For months, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz has promoted Missouri’s stability amidst chaos in college football. Well, he’s sticking to his word. On Thursday, Mizzou defensive coordinator Blake Baker and offensive coordinator Kirby Moore agreed to contract extensions. However, the terms of those extensions haven't yet been released.
Baker’s extension is the second in as many years. His current deal was a three-year contract that gave him a raise north of $400,000 and was to keep him through the 2025 season.
The second-year defensive coordinator continued to build on the success of last year’s 34th-ranked defense, with this year’s squad being ranked 38th in the FBS, allowing 347.2 yards per game.
In addition to the team play, Baker had three defenders, defensive end Darius Robinson, cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine and Ty'Ron Hopper, get selected to the All-SEC teams, with Abrams-Draine being selected as an AP and FWAA second-team All-American.
As for Moore, he was tasked with not only being the new offensive coordinator but the new quarterbacks coach and play caller. In his first season, the Tigers have gotten drastically better, with the team improving in scoring, passing, rushing and in the red zone.
Under Moore, quarterback Brady Cook went from competing for his starting job to one of the league's better quarterbacks.
Running back Cody Schrader has become a national success story after leading the conference in rushing with 1,499 yards and 13 touchdowns. The former Division II product was awarded the Burlsworthy Trophy earlier this month, awarded to the nation's best former walk-in.
Wide receiver Luther Burden III moved to the slot and took a major lead forward into superstar status. He recorded 83 receptions for 1,197 yards and eight touchdowns.
The offensive line was a Joe Moore Award semifinalist as Moore and first-year offensive line coach Brandon Jones helped rectify a lot of the issues the team had last year and improve the play of several players on the offensive line. Most notably, left guard Xavier Delgado and center Connor Tollison, a pair of players who were also fighting to retain their starting roles for much of the offseason.
Schrader, Burden and left tackle Javon Foster were selected as AP All-Americans with Schrader and Foster also earning second-team FWAA All-American honors.
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