Eli Drinkwitz, Kirk Ferentz and their coordinators all held a joint press conference Sunday to prepare for the Music City Bowl on Monday.
Here are some of Drinwkitz’s quotes I found most telling and what was left unsaid.
When asked about the senior class playing its final game
What Drinkwitz said: “There’s a ton of construction going on at Faurot Field right now and right before we left, they’d already torn down all the bricks in the north end zone and it was just a reminder of all the hard work that this senior class has done and I told those guys before we left that none of this would be possible if it wasn’t for them. Their resiliency, their toughness, their commitment to seeing it through. So I have a lot of appreciation for all of them.”
What went unsaid: Let’s take out the one-year seniors who transferred in when I make this next statement.
This year’s senior group has helped flip the script of Mizzou football.
The Brady Cooks and Johnny Walker Jrs. all the way to the Drake Heismeyers. They came in during a coaching change with the program in flux and went through a couple of years of being an afterthought and helped build the team all the way to being ranked in every edition of the College Football Playoff rankings during the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
They, along with last year’s senior group, helped build a foundation of success that the Tigers should be able to jump off of into even bigger heights if the team is able to take advantage.
There’s a lot to be proud of this year’s seniors for.
When asked about having so few players option out and building a culture
What Drinkwitz said: “In order to have a good culture, you have to have a foundation. I think as long as we’re consistent and developing an elite edge in the strength and conditioning program and focusing on our core values and understand what the goal for our program is. It is front and center to everything we do. If you want to chase your dreams, if it’s a life in football, if it’s a life outside of the game, we want to make sure we play for championships and playing in the bowl game is an opportunity to play for a championship. … When you look across college football, our two programs have done a really good job. We’ve had two opt-outs on both sides because of potential NFL futures and careers and we totally understand that, but the rest of these senior classes want to play.”
What went unsaid: OK, first off, yes both the Tigers and Hawkeyes have done a very good job of keeping guys from opting out of bowl games this year and last year.
But it’s not like there were a ton of guys for Mizzou who had a reason to this season. Luther Burden is opting out because he’s going to be a first-round pick, Armand Membou opted out because he’s going to be close and wanted to prepare for the combine where he’s likely to test well.
Which other seniors would have opted out this year? Johnny Walker is a fringe NFL candidate, more tape is advantageous for him, that’s why he’s also going to the senior bowl. Theo Wease will probably get a shot at the next level, but again, an extra game or two could do wonders for his stock, especially since he’ll be WR1 on Monday. Cook is at best a backup at the next level. The other seniors get to extend their careers by a game.
Why would they have opted out? I don’t really get this talking point.
Guys started opting out BECAUSE they had the NFL to prepare for and the two Tigers who are surefire top-end picks did that. It’s a financial decision, it’s not like Chuck Hicks opting out to be with his wife and child is the normal opt-out case. So ya, a lot of Missouri’s seniors are playing, just like every other team’s seniors who aren’t going to continue their football careers after their bowl game.
Last year was a different case for Mizzou when Darius Robinson, Ennis Rakestraw, Kris Abrams-Draine and Javon Foster all played. Those guys all could have reasonably said they wanted to prepare for the draft, that’s it’s own case. But this year, not so much.
When asked about Triston Newson and the JUCO eligibility ruling
What Drinkwitz said: “I’ve come to the point where I realize my opinion doesn’t matter. Until there’s somebody actually in charge of college football, our opinions are just wasted breath. People can take those opinions and twist them and turn them however they want to. They either use it against the coach or they use it to prove their point on social media. It’s really a waste of time I think for me. For our program, it’s about utilizing the new rule change to try to benefit your program in the best way possible and be adaptable like I said. So, I’m not going to get caught up making bold statements and all that. … We’ve had a conversation with Tristan, it’s up to him. We would love to have him back and we would welcome him back with open arms.”
What went unsaid: The timing of that decision is about as bad as it could have been, I’m sure the portal strategy would have been different if the Tigers thought there would be some continuity at linebacker. Instead, that ended up being about the best position they covered with transfers.
Whether Newson decides to come back is what it is, that’s his decision to make. I don’t like that we’re just giving guys more and more excuses to stay at the college level longer, but like Drinkwitz said of his own opinion, mine doesn’t matter one bit.
The most important thing is Drinkwitz keeps talking about being adaptable when it comes to rule changes. He’s willing to change and do whatever is best to build a winner moving forward with whatever new rules and roster-building tools are available to him.
When asked about getting to double-digit wins in consecutive years
What Drinkwitz said: “It’s a standalone game, it’s really different than what you had at the end of the season because of the free agency period that occurs. So for us this is, I hate to be like this, but it really is an exhibition game and for us it’s an opportunity to take our players and play one last time together. If you’re fortunate enough to win, it catapults you into next year.”
What went unsaid: First, Drinkwitz said multiple times in the press conference that this is a chance to play for a championship, it’s the Music City Bowl championship, but still, that’s how he’s looking at it. I don’t want the use to ‘exhibition game’ here to make it seem like he’s not taking it seriously.
But also, that’s what every bowl that isn’t part of the CFP is now, they’re all exhibitions. The most important part of getting into a late bowl like this is the Tigers got an extra couple of weeks of practice to keep the young guys developing.
Winning this game is important. Getting to double-digit wins in consecutive seasons is important. But this game is an exhibition, that’s the sad case for almost every bowl.
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