Missouri held its fourth football practice of fall camp Monday morning, but the news of the day didn’t have anything to do with the action on the practice fields. The university announced Sunday that it will hire former UNLV athletics director Desiree Reed-Francois to replace Jim Sterk. The hire is expected to be officially approved by the Board of Curators on Tuesday.
Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz opened his post-practice press conference Monday by welcoming Reed-Francois to the department.
“Excited about the choice that our president and curators brought in, and looking forward to get to work with her and continue our goals of raising the profile of Mizzou athletics, working with her as a team, but also our goal of competing for championships here in the SEC,” Drinkwitz said.
Drinkwitz said he has never met Reed-Francois in person, but he’s excited about her ability to bring a fresh energy and new perspective to the athletics department. Reed-Francois arrives at a tumultuous time in college athletics, as in the past year, the NCAA has approved the one-time transfer waiver for athletes of all sports and allowed players to monetize their names, images and likenesses The SEC is getting a makeover, as well, with Texas and Oklahoma set to join the conference at some point between 2022 and 2025.
“Very excited about what she’s going to bring to the table,” Drinkwitz said. “I think anytime you have a fresh perspective and fresh eyes and fresh ideas, it’s an opportunity for us to grow and learn. Obviously she’s got great experience, has been in the SEC before, has done nice work at Virginia Tech and UNLV. So look forward to partnering with her and continuing to push this program forward and this athletics department forward.”
While he may be optimistic about the new ideas Reed-Francois can bring to Missouri, Drinkwitz made clear that he wasn’t disparaging Sterk, who stepped down on July 26. Missouri will pay Sterk the full two years’ salary remaining on his contract, nearly $1.5 million.
“Got a lot of respect for Jim Sterk,” Drinkwitz said. “Obviously I owe him a lot for bringing me here to Missouri and have a tremendous amount of respect for what he did for our program, obviously getting the indoor done and giving me the opportunity to be the head football coach. So wish him all the best and know that we’ll continue to have a friendship and a relationship moving forward.”
Swinson looking to break through
When Missouri’s assistant coaches spoke to members of the media last week, tight ends coach Casey Woods didn’t hide the fact that the Tigers are going to need someone new to emerge at his position in 2021. The team brings back Daniel Parker Jr. and Niko Hea, who played the majority of snaps a season ago, but lost Logan Christopherson to a medical retirement. Christopherson played 139 snaps last year, 79 more than the team’s fourth tight end, Messiah Swinson.
Missouri won’t be able to make it through an entire season with just two tight ends, so Woods said either Swinson or one of the team’s two true freshmen, Ryan Hoerstkamp and Gavin McKay, will be counted on to play a larger role.
“Either Messiah Swinson has got to step up — which, he’s the guy that has been in the program the longest,” Woods said. “Certainly I think it benefitted Ryan coming in in January because he’s going to have a chance to enter fall camp knowing what it is that we’re doing so he can just improve and get better and better and better. I’d like to play as many guys as I can, so if those guys put themselves in a position to help us, then I would absolutely love to play as many guys as I can.”
Swinson recognizes the opportunity in front of him and believes he can rise to the challenge. The fourth-year player came to Missouri with high expectations but has yet to turn them into on-field production. He has just two career catches, both of which came last season, for 38 yards.
Yet there’s legitimate reason for optimism that Swinson could finally break through. The 6-foot-8 specimen has always had the physical ability, but his first season ended before it started when he tore his ACL during fall camp, and he didn’t return to full speed by the time the 2019 season began. A year ago, he had struggled to learn a new offense during a disjointed offseason, and to make matters worse, he contracted COVID-19 shortly before fall camp kicked off. After the two-week quarantine, he began practices physically and mentally behind the other players at his position.
“I came off COVID going straight into camp, came right out of quarantine,” Swinson said. “So for me, I just kind of felt like I wasn’t fully prepared physically and mentally for camp. There were other dudes that were a couple steps ahead of me. So now I feel so much more confident, like mentally, physically, my body is different. I’m stronger, gotten a lot faster, I dropped my body fat a whole bunch. So I just feel a lot better overall just because of all the preparation I put in.”
