouri hat.
“Once we convinced him that everybody at Memphis would love to come to Missouri, why would you not do it, he finally listened,” Ford said. “And thank heavens he did.”
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Ford and head coach Barry Odom both believed Badie was athletic enough to succeed in the SEC when they were recruiting him, but for any true freshman to earn regular playing time, he has to demonstrate the maturity necessary to adapt from high school football to college. During fall camp, Badie’s quiet confidence quickly negated that concern. Ford described Badie as an uncharacteristically fast learner, picking up some new aspects of the offense quicker than the returning backs. Offensive coordinator Derek Dooley called him “a natural.”
“Football makes sense to him,” Dooley said. “It’s not too big for him. … Those guys are a lot easier to coach, because you don’t have to explain everything to them. They just go out there and they do something. It’s the right thing. Okay, do that deal you did again.”
His coaches attribute Badie’s natural learning ability to his quiet, confident approach. In interviews, Badie’s demeanor is strikingly mellow. Following Missouri’s win over Purdue, he described his 20-yard reception as if he’d been asked what he ate for lunch. Lock said he wondered after the game whether Badie realized the play was so important because of the nonchalance with which he handled himself.
“That was a huge play and I think might be one of the biggest plays he makes in his career, and definitely this season, and he doesn’t even really realize it yet,” Lock said.
As Badie continues to handle every situation the coaches throw at him with that characteristic calm, his role keeps expanding. Badie touched the ball 10 times in Missouri’s season-opening win over Tennessee-Martin, then 11 against Wyoming, then 13 against both Purdue and Georgia. In each of the Tigers’ past three games, he has finished second on the team in carries. He scored the first touchdown of his college career against Georgia.
Whenever Badie is asked to further expand his workload in the future, Stewart believes his quiet, confident outlook will have him well prepared. After all, that same mindset allowed him to believe he could play running back in college when no Power Five schools had offered him a scholarship and step into a game-winning drive in his first college road game without blinking.
“Here’s the thing, man,” Stewart said, “you line up out there against the best, if you don’t have a little swagger about you before you start, you aren’t going to make it. And you can’t just develop it. It’s got to be there.
"He’s already got it.”