If you’ve seen Missouri linebacker Triston Newson around Columbia, you’ve probably noticed the ever present smile on his face. He has a lot to smile about these days.
He’s a starting linebacker for the sixth-ranked Missouri Tigers, but he didn’t just start smiling once he arrived in January 2023. He’s always had it. Even when his football dreams were hanging by a thread.
Newson played at Independence High School in Coldwater, Mississippi, a town of less than 2,000 people. He had a monster season in the fall of 2019 when he racked up 158 tackles, 37 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, four interceptions, seven forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
Those types of numbers would usually draw the attention of some Division I--or at least Division II--schools, but that didn’t happen for Newson. Playing in a rural area that wasn’t known for putting out much high-level football talent was one of the main reasons he felt like his career was on the verge of ending.
“He played at a 3A high school here in Mississippi, and the one thing I will say is his nickname is Country for a reason,” Newson’s former head coach at Northeast Mississippi Community College Greg Davis said. “He grew up in the country, back in the woods, and sometimes he didn't even have cell service. That's where he was.”
Newson only received JUCO offers from the likes of Coahoma, Co-Lin and Northeast Mississippi. After visiting all of them, he decided to commit to Northeast in January of 2020.
That was a win in itself for Newson.
“I really didn't think I was going to have a chance to play football again,” Newson said. “Then, I had the opportunity to play at Northeast Junior College and I just was blessed. They gave me a full scholarship. My mother didn't have to worry about paying any money. So, that was one of the big things for me. Just making sure I stayed blessed, and I just wanted to take advantage of the opportunity, and I had to let the coach know that.”
“When he first got on campus (for his official visit in mid-January of 2020), the first thing that I noticed was how positive the kid was and how infectious his smile was," Davis said. "He was always smiling. He was always grateful for everything that he got here and what he was doing, and he enjoyed the process. He was a great student, a great leader, and he was somebody who grew into the role that he's doing now.”
Another reason Newson was happy to go to Northeast was his size coming out of high school didn’t do him any favors. At about 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds he was undersized to be a linebacker.
“His size was a question,” Davis said. “When he came on his visit, one of the first things I said the next day at the staff meeting was, ‘We want this guy to play linebacker? Looks like a safety.’ They're like, “Coach, he's going to be a good player.’ And I said, ‘I can tell he has athleticism. I'm just trying to figure out (where he’s going to play) because he's not very big.’”
So, when Northeast signed Newson in 2020, it was like finding a diamond in the rough. Davis knew that Newson was a multi-sport athlete and that he was coachable, but it would take some time.
Newson didn’t play much in 2020 and then he saw some action in 2021 as a backup, but the spring of 2022 is when Davis and the team knew Newson wouldn’t be staying around much longer. Newson came into camp about 20-25 pounds heavier and proclaimed to Davis as they walked into a spring 2022 practice that he would have a breakout season in the fall.
“I think I know exactly what day it was. I think we were going full pads or something, and I was so motivated and pumped up, and I just remember going up and telling him, ‘Coach, this is going to be my year. I'm just going to give it everything I got,'" Newson recalled. "Because that was going into my last season. So I was like, I just want to play as hard as I can every game and take advantage of the opportunity.”
Davis remembers the conversation and he remembers that at the time, Newson didn’t have any offers or anything brewing, yet. But not too long after Newson’s claim, Division I coaches were coming to Northeast to check him out.
“I couldn't tell you the timeframe. It was maybe even a week or two later, but anyway, they're (Division I coaches) out spring recruiting, and I was talking to the coaches after the practice, and they’re like, ‘Who is that guy? Who is No. 10?’” Davis recalled. “And I was like, ‘Jersey No. 10?’ Because that wasn’t his jersey number the last season. So, I was like, ‘Jersey No. 10? Oh, that’s Triston Newson.’ They said, ‘Coach, that dude is a baller. We don't have a dude like this.’ These are seven (or) eight Division I coaches sitting here talking about Triston. Then, the offers started rolling in.”
Not only did Newson talk the talk, but he walked the walked, and during that same spring camp, Davis saw Newson’s proclamation come to light during one of the practices when it appeared no one could block him.
“We didn't have a guy that could go block him. We didn't have a receiver who could block him, a tight end, the offensive line, and nobody could block him,” Davis said. “I turned on the film one day and I ended up charting 15 tackles. I’m sitting there going, ‘Where does this guy come from?’ I knew that we had something special. As a coach, you always evaluate everything. But that day I sit there in practice and I said, ‘Man, this dude's got it.’ The light switch turned on and clicked on. It was something special when you clicked on and saw it.”
As Newson predicted, he did have a breakout year in 2022, amassing 107 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, two sacks, three interceptions, three pass deflections, four forced fumbles and one fumble recovery en route to JUCO All-American honors.
Davis, who has helped over 100 players advance to four-year schools, has only seen a couple of other guys that are as special as Newson is on and off the field.