The biggest difference between this season and years past for Swinson is his grasp of the offense. He pretty much only had to catch passes as a high-school player, and he admits he struggled to learn all the different blocking and route-running aspects of playing tight end in college. This offseason, he’s been more diligent about studying the playbook and watching film, both of Missouri’s offense and of NFL players at his position. As a result, the game has slowed down in his eyes.
“It just makes everything a lot slower,” Swinson said. “Like, when you’re out there and you don’t really see, you can’t really understand what’s going on, everything’s moving so fast and your head is all over the place. But now for me, it’s like I understand all the plays, I understand the playbook, so it’s just a matter of me getting the position I need to be in.”
Parker has seen a different Swinson this offseason, saying a breakthrough came when Swinson “accepted his failure.” If Swinson can indeed emerge as a reliable contributor, the entire Missouri offense should benefit. The Tigers struggled to find a reliable receiving threat from the position a season ago, as the tight ends combined to catch 27 passes across 10 games. Missouri could especially use a consistent red zone target. Quarterback Connor Bazelak threw just seven touchdown passes a season ago, and Larry Rountree III and his 14 rushing touchdowns are gone to the NFL.
Given his size and receiving ability, Swinson believes he can step into that role.
“Pass-catching is something that I’ve been doing as a kid and something I really love and I really enjoy, and I enjoy watching the big, athletic tight ends like the Darren Wallers and all those dudes who are huge, huge threats in the red zone,” Swinson said. “So I feel like I can definitely offer a lot in the red zone, I can definitely be a big part of our red zone scoring.”
McGuire to stick to DE this season
A player from the opposite side of the ball who could be poised for a breakout season is defensive lineman Isaiah McGuire. Speaking at SEC Media Days last month, defensive tackle Akial Byers singled out McGuire as the player he’s been most impressed with this offseason.
“He comes to work every day and he’s being more vocal,” Byers said. … “I’ve seen tremendous improvement.”
McGuire said Monday that he feels more comfortable than he did leading up to his first two years at Missouri, both because of his experience and the fact that he’s exclusively playing one position. Last year, McGuire split his time between defensive tackle and defensive end. This year, he’s focusing solely on the edge.
McGuire, who totaled 18 tackles and three sacks last season, said he’s devoted himself to becoming more of a technician this year. He also feels more comfortable with some of the responsibilities that come with playing on the edge rather than the interior of the line.
“The biggest differences are reading your keys,” McGuire said. “As the defensive end, I have to look at who’s coming back across the line, such as a Y-off, or maybe even a guard or tackle pull. Also, reading the quarterback, reading who’s a key mesh point, a read option or a toss option.”
One of the primary questions about Missouri’s defense entering the season has been who will start opposite Trajan Jeffcoat at defensive end. With McGuire playing the position full-time, he looks like the favorite. If he can live up to Byers’ expectations, it would free up Jeffcoat and the rest of the defensive line to put some heat on opposing quarterbacks.
Injury report
According to Drinkwitz, through four days of camp, Missouri hasn’t seen any significant injuries. A few players have been absent from the practice field, however.
Senior wide receiver Micah Wilson and junior linebacker Chad Bailey were not spotted on the field either Friday or Monday. Drinkwitz said both players are still on the team but are “dealing with sickness.” He didn’t offer any other specifics. Wilson, a former quarterback, caught five passes for 81 yards and a touchdown last season. Bailey recorded 11 tackles and is expected to contend for a spot on the two-deep, especially after Cameron Wilkins entered the transfer portal on Friday.
Two true freshmen have yet to make their camp debuts, as well. Cornerback Zxaequan Reeves suffered an injury during the summer, according to Drinkwitz, while defensive end Jonathan Jones has been sidelined by “a pre-existing condition.” Drinkwitz did not reveal the specific nature of either injury or speculate on when either player might return to the field.
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