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Opening Statement

“First would like to start off with the biggest news of the week. Marcus and Melania Johnson welcomed their daughter into this world, Violet Victoria Johnson. Both mom and daughter are healthy and back home and so congratulations to coach Johnson and his wife on the birth of their daughter and we’re excited that our family has grown.

Next, Tyler Badie has been elevated to permanent captain. We actually did this last week and I just screwed up and didn’t announce it, but with Case (Cook) being injured, he’s still a captain, but we wanted to elevate somebody else to that position on the field and Tyler, through his work ethic, leadership and on the field play was well deserving of that obviously displayed in Saturday’s performance. Just a tremendous performance individually, and as a team, but obviously spearheaded by him and congratulations to him and Harrison Mevis on being rewarded with SEC recognition this week.

Then the last thing would be injury update: We send out an injury update every Thursday that’s been very accurate and detailed. I think pretty much every questionable person has been 50-50 and showed up to the game and we’ve made that decision. We will do that again Thursday and so because of that I really don’t have any more information about our injury report until Thursday.

With that, we’ll talk about recap the game. Obviously I thought it was a hard fought game. Had a lot of momentum swings, particularly right there at the end of the first quarter where we threw the interception, they go on a 14-point scoring run, we were able to stop a fake field goal, the Hail Mary at the end of the half propelled us forward. Was very proud of the way the offense responded in the third quarter. I think we had four straight scoring drives. Obviously we’ve got to clean up some penalty issues that took a touchdown off the board, but I was really proud of the way that they responded there in order to separate ourselves in that game. A couple of key fourth down extension and third down extension, I thought both of those plays by our quarterback and Tauskie Dove were really nice plays and Tyler Badie’s individual performance stands out. Harrison Mevis again proves to continue to be solid in the kicking game and we look forward to that continuing. Defensively, it was really nice for Martez to get that interception at the end. Got to continue to improve our tackling, containment and we will work to do that this week.

Got a really good opportunity in front of us. Obviously get a chance to play the No. 1 team in the country. That’s a great privilege and opportunity for our football team to compete and obviously they’ve got some really good talent on both sides, really well coached. I think Kirby Smart has clearly established himself as one of the best coaches in college football and one of the better coaches in our conference, does an outstanding job both in recruiting and player development. He’s got a tremendous staff led with veteran coaches who have head coaching experience like Will Muschamp as a special teams coordinator, Todd Monken, who was the head coach at Southern Miss before being an offensive coordinator in the NFL, does a tremendous job on the offensive side of the ball. Got Matt Luke who was a former head coach at Ole Miss, again does a tremendous job with that offensive line and their run game and they’ve been playing really well in the trenches. Defensive side of the ball, obviously, coach Smart helps with that side, but Dan Lanning is a really good defensive coordinator right here from Kansas City. Does a tremendous job along with his co-defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann. Defensive line coach Tray Scott, tremendous defensive line coach who’s got his guys playing at a high level. So got some really good coaches and then we could go on and on about their talent on each side of the ball, but it’s a great combination and a real challenge and look forward to our team having the opportunity to match that intensity, really practice our fundamentals and focus on how well we can execute in a game like this and see where we stack up. So, with that, I’ll open it up for questions.

You said after the game on Saturday you didn’t know who you would start if Connor couldn’t play. Does anything change in practice this week for Brady Cook or Tyler Macon and when do you have to make that decision?

“Well we won’t know anything until we get through practice where Connor’s at so I’m not really adjusting anything. Those guys have both been getting reps and we had a plan that you saw unfold in front of you about how we would kind of orchestrate a game should something happen to Connor. That will stay in place. Not stressed about it.”

You said the decision was situational playing Tyler instead of Brady. Does that leave on the table the possibility to play both if Connor can’t play?

“Yeah, I mean it could have been a situation where both of them could have played. Again, the last drive, four-minute offense, that was gonna be more of what we were wanting to do, maybe have the quarterback run element, which Brady actually does run the ball pretty well too. Had it been a different situation maybe Brady is more comfortable in some of the other schemes that we have, we would have put him in the game, but the schemes we were running right there, I think that was the best player for those schemes.”

You said you were going to wait to make decisions until you saw practice so does that mean you expect Connor to at least try to practice this week?

