Freshman Q&A: Xavier Delgado

How has the adjustment gone over the summer and early in camp from high school?

"Definitely the transition from high school to here, I love it so far. Everything's just going great. I'm loving it here, the people, everything about it, really adjusting to it. Haven't really gotten homesick at all."

You probably feel right at home with it being 98 degrees every day.

"Exactly."

As far as the football, what's the biggest difference from high school?

"It's definitely way faster, higher tempo. It's definitely different because you're scheduled for everything. In high school, you're not really scheduled strictly. It's definitely more intense in a way. They expect more from you, coaching and all that."

Going back to recruiting, can you take me through the process with Missouri? I know they came in on you a little bit late.

"I was on my Oregon State official and Coach (Brad) Davis called me. He was saying he saw my film and thought I was a great player and he offered me that day. The weekend after that official, I took an official here to Mizzou. Then like three days after my official I decided to commit to Mizzou because it was just the best fit for me. I felt like I could really connect with Coach Davis. I feel like he's definitely someone who could make me into a better man and also a better football player."

Now that you're here working with him every day, we've heard he's pretty demanding of you guys.

"Oh yeah, absolutely. He definitely demands effort. He wants us to be our best, he demands us to be our best. He doesn't want us to be average. He wants us to be the top guy."

What position do they have you working at early on?

"Left guard."

Were you a guard in high school or did you play more tackle?

"I was a guard sophomore and junior year, right guard. Then they moved me to right tackle senior year."

Is it Kevin Pendleton you're leaning on mostly then to learn things?

"He's definitely one of my role models for sure. Just a smart dude, he knows what he's doing, he's a high effort dude. He's definitely someone that I look up to."

I know the offensive line is a tough place to play as a freshman. Do you have any goals set for this season?

"I definitely want to try to play as a true freshman. But if that does happen, just getting better and look forward to learning and improving my game. Hopefully that does happen as a freshman, but it is what it is."