Last October, as the Missouri defense tried to preserve its lead against LSU by keeping the defending national champions out of the end zone on four straight snaps from the one-yard line, Kobie Whiteside could only watch from the stands. The man who was supposed to anchor the Tiger defensive line had partially torn his MCL the week prior. Not only did the injury keep Whiteside from suiting up, but due to COVID-19 protocols, he couldn’t even join his teammates on the sideline.
So, Whiteside sat in the bleachers with his girlfriend, Missouri track and field thrower Olivia Evans, and her parents, trying desperately to will his teammates to a win from a distance.
“That was just a very surreal moment, because you could see, he was sitting there, like, calling out the defensive schemes and talking to his teammates from the bleachers, and in no way could they hear him from where he’s at,” Evans recalled. “But it was very evident, you could feel that he wanted to be there with them.”
Missouri pulled off the goal line stand, and Whiteside did get to join his teammates for a celebration in the locker room. But having to miss out on the team’s marquee win from last season ate at Whiteside. It was one of the reasons he decided to take advantage of the extra season of eligibility given to all players by the NCAA and return for a fifth year in 2021.
Now that he knows he’s playing his final season in a Tiger uniform, he’s intent on leaving a mark, both on the field and off it.
“I didn’t want to leave Missouri without putting everything I could on the football field,” Whiteside said. “I knew from that point I needed to come back and I wanted to come back. I feel like I can do better as a leader and I can do better as a player."
Whiteside broke out in 2019, leading Missouri with 7.5 sacks while starting next to current Cleveland Brown Jordan Elliott at defensive tackle. As a result, he entered what was supposed to be his final college season with lofty expectations. The SEC coaches picked him to the preseason all-conference second team prior to last season.
But on Oct. 3 (Whiteside can quickly rattle off the exact date), during the second game of the season, Whiteside felt his knee buckle. Team doctors told Whiteside the injury didn’t have to be year-ending — he ultimately decided to put off surgery until after the season — but he would miss the team’s next four games. When he did return, he played limited snaps while wearing a bulky brace around his knee that limited his explosiveness.
At some point between suffering the injury and Missouri’s senior day celebration on Dec. 5, Whiteside decided he didn’t want to leave college on that note. He called last season “a lost year.”
“I knew I was coming back once I knew my MCL was torn and once I had missed all them games,” he said. “I didn’t want to leave without feeling like I had done everything I could. That would have left a bad taste in my mouth, so I knew I had to come back."
Whiteside underwent surgery on Jan. 15, another date he remembers with specificity. He attacked his rehab, and it didn’t take long for him to resume his role as one of the Tigers’ most prolific weight-lifters. About three months after the surgery, Whiteside squatted 605 pounds for three reps. (He wanted to do more, but said team trainers wouldn’t let him.) He now feels like he’s in the best shape of his life. Despite weighing roughly 300 pounds, he recently repped 20 chin-ups, earning him inclusion on Bruce Feldman’s college football freaks list.
“I was maybe 27 percent body fat, now I’m 18 to 20 right now,” Whiteside said. “... I feel fast and I feel quicker, so it’s been great.”
That’s not the only reason Whiteside is optimistic he will be able to return to 2019 levels of production. A season ago, Missouri transitioned to more three-man defensive fronts, and when he was healthy, Whiteside played nose tackle. That meant facing near-constant double teams. With the Tigers reverting back to a 4-2-5 base defense under new defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and defensive line coach Jethro Franklin, Whiteside thinks he’ll have more opportunities to take on blockers one at a time.
“I think last year I got double-teamed on everything, runs and pass,” he said. “So getting that one-on-one finally, hopefully it’s going to be great.”
Whiteside’s return to Missouri isn’t just about proving himself on the field or boosting his NFL Draft stock. He’s always maintained a healthy perspective about the importance of football in his life, talking openly about wanting to become a pastor after his playing days are done. He feels called to make an impact as a leader, too.
That role doesn’t come naturally for the player former defensive line coach Brick Haley once nicknamed “the silent assassin.” But those who know Whiteside best mention several ways he’s shown leadership during the offseason.
Evans said Whiteside has engaged her father, who used to hold a high position in a corporate job, in conversations about leadership, even asking him for reading recommendations on the subject. She’s already seen him put those teachings into action. One example: During the summer, a few of Whiteside’s teammates didn’t have a way to transport themselves to workouts due to car trouble, so Whiteside picked them up every morning, even though it meant waking up 45 minutes earlier than usual and driving across town.
“A year ago, and even earlier on like when we first started dating, teammates had to come to Kobie,” Evans said. “When they wanted something or needed something, they had to come to him. But now there are times where it’s even, like, him and I will be on the phone, and he’ll be like, you know what, I have to call you later, I have to do something with one of my teammates.”
Teammates and coaches have taken notice of Whiteside’s leadership. Fellow defensive tackle Ben Key said Whiteside is always putting in work outside of designated practice times and encouraging younger players to join him. The coaching staff asked him to address the team during a meeting last week.
“I’m very proud of what Kobie Whiteside means to our program and the way he carries himself,” Eli Drinkwitz said Thursday. “He spoke to the team last night as a senior and just talked about his mental toughness and focus for this season and what we have to do, and really excited about the type of season that he’s potentially going to have.”
Whiteside’s message during the meeting, according to offensive guard Luke Griffin: Be present in every moment. Whiteside learned that lesson the hard way a season ago when he had to watch many of those moments from the sidelines or the stands.
Now, gifted one final season of eligibility, Whiteside will do everything in his power to lead the defensive line, which Drinkwitz has publicly stated needs to be the strength of Missouri’s team, both on the field and off it. The soft-spoken Whiteside might not show it publicly, but Evans says she’s never seen him so excited for a season.
“He knows how the team can be something special this year,” Evans said. “He’s been talking about that a lot, how it just feels different. Like the atmosphere of the team feels different. He’s really excited, and he knows they can do some big things, and he’s excited to be a part of it.”
Talk about this story and more in The Tigers' Lair
Make sure you're caught up on all the Tiger news and headlines
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for video and live streaming coverage