“Yeah, I’m gonna talk about the injury report on Thursday when we hand it out.”

Playing a defense that is as good at creating pressure as Georgia, how does that impact your decision making on the quarterback?

“If you’re deemed ready to play, you’re ready to play so that’s not going to factor into the decision at all. We’ve been fortunate enough to coach for a while and play some really good defenses, some really good fronts. Have gone against, in 17 and 18, went against Clemson, they had the four defensive linemen drafted, I believe three of them went in the first round, so have gone against some really good defenses before, 2011 Alabama, 2010 Alabama, these guys are right there. They’re right there. They’ve got some really good players. Can really affect the quarterback. They do simulated pressure, so they give the illusion of coming and bringing a lot of people and still play zone concepts behind it, which is difficult. They don’t give you a lot of one on one matchups. They do a really good job and they’re able to really get after the quarterback. If you look at the numbers, a lot of their sacks are three-man, four-man rushes and that’s pretty impressive. Not a lot of people are able to do that. It will be a challenge to, really the best way to slow down a pass rush is to run the football, so you’ve got to find ways to creatively and effectively run the football and see if we can do that.

How have you seen Tyler Macon develop since he’s been on campus as a passer?

“You know, I think it’s been a growth process. Obviously I think when you come in as a true freshman, we’re really fortunate he came in in the spring so he had the time to see where he was lacking, struggle, fight through those struggles, really work. He’s one of these guys that works out all the time on his own, comes in, works on his weaknesses and so he’s continued to improve. I think, you know, obviously knowledge of the playbook and repetition of the schemes aren’t probably where you wish they would be. But I think that is what he would tell you so he would be more comfortable, but I’m proud of the way he’s attacked his opportunity.”

Regardless of health, is playing multiple quarterbacks something you’re open to in general or would you prefer to avoid that?

“We’re going to play the best person that gives us a chance to win a game. So if we felt like multiple quarterbacks gave us the best chance to win a game then we would do that. Up unto this point, that hasn’t been the case.”

If Brady or Tyler were to play on Saturday, how ready are they to go against the number one team in the country in their first career start? Is that something you think about at all?

“Not really because you all are dealing in hypotheticals. Keep asking, which is fine, that’s the job, but keep asking hypothetical questions. Let’s go practice Tuesday. I’ll have a lot more answers after today’s practice where we’re at, practice Wednesday and see where we’re at and then we’ll find out Thursday where the injury report is and then we’ll go, but I got a lot of worries. I’ve got to figure out how to block Jordan Davis and multiple other guys on their defensive front. If I spent a lot of time worrying about what ifs, we won’t find the best way to block them.”

Was Dominic Lovett healthy on Saturday?

“Yes. He played.”

I know he played early, but playing time just situational based on that game?

“Yeah. Just based on practice and situational and opportunities. I think we had a couple plays scripted for him that I didn’t get off the play sheet that I’ve got to get called. Moved him a little bit more to slot because of injuries we had so it was Barrett (Banister) and Dominic at slot and went with Barrett a couple more times in the second half just because of consistency and consistency on perimeter blocking. I don’t see that to be a trend or any negative.”

With a pretty competitive match coming against South Carolina does that impact your decision on who plays maybe if they’re questionable?

“I have no idea about anything other than practice today. We’re talking about practice today. I haven’t thought about what somebody has to do to play. I haven’t thought about that, haven’t worried about what’s happening in two weeks or three weeks or four weeks or ten weeks down the road. My focus is on how do I prepare our football team for the next practice because that’s all that we can control to execute what our plan is designed. In order to beat the number one team in the country we have to have a great practice, we have to control what we can control, we have to have great focus, we can’t have penalties, we can’t have negative yardage plays, we got to tackle and set contain so those are the things I’m worried about. Every week’s going to have its own challenges. There will be a whole other set of challenges on Sunday about next week’s opponent.”

Going against the number one team in the country, does anything change about your approach and what do you tell players going into a game like this?