"We've had three first-team All-American linebackers: Sam Williams, who plays for the Dallas Cowboys, obviously, Triston Newson and then I had a kid by the name of Keaton Thomas last year that starts at Baylor now. All three of those guys possess the same thing, great athleticism, leadership skills, great personalities, (and) infectious personalities. But when you're able to get out there and you're able to have a guy that is coachable, dependable and he holds himself and his teammates around him accountable, you have a success story."
Newson received an offer from Mizzou in early November and committed to the Tigers a couple of weeks later on Black Friday.
When Mizzou head coach Eli Drinkwitz and his staff first saw Newson’s film and thought about offering him, Drinkwitz remembers thinking Newson really had to stand out.
“Our first thoughts when we saw him play in junior college and we were recruiting him, typically, we weren't necessarily recruiting junior college players as much because the portal opened, but he was a dynamic player at the linebacker position.”
When Newson got to Mizzou in the spring of 2023, he made a similar impact for the Tigers as he did for Northeast the spring before. Newson was flying all over the place and quickly became known as a ballhawk. In the spring game, Newson had an interception he returned for a touchdown. It was one of many interceptions he had that spring.
“He’s really good,” former Mizzou defensive tackle Darius Robinson said during a 2023 spring presser. “He always gets the ball. He’s got like four or five picks in spring ball. I’m glad he’s here too. He definitely is making plays and working really hard for us."
“I think Triston Newson has had an outstanding spring,” Drinkwitz said during a spring 2023 presser. “He’s been player of the day multiple times not just on defense but on special teams.”
Unfortunately for Newson, the great spring camp didn’t parlay over to fall camp. He struggled in training camp and didn’t see the field much in the first six games of the season.
“Coming into fall camp, I knew the time was coming. Like, you’ve got to be ready in case your number is called," Newson said. "When I first got here, I was lowkey trying to make sure I dialed in on all the plays. Compared to the spring, I knew the plays, but not as well, like, with everything with the defensive line and the stunts and all that. So, I feel like in fall camp, I was trying to focus on too much.”
It wasn’t until linebackers coach D.J. Smith told him to calm down and relax his mind that the game started to slow up for him. Fortunately for Newson, by the time his number was called, the game had started slowing down.
In Week 8 of the 2023 season, Ty’Ron Hopper went down with an injury. At this point, Mizzou was already down Chad Bailey. So, the Tigers really only had Newson and Chuck Hicks to rely on.
"Hop kind of went out with a shoulder (injury) in the second quarter, so Triston had to step up, and he's just kind of been baking in the oven," Drinkwitz said after the team’s 34-12 win over the Gamecocks. "He came out and had a big sack right there, and I think he's a guy that we need to continue to step up so that Hop can play to his full potential when he's not having to play so many plays."
Newson finished that game with five tackles, 0.5 sacks and 0.5 tackles for loss.
Before that game, he had recorded four tackles through the first six games, and in the team’s last seven games, including versus South Carolina, he recorded 47 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries.
Fifteen of those tackles and both fumble recoveries came in the 48-14 regular-season finale win against Arkansas which led to Newson being named Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
"You really can't say enough about his (Newson's) performance," Drinkwitz said following the Arkansas game. "He didn't have his best game last week and he didn't pout, coaches didn't panic. We just coached harder and he got in there and believed in his teammates and coaches and his teammates and coaches believed in him."
A little over a month later, he'd rack up 10 tackles and a game-high 2.5 tackles for loss as he helped Missouri score the 14-3 win over Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
Fast forward to the offseason, and the Tigers lost Hopper and Bailey, and despite ending the season strong, they brought in Corey Flagg and Khalil Jacobs to compete with Newson and Hicks for the starting spots. The latter two fought off the competition and held on to their starting roles.
Drinkwitz has seen the progression Newson has made from when he got here nearly two years ago, and he credits him for putting in the work and continuing to earn his spot in the rotation.
"I thought he did an excellent job of just trusting the process, not getting frustrated with his role, embracing his role," Drinkwitz said this week. "Improved every day, and when the opportunity came after Hop got dinged he took full advantage of it, and I think he's still taking advantage of it."
In the 51-0 season opener win versus Murray State, Newson had a team-high five tackles to go with a tackle for loss before logging two more tackles and a tackle for loss in the 38-0 win over Buffalo in Week 2
Entering Week 3, Newson has helped Mizzou limit opponents to 14 first downs, 254 total yards (82 passing), five third-down conversions on 27 attempts, three takeaways leading to 14 points and the nation’s No. 1 ranked defense.
Almost five years ago, Newson thought the fall of 2019 was the last time he’d put on a helmet. Now he’s relishing every moment of being a starter on a top 10 team that is a legitimate contender to make the College Football Playoff.
“A few years ago, I really didn't think I'd be here, but talking to my grandparents, she (grandmother) always told me, ‘Everything that you ever wanted is going to come,’" Newson said, with a smile of course. "I just stuck with it, kept my head down and just prayed and it’s here."
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