New assistants getting to know returning players
In the month or so since new head football coach Eliah Drinkwitz has filled out his Missouri staff, his new hires haven’t had much of an opportunity to familiarize themselves with Columbia. The coaching staff immediately dove head-first into recruiting. With National Signing Day looming on Wednesday, the staff has added six prospects and a graduate transfer to Missouri’s original list of 10 players who signed in December, plus landed two commits in the 2021 class.
“I don’t know if I’ve spent 48 hours—I know I haven’t spent 72 hours—in CoMo at all because I’ve been on the road recruiting,” said new offensive line coach Marcus Johnson, whose hire was finalized Jan. 10.
Despite the travel demands of recruiting future players, however, Drinkwitz has asked his seven new assistant coaches to also find time to develop relationships with those currently on the Tiger roster. As of Monday, when the group spoke to the media for the first time since their respective hirings, some coaches seemed to have developed intimate knowledge of their position groups, while others admitted they had work to do on that front.
Now that the 2020 signing class has largely been finalized, building relationships with the current roster will become the staff’s top priority both during and outside of team workouts this week.
“We’ve just not had a ton of time with them yet,” new tight ends coach Casey Woods explained. “Coach Drink’s really encouraged us. We’ve tried to stay in touch with them on the phone, we’ve been with them a couple times, we’ve got young entry-level coaches here that have really been working with them. (Tuesday) morning’s our first time, we’re going to jump out there with them at 6 a.m., get our hands dirty.”
Johnson has had the most hectic past month of any of the new assistants, so it’s not a surprise that he hasn’t been able to spend much time with his position group. Johnson was let go by Mississippi State after the school fired head coach Joe Moorhead on Jan. 3, and he said he began conversations with Drinkwitz the following day. Tuesday night, he plans to eat dinner and go bowling with the offensive line.
Woods, who joined Missouri’s staff following three seasons at UAB, had similar plans to get to know the tight ends.
“I’m going to take them to eat (Tuesday) night,” Woods said. “Really excited about that. From the initial reaction I’ve had from these guys I’m really excited to coach them. They’re excited, their parents are excited.”
New running backs coach Curtis Luper falls on the other end of the spectrum. Luper said “recruiting the current roster is more important than recruiting the 2020 class,” and he has already reviewed film of every carry from the past season. Doing so might have been a bit more pressing for Luper since Missouri’s top two rushers from a season ago, Larry Rountree III and Tyler Badie, likely had options to play elsewhere in 2020. Rountree was eligible to declare for the NFL Draft, while Badie hinted that he might transfer in a cryptic social media post before ultimately announcing that he would return for his junior season.
Luper said he was pleased by what he saw of the duo on film.
“I sat down and watched every carry that they had this last season and I was impressed,” he said. “We can definitely win. You know what our goal is. Coach Drink has already said it multiple times. Our goal is to win the SEC East and a bowl game. So my room, we have what it takes to do that. Potentially.”
Luper also has a connection to one of the players who will contend to replace Kelly Bryant as the Tigers’ starting quarterback this season. He served as co-offensive coordinator for TCU while Shawn Robinson spent two seasons playing for the Horned Frogs. Robinson saw action in 12 games across the 2017 and 2018 seasons before transferring to Missouri and sitting out last year.
“I’ve been knowing Shawn since 10th grade, since he was at Denton Guyer,” Luper said. “Shawn has all the tools. He has a big arm, he has all the intangibles, he can run the football, he’s a big physical specimen. I think he has everything you need to succeed in this league.”
The job of coaching Robinson on a daily basis will not fall with Luper, but with former Washington offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan. Hamdan said he has gotten to spend some time with the group since being hired on New Year’s Day. While he didn’t mention any of the Tigers’ four scholarship quarterbacks by name, he said the starting spot will be determined by a competition beginning in spring practices. Redshirt junior Taylor Powell, redshirt freshman Connor Bazelak and true freshman Brady Cook will challenge Robinson for the top spot.
“I think all those guys are itching to get out there and prove themselves,” Hamdan said. “I think a lot of times you get in situations where you feel like you have to manufacture that part. The good thing about this situation is I think it’s there every day in every workout. We’re excited about really seeing all those (quarterbacks) and see where it goes.”
Hamdan will also coach the wide receivers. While he didn’t discuss any returners to that position group, he expressed excitement that Missouri was able to land graduate transfer Damon Hazelton Jr. from Virginia Tech. Hazelton, who has already enrolled at Missouri, led the Hokies with eight touchdowns each of the past two seasons. Meanwhile, the nine returning scholarship wideouts on the Tiger roster combined to catch just two scores in 2019.
“We had had a connection with him from previous situations,” Hamdan said of Hazelton. “Really excited about the receiving group, but the opportunity to add a veteran type guy who’s been in big games, been extremely productive, really for three years, it was a no-brainer for us.”
Players on the defensive side of the ball will be much more familiar with their coaches at the start of spring practices. Only one defensive assistant from last season, linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves, was not retained by Drinkwitz. Brick Haley will continue to coach the defensive line, David Gibbs will stay with cornerbacks and Ryan Walters will coach safeties in addition to his defensive coordinator duties. Veteran assistant Charlie Harbison will coach the hybrid strong safety/outside linebacker position, while D.J. Smith will take over coaching linebackers. Both coached under Drinkwitz last season at Appalachian State.
While Smith admitted that it has been “an absolute grind” to move halfway across the country, familiarize himself with a new roster and hit the road recruiting over the seven weeks since he was hired, he said he has begun to build a rapport with his position group. He specifically named rising junior Nick Bolton, who led Missouri with 103 tackles and was named to the all-SEC first team by the Associated Press last season.
“It’s been really good so far,” Smith said. “I’ve enjoyed those guys. They’ve enjoyed me, hopefully, and we just keep rocking and rolling every week.”