12/19/2018 football Edit

Chris Daniels explains why he signed with Mizzou

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Gabe DeArmond

Publisher

Back in early May, Co-Lin Community College defensive tackle Chris Daniels committed to Minnesota. He stayed a Gopher commit for months, but the Missouri Tigers never completely left his mind.

"Even though I was committed to Minnesota I was still praying," Daniels said. "And at the end of the day I signed with Missouri. I've got Jordan Elliott right next to me and Brick Haley is my position coach."

Those two were key in Daniels switching his commitment to Mizzou during an official visit the weekend of November 23rd. He didn't publicly commit until Wednesday morning, but he told Elliott he was coming that weekend. The two were teammates at Texas as true freshmen in 2016 when Haley was the Longhorns' defensive line coach. Elliott transferred to Mizzou prior to the 2017 season. Daniels left Austin early in that season and went the junior college route.

"I got my best friend right next to me," Daniels said. "Jordan really is like my brother

But Daniels' connection to Missouri actually ran even deeper. Barry Odom was the Tigers' defensive coordinator when Daniels was being recruited out of Euless Trinity (TX) and he tried to get the four-star Rivals250 prospect to Columbia back then.

"I was set on Texas pretty early, but that kind of laid the foundation," Daniels said.

Daniels graduated from Co-Lin this month, putting together a 3.5 grade point average in his final semester. He will arrive on campus in January with the goal of starting in the middle of the defensive line next to his best friend.

"We gonna be pushing each other to see who can be the best," Daniels said. "It's basically a race to get to the quarterback first. We know it’s not a game anymore like when we were freshmen."

It didn't hurt the Tigers' chances that Daniels' visit coincided with the Arkansas game, where Elliott had three-and-a-half sacks and was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week.

"He went off," Daniels said. "If my brother can do that, I can too."

Catch up on everything that has happened at Mizzou on Signing Day here and follow along with the other announcements the Tigers are still involved in.