How Mizzou landed Ennis Rakestraw
When Ennis Rakestraw Jr. passed the Texas hat sitting in front of him to a person on his left, then the Alabama hat to the right, then pulled a Missouri hat over his head and yelled “Mizzou,” Eliah Drinkwitz began yelling himself. Roughly 600 miles away from Rakestraw’s signing day ceremony, in the Mizzou football offices, Drinkwitz watched a live stream on his phone. When it became clear that there would be no more hat fake-outs, that Rakestraw would be a Tiger, Drinkwitz leapt out of his chair, screamed “oh my God!” He unleashed a Tiger Woods-esque fist pump and smacked the table in front of him with both hands. He tore through the hallways of the facility, hugging the assistants who came out to greet him and flinging open closed doors to find someone else to embrace.
By the time Drinkwitz met with reporters to discuss Missouri’s 2020 signing class, the video of his reaction to Rakestraw’s commitment had gone viral. Predictably, the first question was about Rakestraw, whether or not Drinkwitz had an inkling before the ceremony that the Duncanville, Texas native would choose the Tigers.
“Well, either I was a heck of an actor or I was totally shocked,” Drinkwitz said with a grin, “One of the two.”
Rakestraw’s Rivals Rating may not indicate it, but Drinkwitz’s reaction made clear that he is the crown jewel of Drinkwitz’s debut recruiting class. The Tigers inked five players Wednesday to bring the total number of signees in the class to 17. Rakestraw was the only among them who wasn’t committed to the Tigers at the start of the day. Wednesday afternoon, Drinkwitz provided some insight into how the Tigers lured Rakestraw away from the flagship university in his home state and the perennial power he called his “dream school.”
While Drinkwitz will, deservedly, receive credit for sealing the deal with Rakestraw, the corner’s relationship with Missouri predates his hire. Rakestraw came on the Tigers’ radar when they recruited his high school secondary mate Stacy Brown, now a sophomore at Missouri. Then, on Oct. 18, Missouri became the first Power Five school to offer Rakestraw. That would prove pivotal. According to the Dallas Morning News, at his signing ceremony, Rakestraw said the Missouri coaches “have always been there, even when I blew up. They never changed on me, even when I had problems.”
Thanks to both a strong senior season in which he didn’t surrender a single touchdown pass and teams needing to fill out their rosters following December’s early signing period, Rakestraw’s recruitment really exploded in the past six weeks. In the days following Christmas, he received offers from Baylor, Miami, Michigan State, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. But led by cornerbacks coach David Gibbs, who took the lead on Rakestraw’s recruitment and who Drinkwitz retained from Barry Odom’s staff, Missouri continued to check in on Rakestraw. Eventually, Rakestraw named a top three of Missouri, Alabama and Texas and planned official visits to all three schools.
Wednesday, Drinkwitz praised Gibbs, as well as retained defensive coordinator Ryan Walters and defensive line coach Brick Haley, for “working their butt off” even during the days of uncertainty whether they were going to remain on staff. Once he started filling out the rest of the staff, he made sure other coaches aside from Gibbs got in Rakestraw’s ear as well, himself included.
“We also knew that we needed to get Charlie Harbison involved,” Drinkwitz said. “His wife, Miss Tammy, was great on the official visit, making a connection there. Ryan (Walters), obviously, was involved. Ryan has a great relationship with the head coach at Duncanville. And then, obviously, as the head coach, you have to have the ability to sell who you are and what the vision of the program is going to be moving forward.”
Rakestraw used his first official visit to travel to Missouri on the weekend of Jan. 18. He went to Tuscaloosa the following weekend, then to Austin the week after that. In between, Drinkwitz paid Rakestraw a home visit — and brought a third of his staff with him. Last Thursday, Rakestraw tweeted a picture of himself and his siblings alongside Drinkwitz, Gibbs, Walters and Harbison. (He had received in-homes from Alabama head coach Nick Saban and Texas head coach Tom Herman earlier in the week.)
As signing day approached, Drinkwitz felt good about Missouri’s positioning. He revealed that Rakestraw had, at one point, “given us the indication that he was going to come here.” But nothing in recruiting is sealed until pen meets paper, especially with bluebloods like Texas and Alabama as the competition. Drinkwitz and his staff contacted Rakestraw and his family members around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night, and that was the last he had heard prior to watching Rakestraw’s signing ceremony.
“I was not sure,” Drinkwitz said. “I was not sure at all. And I knew that that a couple other schools and made really strong cases, and obviously had been in the home and been on official visits and knew that they really wanted him really bad.”
During his celebratory rampage through the football facility hallway, Drinkwitz hugged Walters first, then “Gibby,” as he called Gibbs, then Harbison. He credited those three for building a relationship that withstood the glamor of playing for Texas or Alabama.
“Credit to coach Gibbs, coach Harbison, coach Walters for building a relationship with high school coach, with parents, with all the influencers,” he said. “They did a nice job of getting us over the top there.”
Rakestraw will arrive on campus this summer, but it’s possible he could compete for immediate playing time, especially given the recent transfer of cornerback Christian Holmes. Drinkwitz praised his length and his versatility.
“Ennis has great length, ball skills. He's got transition ability, speed, ability to play man-to-man, can mix it up in some zone coverage, track the ball down the field. He's a willing tackler, so he can set the edge if we want to run sort of (cover two) where he's a primary run stopper. So he provides a lot position versatility, and obviously with his length, provides us the ability to play man-to-man and match up with wide receivers in this conference.”
Given the mere eight-day turnaround between when his hire was announced and the early signing period, Drinkwitz knew he would have several gaps to fill in February. Normally, with about three-quarters of high school prospects already signed by that point, coaches have to get creative, scouring the junior college and transfer ranks, to do so. No one would have predicted Drinkwitz and his staff to beat out legitimate offers from the likes of Alabama and Texas for a recruit during this cycle. Given his jubilation upon hearing the news, that may have included the head coach himself.
“I was that excited for everybody (that signed),” Drinkwitz said with a smile, “they just happened to film that one.”