Notebook: Missouri begins spring football with 'Wikipedia' offense

As the Missouri football team took the field Tuesday morning for its first practice of the spring, the biggest subject of intrigue was, naturally, how the offense would look under new coordinator Derek Dooley. The team didn’t showcase much of that offense Tuesday, as players wore only helmets and practice jerseys without pads and a blustery breeze wreaked havoc on passes thrown by Drew Lock and the rest of the quarterbacks. Even if the team had scrimmaged Tuesday, Dooley said the offense would likely look little like the one that fans will see in the Tigers’ season-opener on Sept. 1 against Tennessee-Martin.

Dooley’s new scheme is still a work in progress, and he’s not the only author.

Dooley compared Missouri’s offense to “Wikipedia,” alluding to the fact that it will consist of a hodgepodge of concepts from a variety of sources. Elements will be retained from the Tigers’ offense last season, which led the SEC in yards and points per game under Josh Heupel, and combined with aspects from Dooley’s past stops as the head coach at Tennessee and wide receivers coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

“The idea is, I don’t want to just cram some system down them and everything they do is brand new,” Dooley said. “So we want to build on some things they did well here, we want to add some things to help us have a little flexibility in how we attack defenses.

“I call it Wikipedia. That’s what it is, our offense, Wikipedia right now. Every day you go on it, there’s a new sentence. ‘Oh, I wonder who added that?’”

Dooley explained that part of that building process will be conferring with Lock, who set an SEC record for touchdown passes in a single season a year ago, about what concepts he is most comfortable with. Dooley’s system will include several new elements for Lock, including taking snaps up under center, which he almost never did in Heupel’s scheme.

“A lot of this stuff is foreign to (Lock),” Dooley said. “Some of these drop back plays, I think, is something that he wants. It’s not something you’re going to get in a day.”

While the Tiger offense may still be a work in progress, head coach Barry Odom said that progress is further along than it was two years ago, when Heupel took over for Josh Henson. Dooley’s willingness to retain some of the team’s old principles and verbiage has helped in that regard.

“I’d say we’re quite a bit further along, just because there is so much carry-over on what we’ve done,” Odom said. “… There weren’t many breakdowns today in 11-on-11s, not many breakdowns in communication today, not many mental errors.”

Dooley set the end of spring football as a deadline of sorts for when he would like to have a good idea of what the offense will look like schematically. That way, the players will know what to expect entering fall camp and can focus on perfecting those concepts.

“We certainly want to come out of spring with a good idea of what core runs, throws, run actions, drop backs that we’re going to use,” Dooley said. “So we’re going to put a lot on them and then try to hone in on what our guys do best and what we feel most comfortable doing and then try to build on that in training camp.”

Walters excited about depth at defensive tackle

Terry Beckner Jr. made headlines when he decided to spurn the NFL Draft and return for his senior season. He certainly enters the spring as the biggest name on Missouri’s defensive line, but it’s the depth at Beckner’s position, defensive tackle, that has defensive coordinator Ryan Walters excited.

“Just being able to keep those guys fresh and competing with one another to vie for playing time, that’s only going to make us better,” Walters said.

Walters pointed to several other interior defensive linemen who he believes could have an impact this season. He called Akial Byers, who saw the field last season as a true freshman, “as talented as they come.” He also said he believes Caleb Sampson, who redshirted last season, could have an impact this year.

Walters raved about Texas transfer Jordan Elliott, who had to sit out a season ago. He said Elliott was a “monster” on the scout team last year, and has been equally impressive in offseason workouts this spring.

“He’s conditioning and running with the linebackers and tight ends and things like that,” Walters said. “To be his size and to be able to move and bend and be as powerful as he is, he’s got a chance to be special.”

Penalties to be avoided, even in practice

Several officials roamed the field during Tuesday’s practice, throwing flags during the one-on-one drills between defensive backs and receivers and the team’s non-contact, 11-on-11 session. The idea is to make sure players don’t form any habits that could get them penalized during the season.

To enforce such good habits, penalties come with consequences. Walters said one defensive back, redshirt freshman Terry Petry, learned that the hard way Tuesday.

“We keep track of (penalties), and some of the guys got up-downs after practice,” Walters said. “The guys were on Petry a little bit after practice, but he’ll be fine,”

Injury report

Four players wore red, non-contact jerseys during Tuesday’s practice. One of those, offensive lineman A.J. Harris, worked individually on the sidelines with a trainer, rather than go through drills with the rest of the line. Team spokesperson Chad Moeller said Harris is still rehabbing from a knee injury suffered in practice prior to last year’s Texas Bowl.

Linebacker Jamal Brooks is also recovering from a knee injury. Brooks tore his ACL in last year’s regular season finale against Arkansas. Fellow linebacker Tavon Ross and safety Tyree Gillespie also wore non-contact jerseys, but they appeared to participate in some drills. Moeller said both underwent offseason shoulder surgery.