Missouri football coach Eliah Drinkwitz met with the media after spring practice No. 2 on Saturday, here are a few of his quotes that stood out and what I think went unsaid in them.
I think there will be two editions of this story, with the next coming tomorrow. He talked about a lot and I don’t want this to be 1,500 words.
When asked about seeing new players in person after watching them on tape
What Drinkwitz said: “We’ve got a ton of new guys here, right? Between early enrollee freshmen and then transfers and so, you know, it’s important for us. You know, spring is all about individual player development, it’s all about growth and so not to try to put too much pressure on themselves to come out here. … I told them, today should be the worst day you are as a Missouri football player, because it’s your first day and you’re unsure of everything. From this point on, it’s about growing and getting better.”
What went unsaid: There are 28 new players already on roster with more freshmen to come in the summer. That’s a ton of new faces and a lot of them are going to be relied upon heavily early on.
It’s been all of two practices, so there’s no way for even the coaching staff to fully know what they have, but there’s a lot of talent that joined the Tigers this offseason and you should expect to see a lot of new faces on the field regularly come fall.
When asked about Darris Smith returning from injury
What Drinkwitz said: “Darris is out there right now, he’s going through what he can. Again, he’s one of those we want to be really cautious just because of his length and speed and twitch and so everything’s on track, but we limit the contact that we can have. He’s going through individual, he’s doing all the non-contact stuff that he can.”
What went unsaid: The Tigers have the potential to have an incredible edge rusher room and Smith could be a big part of that, but coming off a very serious injury, he’s going to need time to get back up to speed.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we continue to not see a ton of him in spring practice. I think the coaching staff knows his ability, the point of getting him through workouts at this point is to have him ready to really jump in during fall camp and get to speed fully then.
When asked about the plan for the quarterback room
What Drinkwitz said: “There’s an old saying, ‘When the student is ready, the teacher will appear,’ right? I think, you know, the quarterback position, there is no timeline, no timetable. When the starting quarterback makes himself known to the rest of the team, we’ll announce the starter. But I told those guys that there is no plan to try to name a starter through spring. I don’t really believe in that because I think it puts too much pressure on the team and everybody involved. This is about individual player development.”
What went unsaid: Well, there you have it, we’re not going to know who the starter is at the end of March. That was pretty expected at this point, Drinkwitz has drawn out his quarterback competitions every year except for 2024, so we’ll see both Beau Pribula and Sam Horn as well as some Drew Pyne throughout spring practice.
Drinkwitz even said they played rock-paper-scissors to see who would take the first snap Saturday so media wouldn’t go crazy over the order of snaps.
Especially with Pribula adjusting to a new school and a new program, it makes sense not to immediately throw “now earn the starting job” in his face in practice No. 1. I just don’t want it to drag too close to the season.
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