“We’re competitors, man. We’re gonna compete. Everybody wants to compete. You want to test yourself against the best. You got to just go cut it loose. You’ve got to focus on the things you can control which is your fundamentals, your preparation and your techniques. And you’ve got to take your best shot. That’s what you’ve got to do. Nothing changes. We’re not changing who we are. That would show that we don’t believe what we’re doing is working. We believe in what we’re doing and we’re gonna get there. We’re gonna get there. And this is a great opportunity to see where we’re at and how much further we’ve got to go and man, I’m excited about it. It’s gonna be a great environment. We’ve already handled a couple environments, I felt like, offensively. So we’re gonna be able to use that experience to help us, how to handle environments. We’ve got to compete and learn on the things that we didn’t execute well in some of those games. We didn’t tackle well, we didn’t protect the football, we didn’t set edges. It’s those same things are where we’re gonna get tested on in this game so that’s what we’re going to focus on.”

Every starting quarterback approaches it a little bit differently as far as how he helps his backups. How have you seen Connor helping out Brady and Tyler and prepare them for playing if that situation arises?

“I think Connor’s been a good teammate. I haven’t seen issues there. I think those guys are close. I see them talking and hanging out and watching film together.”

Against a defense like this is getting explosive plays even more important because it’s hard to have long methodical drives?

“Yeah. There’s all kinds of things that are important in playing a good defense or playing against defenses. Absolutely you’d like to find ways to create explosives, but if I could find ways to create explosives, I’d use them in every game. They’re hard to come by. I think the most important thing is you can’t put yourself behind the chains through penalties, whether it be pre-snap penalties or fundamental penalties, getting out of position getting holding calls. Those are the things that really put you in bad shape against these kind of defenses, which allow them to pressure you and let guys know what to do so they have in their mind before the snap, hey, it’s gonna be a pass, gonna get to my best pass rush move or hey, we’re gonna pin the pocket or let the defensive coordinator get into his best blitz package. Those are the things. You’ve got to keep the other team off the schedule.”

You mentioned elevating Tyler Badie to team captain. How and when did you announce that to the team?

“Tuesday we announced it to the team on Tuesday. Then Tyler spoke to the team and they were very receptive and obviously followed it up with a career performance.”

Georgia is a little bit different atmosphere than Vanderbilt. Is there anything you do to prepare for a more difficult environment on the road?

“I mean we do have to prepare for crowd noise. We’ve done that. We do that every week actually during our blitz period on Wednesday. We prepare for it all fall camp for the Kentucky game and Boston College game. We’ve played on the road. We’ve played, obviously, in environments, not quite as big or as loud as what we’re fixing to face. You’ve got to learn through tape. Obviously watching the UAB game, the Arkansas game, the South Carolina game, all three teams had issues with false starts pre-snap so that’s something that we’ve got to work on and try to simulate in practice. They do, it’s not disconcerting signals, but they do a good job of barking a cadence and then the defensive line mimicking like they’re moving. It’s just up to whether that’s interpreted as disconcerting signals or whether or not it’s a legal movement call. You’ve got to handle it.”

After watching the tape did you see the progress you were hoping to see out of the defense after the bye week?

“I think there’s always progress and then there’s always things that you’re like, boy, we’ve got to improve it. I was disappointed in some of our tackling. Disappointed in some of the quarterback runs that we’re able to get out. We had either a dive player or a quarterback player and still weren’t able to get that play secured or stopped. But I was proud of some individual efforts. I thought Kris Abrams-Draine really played well even battling through some knick-knack injuries. Obviously Martez responded well from a bust on an assignment to come back and end the game on the next drive with an interception. So I think there’s some positive things that occurred, but we’re still got work to do on all sides of the ball. I mean offensively, we’re in the red zone twice, we have an interception and then we have a touchdown called back because of a penalty that doesn’t have to occur. Neither one of those penalties really needed to occur. So those are things that both sides of the ball have to improve, not just one.”

You called Connor Bazelak’s injury a soft tissue injury. Can you expand any more on that?

“No, I mean it’s a soft tissue injury. We’ll have an injury report on Thursday.”

I think it was after the Georgia game last year where you talked about closing the gap. Do you think that gap has been closed and what do you think you have to do to close it more?

