Four Down Territory
Welcome to the offseason version of Four Down Territory.
It’s going to be a little different than it was in-season. I'll post one weekly during the season, which for me is from SEC Media Days through Missouri's final game.
During the offseason, I’ll post every other week.
I don't want to post a Missouri football-based column and not write about the team. Now, if something happens on a week it's not scheduled to come out, I'll change course and post a column.
1. Early opinion on Corey Batoon.
My early opinion on Batoon from a coaching standpoint is that he is not the flashy hire that some may have wanted and that’s more than okay. I didn’t really know Kirby Moore or Blake Baker before they got hired here and they were excellent. Also, this hire is very on-brand for the Tigers, and I mean that in a good way.
The Tigers are about getting it out of the mud. For the rest of my life, no matter what the abbreviation stands for relative to where I'm at STP will always mean something to prove in my head.
For example, I went to the dentist on Monday morning and I saw a sign that said STP, which meant stop the pop (or soda for those of you who don't call it pop).
Batoon seems to fit that mold on paper when you look at his resume and his recent work at South Alabama.
I think for him to take a South Alabama team from the 40th-ranked defense in his first season, which is around where Mizzou is currently at, to a top-15 defense last season seems impressive considering the Jaguars aren’t a Power Four team nor are they running the Sun Belt.
Batoon has been coaching longer than I’ve been alive (I turn 25 on Sunday) and he’s worked all over the country and has Power Four experience but this will be his biggest coaching job to date. A coach looking for an opportunity to show what he can do.
It seems very STP-ish to me.
I won’t get into everything he’s done or why there should be room for optimism (although from what I’ve seen Mizzou fans seem to be on board with the hire), you can find that here. But I think the Tigers' defense will be fine.
There will be a lot of new parts via the transfer portal or just some younger players who haven't got starter minutes before playing those minutes in the fall but they should be fine.
I was trying to interview him last week, but he understandably had to do a lot of introductory stuff such as meet the staff, players and probably a lot more people behind the scenes. Plus, all types of life stuff that comes with moving and things of that nature.
So, we're trying to set up a one-on-one sometime in the next few days.
2. Early opinion on Brian Early.
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