Hopper, Jernigan hope to make instant impact on Mizzou D-Line
As recently as two years ago, both Tyrone Hopper and Jayden Jernigan would not have believed they would be here — and not just at Missouri. Both of the transfers that the Tiger staff added to the defensive line during the offseason had reason to believe they wouldn’t still be playing college football in 2022, albeit for different reasons.
Hopper simply never imagined he’d still be eligible. The defensive end committed to North Carolina in 2015, when Gary Pinkel was still the head coach at Missouri. During his six seasons in Chapel Hill, he played against Eli Drinkwitz when Drinkwitz was both the offensive coordinator at NC State and the head coach at Appalachian State.
Now, due to a pair of medical redshirts and the NCAA not counting 2020 against any player’s eligibility, Hopper is playing his super, super, super senior year for Drinkwitz at Missouri.
“One of my old coaches used to say adversity is going to hit, it’s just how you handle it,” Hopper told reporters Monday, when Tiger seniors were made available to the media. “And I feel like I’ve overcome a lot and handled it pretty well. So just having that mindset, just continuing to grind and push through things, made me want to play that extra year of football.”
Jernigan, meanwhile, spent the entire 2020 season sidelined by myocarditis, a side effect after he contracted COVID-19. Unable to play, practice or even work out with his Oklahoma State teammates due to the heart condition, he left Stillwater and spent a semester with his family. He entertained the idea that his playing career might have come to an end.
“I took a step out of football,” he said. “When they diagnosed me with that, I really just stepped away and really just stayed with my family. I didn’t stay in Stillwater that season. I’d be at home games, but that was it. Just for me mentally.
“Really, at one point I didn’t think I was going to play football anymore. So I really started focusing more on academics, took more classes. And then when I saw that it was getting better, I just put my transition back into football.”
Now, both players have converged at Missouri, both feeling stronger for having overcome adversity earlier in their college careers. The two newcomers are part of a wave of transfers brought in by Drinkwitz in an effort to speed up the rebuilding process at Missouri — and particularly on the defensive line. With three transfers already added to the defensive front since the end of last season, the Tiger players believe the unit can build off its improvement from the end of last year and put together a strong 2021 campaign.
“From this year to last year, we have, I think, a lot more guys who are all on the same page,” defensive tackle Realus George said. “I think everybody is ready to get to work on stuff we’ve been working on. We had a really good offseason, winter training and now we’re trying to go to spring ball and see what we can work on. We’re all excited just about how we finished last year so we’re just trying to improve on that."
Prior to last season, both Drinkwitz and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks predicted that Missouri’s defensive line would be the strength of the team. That didn’t exactly come to fruition. The Tigers’ front seven routinely got gashed on the ground during the first two-thirds of the season. The defense spent several weeks ranked last in the FBS against the run. That resulted in the firing of defensive line coach Jethro Franklin just five games into the season.
During the final few weeks, however, the defensive front found its footing. Defensive ends Isaiah McGuire and Trajan Jeffcoat combined to record 10.5 tackles for loss in the team’s last four games. At defensive tackle, Darius Robinson got healthy and true freshman Mekhi Wingo saw his playing time continually expand. Missouri held three of its final four opponents under four yards per carry after keeping just one of its first nine below that mark.
Then Wingo entered the transfer portal and Wilks left for the Carolina Panthers and some doubt resurfaced about the defense, particularly up front. But the actual players who will man the defensive line expressed optimism about the unit this season, in large part because of the arrival of the team’s three transfers (Hopper, Jernigan and former Auburn defensive end Ian Matthews) as well as a new coaching setup.
“All three of them, they’re cool guys, and I’ve really had a good time getting stronger with them, working out with them and stuff,” George said of the newcomers. “But I’m ready to see what they can do on the field. I mean, I’ve watched them on tape and stuff before they came in, and we’ll watch each other’s tape in the d-line room and just tell each other what we can get better at. So I’m excited to see what we can do together.”
Jernigan is expected to man the interior of the defensive line, while Hopper described himself as a “true defensive end.” Jernigan has proven that he can produce at a high level. At Oklahoma State last season, he logged 22 tackles, including two for loss, for a defense that ranked fourth nationally against the run last season. Yet he never broke into the starting lineup, and with both starters at the position set to return in 2021, he wanted to find a situation that would allow him to showcase his ability in an expanded role.
“It was just the opportunity to get to the NFL,” Jernigan said. “... I was a backup, and the d-tackle that was in front of me, he was coming back for his sixth year. And for me, I just wanted the opportunity to go ahead and start somewhere. Because I felt like I deserved it.”
At 6-foot, 265 pounds, Jernigan doesn’t feature the size of a typical interior lineman. (He said he’d like to bulk up to about 280 to 285 by the start of the season.) But he believes he makes up for his lack of size by being quick and technically sound. He said his skillset would fit in well next to the larger Robinson.
“I’m a big technique guy,” he said. “So for me, if my technique is not 100 percent, I’m going to get mad at myself. So I just make sure I have technique and I have quickness. Nobody is going to beat me off the ball.”
Hopper, too, is looking to use his season at Missouri to prove himself. Hopper suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in North Carolina’s second game of last year, the second time he had a season prematurely curtailed by injury. He opted to use his seventh season of eligibility to audition for the NFL.
“I know what I can do as an athlete,” he said. “So that was the biggest thing, just getting that year to get here and ball out and try to prove myself to get to the next level.”
Hopper said he prides himself on his versatility. The past three years, he played mostly outside linebacker in North Carolina’s 3-4 defensive scheme, so he said he’s comfortable rushing the passer, setting the edge or dropping into coverage.
“As a defensive end, we’re going to have plays where we can drop,” Hopper said. “I can do that, and I can come off the edge and I can rush. So I bring all those things to the table. I just know that I’m very versatile and can get it all done.”
Clearly, both Hopper and Jernigan came to Missouri with a plan to play a significant role. But both also expressed an understanding that nothing will be handed to them, saying they’ll have to work their way up the depth chart. Jernigan noted that he’s already gotten tape of the drills the defensive tackles do in practice and been working on them on his own, in addition to team workouts, so that he’s not behind once spring practice begins on Friday.
“I just come in with a grinding mindset,” said Hopper. “It’s basically like you’re coming out of high school, you gotta work your way up. So I’m just coming in with that mentality. I’m just going to work my way up and prove that I deserve a spot on that field.”
It’s not just the two new players that have the defensive line buzzing, but a new addition to the coaching staff, as well. Drinkwitz promoted Al Davis, who took over for Franklin last season, to a full-time role. But he also hired a second defensive line coach in Kevin Peoples. Davis will coach the defensive tackles, while Peoples will instruct the ends. Players say they’re in favor of the two-coach system because it will allow each of them more individual instruction.
“It’s another set of eyes with a lot of experience in our room, which just gives us more knowledge to be able to learn more, have more resources, and just being able to be there for us,” Robinson said. “So now everybody will be able to have more time with their coach. So that’s going to be good for us.”
While there’s reason to be optimistic about the outlook for next season, a few of Missouri’s defensive linemen also expressed some humility, saying last year’s slow start showed that they needed to be better prepared from the outset. That process will start Friday, when the team takes the field for its first practice of the spring.
Friday will also mark the official beginning of Hopper and Jernigan’s audition for playing time. Both players expressed confidence that they can work their way into their desired roles, citing the adversity they had to overcome just to make it to Missouri. But Robinson made clear that nothing will be given.
“It’s a lot of open spots,” Robinson said. “So whoever is willing to compete and work hard will get the spots, and that’s really it. Everybody knows the opportunity is here, so let’s see who works.”
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