“Well, I think that’s a question that has to have a lot of thought and a lot of, we still got a long way to go, all right? But it starts with the foundation and I feel like we are laying that foundation and I think we are establishing the culture of what we want to be, but I know that it’s a process and it’s not always going to happen as quick as you want it to be. I feel like we’re recruiting at a really high level and you have to recruit 365 days a year. You have to recruit all the time in order to recruit your roster, but you also have to understand that the players on your roster are who you have. You’ve got to develop them. You have to develop them in the weight room, you got to develop them on the football field, you have to develop them as competitive players. So really it’s a whole person approach and we’re into that process, but we’re not there yet. Some of the guys that we’re working with, we’re still developing our players, our culture, our coaches and so sometimes you hope that that jump of closing the gap just happens immediately. Like I’d like to walk out of here and lose ten pounds. It doesn’t happen like that. I’ve tried it. I’d get on KETO diet and I lose it and I gain it back. What do I have to do? I’ve got to maintain discipline over the course of time. So, you know, I think we’re still working in that course of time. Excellence is a habit. It’s what you do over the course of time. We’re trying to establish that excellence. Are we there yet? No. You can see by the play on the football field that we’re not always there, we don’t consistently produce excellent habits. I’ve seen flashes and glimpses of it, but we have to do it consistently and repeatedly. And so when you ask that question have we closed the gap? Yes and no. Yes and no. And it really starts with me. I’ve got to be more consistent as a leader, I’ve got to be more consistent as a competitor and I’ve got to be more consistent in getting that out of our football team from top to bottom in this organization. So we’re working towards it. I wish it was happening faster, but I do see some positive strides. Even in Saturday’s win, I saw some positives and some negatives, but I was sure proud of the way we closed that game out when it was tough and it wasn’t going the way you wanted it to. I was sure proud of the situational offense we had at the end of the half to hit a Hail Mary right there. I was sure proud of our defense to have the awareness to hit a fake field goal and ending the game with the interception. Sure proud of the individual competitive effort by Tyler Badie. Those, to me, show progress. But overall consistently, our record’s not where we all want it to be. We’ve got to continue to recruit and improve our roster and we’ve got to, everybody in our organization, has to take a personal responsibility in daily excellence in order for us to achieve what we want to achieve.”

A big part of closing that gap is catching up in things like talent and resources that programs that Alabama and Georgia might have, but also Missouri might never be clones of those programs.

“Why not? Why can’t we?”

Just maybe from some natural advantages standpoints. I guess are there things that you look at and say we have to be able to do these things differently or better?

“We have to have a mindset that we can be who we want to be. We have to have a mindset that says we can achieve what we can achieve. I’m never going to settle for second while first is still out there. I don’t have to compare myself to other programs, I don’t have to compare Missouri to other programs, but I’m not going to sit there and say that we can’t achieve what other places have achieved. We can. It’s just going to take some time, roll up our sleeves and get to work. And it’s gonna take some time. It is what it is. When we took this job, we were under NCAA probation and had to handle that, had to handle a COVID year and so we’ve had to battle through some adversity, but it doesn’t mean we’re not making progress, it doesn’t mean we can’t achieve what we want to achieve. I’m not gonna say we can’t be something. I’m not comparing ourselves to somebody else, but I’m sure as heck not gonna say we can’t achieve what we want to achieve and our goals here. I’m not gonna change my approach or say we’ve got to do things differently. I’m not trying to do it the way they do it anyway.”

Yeah, I wasn’t trying to say from an achievement standpoint, I meant more from an approach standpoint.

“I’m trying to do it the way we want to do it. I think it’s been clear what the vision for our program is and now it’s just a matter of all getting ourselves aligned and holding ourselves accountable to doing that daily.”

After their game last weekend Kirby Smart said something along the lines of “no one can outcoach recruiting” obviously referencing the talent they have. Do you have any thoughts on big picture, you’ve got to have the scheme, you’ve got to develop guys, but you’ve also got to get them, how you would rank those or approach those in terms of importance on Saturdays?

“Obviously I think coach Smart is a tremendous football coach, obviously he’s done a tremendous job recruiting, you look at their roster and number of draft picks. He’s got really good coaches. If that’s what he said he feels, that’s what he said he feels. I can’t add any players to my football team for this week. I can’t go back and change any recruiting rankings or anything like that. I don’t necessarily subscribe to that theory this Saturday. We’re going to go give it the very best shot we can, we’re going to develop our team and game plan and do the very best we can and obviously you’ve got to recruit, but when you have your team you’ve got to do the very best you can with what you have. I really don’t know the context of what all he was saying.”

