The first two days of SEC Media Days have wrapped up, and the storylines piled up for the programs that had coaches and players present. Missouri was represented by head coach Eli Drinkwitz, QB Brady Cook, WR Luther Burden III, and DL Kristian Williams, and the team’s leader answered two of the three biggest questions for the Tigers we posited heading into the event.
Three Takeaways From Eli Drinkwitz Talking at SEC Media Days
1) Insecure About Defensive Coordinator Blake Fisher Leaving?
Missouri roared to an 11-2 record and a Cotton Bowl victory largely due to the offense in 2023, but the defense held its own.
However, with DC Blake Fisher, EDGEs coach Kevin Peoples, and safeties coach Jake Olsen leaving the program for LSU and a handful of players off to the NFL, that’s not a guarantee this season. Yet, according to Drinkwitz, the Tigers didn’t lose much, at least in the way of coaches.
“Blake Baker, Jake Olsen, and Kevin Peoples are great men and good football coaches. But I’d like to really focus on what the additions of Corey Batoon and Brian Early (DL coach) and Jacob Yoro (defensive analyst) are. We were able to go out and add Corey Batoon, who’s been an SEC coordinator — or has coached in this league, has been a coordinator in a lot of different leagues, and does an excellent job of teaching the safety position — coaching his coaches to exactly what he wants.
“You think about Brian Early and Sack Ave, what he’s done at Houston. He had five players drafted in the last five years at the defensive line. He’s had players in the Senior Bowl. Jacob Yoro was the defensive coordinator at the University of Hawaii for the previous couple of years and decided that he wanted to try and get into the SEC, and now, with the new coaching rules, is going to have a direct impact in coaching our players.
“So it was really an opportunity for us to go out and improve our staff and really build a cohesive unit with guys. So I’m very excited about those guys, and I’m very excited about what the new look Death Row Defense is going to be with those guys at the forefront.”
While it’s not surprising Drinkwitz avoided giving credit to his old staff in order to praise his current one, it does seem like Baker’s departure for Baton Rouge wasn’t the smoothest.
After turning Missouri around from 113th in total defense in 2021 to 56th and 25th, respectively, over the last two years, Baker signed a contract extension to stay in Columbia. Yet, just two weeks later, LSU made him the highest-paid assistant in college football signing him to a three-year, $2.5 million deal to become their new DC.
Baker’s loss may affect the Tigers more than Drinkwitz will publicly let on, but the defense is still in good hands. Batoon spent the last three years as the DC for South Alabama, and in 2023, his unit ranked 15th nationally in total defense (313.2 YPG) and tied for 26th with 22 turnovers, which would have led the SEC.
Batoon’s scheme implemented a three-man front more often than Baker’s and is predicated on spot-drop zones, limiting yards after the catch and contact. It’s a defense built for the modern age of college football, but the offseason wasn’t kind to the talent pool, making his job all the more difficult.
2) RB1 or RB-by-Committee Still Unknown
Doak Walker Award finalist Cody Schrader and his 1,627 rushing yards from last season are now in the NFL, leaving a major hole in the Tigers’ offense. To compensate, they targeted two Sun Belt transfers: Georgia State’s Marcus Carroll and Appalachian State’s Nate Noel. But how will Missouri divvy up the workload?
Drinkwitz has shown a propensity to lean on a single RB, with Larry Rountree (2020), Tyler Badie (2021), and Schrader (2023) leading the backfields. However, in 2022, Schrader split the carries with Nathaniel Peat, and the offense could do so again with two talented backs in Carroll and Noel.
KEEP READING: 3 Things We Learned From LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly at SEC Media Days
“Running back also has a lot of question marks for us,” Drinkwitz said at Media Days. “And it’s not as easy as just replacing Cody Schrader’s production on the field. His impact in our locker room, through toughness demonstrated day in, day out, and the way he performed, his leadership in the locker room, and positive, contagious energy, is going to be very difficult to replace.
“Now, we’ve got a lot of really good players who can do it. We went to the portal and found Marcus Carroll and Nate Noel, both respected good players at their previous locations. We have a local product from Lancaster, Kewan Lacy. We have a running back from El Paso in Tavorus Jones. We’ve got Jamal Roberts. We have the talent in order to successfully run the football.”
Carroll ran for 1,350 yards and 13 touchdowns last year and is built for between-the-tackle yardage. Meanwhile, the 5’10” and 190-pound Noel provides a change of pace with his game-altering speed, averaging 5.9 yards per carry across four years and 547 attempts.
We likely won’t get an answer about the backfield split until the season kicks off, which will be frustrating for fantasy football and DFS players.
3) Mike Leach Deserve His Place in College Football Hall of Fame
College football legend Mike Leach, who passed away in 2022 at 61 years old, is technically not eligible for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, but Drinkwitz used part of his introductory statement at Media Days to express his desire to see that changed.
The Hall has a 60% career win percentage threshold for coaches to be eligible, which Leach was just four percentage points short of with a 158-107 record.
“Yesterday, in Commissioner Sankey’s remarks, he mentioned the new individuals that were going to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame … and that next summer we will be moving Media Days to Atlanta, and so it reminded me to call on CEO Steve Hatchell to do the right thing and to nominate Mike Leach for the College Football Hall of Fame. We need to put his name on the ballot.
“Coach Leach, in my mind, and I believe in most of the people in this (room’s minds), is a no-doubt Hall of Famer. He impacted our game more in the last 50 years than a lot of other people, not only with his legacy, but also with his football acumen.”
Drinkwitz continued, “His Air Raid offense is the most dominant offense when you look at high school football, its elements in college football, and all the way translating into the NFL game. We all know Y cross. We all know that six is four verticals. We all understand that rocket and laser were tailback screens — rocket to the right, laser to the left.
“He won 158 career games, was the 2008 Big 12 Coach of the Year, two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year, and in 2018 was the AFCA Football Coach of the Year. Won 11 games at Texas Tech and 11 games at Washington State. And I understand that his career winning percentage is .596, one win short of the 60% threshold, and I understand that standards are there for people to make decisions.
“But I also understand that Coach Leach would be a great value to the Hall of Fame because of the legacy that he has, because of the impact that he made, because of the innovator that he was, because of the legacy of coaches that he left, and in my opinion, (he’s) not only a winner, but a Hall of Famer.
“And I hope that Mr. Hatchell will recognize that as CEO, he has the ability to utilize his discretion to make the obvious into reality, and that obvious is that the Hall of Fame is incomplete without Coach Mike Leach in it.”
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