I just meant big picture.

“Big picture, we all understand, one of the number one things I’ve said since I’ve been here is we’ve got to recruit, we’ve got to raise the recruiting profile of this University. We’ve got to recruit in state, then we’ve got to go recruit where we have a natural base. I mean, that goes along with success.”

When it comes to managing the quarterback position over the last decade, do you have to be more sensitive now how to handle depth charts and decisions just because of how quickly guys can move around and change their minds? Is it different than other positions?

“Wow. You know, yes and no. I think the toughest thing about quarterback is usually you just play one and then there’s an old saying if you have two, you don’t have any. You’ve got that. Then you look at the portal, people are jumping in all the time based off of whatever it is their situation is. I don’t think you can operate a program based out of fear. I don’t think you can operate a program based out of fear of what players on your team are going to do if they don’t like the decisions that you make. You have to make decisions that are in the best interest of the team. Our number one rule, number one is be on time. Number two is the team, the team, the team comes first. And so every decision that we make in regards to who we are and what we’re about is what is in the best interest of our football team at the University of Missouri? And I try to operate with that every decision I make from personnel changes to players to uniforms, everything. What is going to be the best for our football team? So I don’t really operate out of a sense of fear or how is this going to affect one person. How is this going to affect the team? And if our team is not the right fit for somebody in the locker room because of that, then all power to them, bless them, wish them well on their journey. That’s why core value number four is enjoy the journey. Life is not about a destination, it’s about a journey that you’re on and the lives that you touch while you’re on it.”

Can you settle the debate then what is the best uniform for your program?

“I’m still trying to figure out why we had an oval Tiger and a Block M on the helmet. Like I said, we got a lot of things we got to keep pushing forward on.”

What do you do to prepare to face the number one team in the country and how can it impact your program to see that up close?

“See what it looks like. We all want to be the number one team in the country. They didn’t just happen to be the number one team in the country. How long has coach Smart been the head coach at Georgia? Six years. I looked at the recruiting rankings. I have it broke down, he’s got more five stars on his roster than he does three stars. That doesn’t happen two years. His first year they were 6-7, 7-6? Then slowly really built that program the way he wants to build it. He’s been very consistent in who he is as a coach and how he operates as a program. Like I said when I started, he’s one of the best coaches in college football for a reason. When you get a chance to go play that, you get a chance to go match up against it. You know, last year, in the first half, we were matched up against it. In the second half we weren’t ready. Didn’t finish. This year, we got to go see. We got to go see what we can do. Got to go match up, got to stay in the fight longer than we did last year. And that’s what I want to see. I want to see us stay in the fight, get that thing to the fourth quarter. See what happens. We’ve done it before. We did it with LSU last year. We were in a fight last week, we were down. We’ve been down twice this year and found ways to win games. That’s part of growing, that’s part of developing as a team and a culture and you get to see what you’re made of.”

Is there an approach you want your players to take when you play the number one team in the country when there’s the noise that may surround it?

“I don’t know what noise you’re referring to. We have a sign in our locker room that says ignore the noise. And I’m not worried about Twitter or social media or anybody’s opinions outside of this room. Our opinions inside of this building are what we need to do in order to win this football game. And as a competitor if you’re not going to win, why go?”

Would you describe it as excitement? Is it anxiousness?

“I’m excited as crap, man. I love it. Was Alabama ranked No. 1 when we played them last year? They were two. Obviously as a head coach, I’ve never gone against the number one team in the country so that’s a pretty exciting opportunity. Even as an assistant, I’ve been blessed to be a part of some really good football teams and been around some really good football teams and I don’t know if I’ve gone against number one. Are you kidding me? That’s what you do it for. In all honesty, that’s part of the reason I left Boise State to go to NC State was to get an opportunity to test myself against the best. I guess maybe Clemson we went against the number one team in the country when I was at NC State, but I mean you go test yourself against the best. Part of the reason that I chose to move on from Appalachian State to go to Mizzou was to come coach in the SEC which is to test yourself against the best as a competitor. That’s what you want. See where you’re at, man. Why else would you do it? I don’t want to live life in the shadows. Go out and see what we got. Take our best shot. Let the chips fall where they may. So, no, I’m not anxious about it at all. See you Saturday at noon.”

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