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Transcript

Eli ±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýGood morning, all! Welcome to the latest Mizzou subscriber chat. I'll be around here for the next couple of hours to answer all of your questions and hear out your takes — whether it's football, basketball, transfer portal or whatever else is on your mind. Let's get to it!

Enos Van Halen: I suspect that Nwaneri’s portal decision was based on his plan upon entering college was to stay the minimum 3 years, and then enter the draft. A

(Continuing) with the intention to skip a redshirt year, Nwaneri decided to leave for a program where he felt all but guaranteed of 2 seasons as a starter. Also he may have felt slighted by seeing so little action this season. Now that Brown has left too, the Tigers have to fill in holes they didn’t expect

Hoff: Maybe. Williams Nwaneri is officially in the transfer portal (there was an odd report from On3 this morning that he wasn't, but that's not true). The only thing he's publicly said since filing to enter the portal was posting the word "humble" on his Instagram story. No clue what he means by it. I doubt he'll come out and say why he transferred, either. It could be a playing time thing. But he was pretty much the sixth defensive end on an SEC depth chart, so I don't know that there'll be more automatic playing time at the same level somewhere else. Maybe, but who knows. It could also just be a money thing. Mizzou paid a lot of money for Nwaneri's 38 snaps. Maybe the program didn't want to do that again and Nwaneri walked. Maybe another school is going to give him more. There are so many factors that can go into a transfer decision.

Brown and Nwaneri's departures are unexpected, yes, but it remains to be seen how much they'll be felt. Two freshmen (including Javion Hilson, one of the better edge rusher prospects in the 2025 class) will replace them. Mizzou still returns a lot at edge. I'd still tab it as a low priority position in the portal. The impact is more on what that position group looks like in 2026, but nobody is seriously counting on having any given player on their team that far out.

senior scramble: Lots of questions here sorry about that. Can we get Kevin Coleman 247 sports and on 3 think that is where he is headed. I hope so great wide receiver. Just saw where Moss is predicted to go to Louisville that hurts. What are we going to do about QB without a real good one we will struggle big time. Not surprised we lost the 5 star. dee end. he barley played I am sure he came to Mizzou to get on the field and in college football today the big-time freshmen will move on if they don't play. My take on portal needs please correct me. Running back one more but we are pretty good right now. QB we aren't good and need an impact QB. Wide receiver we need one good one. Offensive line we better get 3 ready to play. Dee Lineman just one good one. Dee ends we are stocked with a great one coming in from 2025 class. Linebacker we need at least 2 ready to play linebackers. Defensive back every good one we can get that was a huge weakness this year. Safety also need help. Thanks for the chat please talk me off of the ledge on this QB situation. LOL

Hoff: Lots of questions mean lots of answers, hopefully.

It sure seems like Kevin Coleman — the former St. Mary's star who most recently played at Mississippi State — could be headed to Mizzou. There have been some crystal balls made from the recruiting sites this morning that predict that. It would make a lot of sense for both parties: the Tigers need a new No. 1 wideout and want at least somebody experienced to anchor that room. He can play closer to home and probably get some good NIL opportunities to do it. I'm keeping a close eye on his portal activity.

Here's the thing with Moss or whoever else Mizzou gets (or doesn't get) at quarterback: There are very few, if any, sure bets in the transfer portal at that position. Usually, the QBs in the portal fall into one of three categories: P4 guy who needs a different situation, P4 backup who was a great recruit a year or two ago, G5 star trying to make the leap to a higher level. Not everyone aligns with one of those, but that's my general view. And each type has its own risk.

Can a guy who was benched at his last school suddenly be consistent at his next one? Do recruiting stars mean anything after two years of riding the bench? How does balling out in C-USA translate to the SEC? When it works, it's great — you've seen transfer QBs as Heisman finalists regularly. But it's still risky. Moss may be the top guy right now, but he's not without question marks. I don't mean to be negative or cynical — he or anyone else could be great — but it's important to put the portal pool in context. 

I've said on our podcast that Mizzou is needing to replace the following positions this offseason, whether through the portal or guys already on the roster: QB, RB1, RB2, WR1, WR2, WR3, LT, RG, RT, Joker, DT1, MLB1, MLB2, OLB, S, P. That doesn't include, say, bringing in depth to challenge returners at CB or K or anywhere else. So yeah, there are needs — just like you outline there. 

²ú¾±²µ°ù´Ç²Ô:ÌýGood morning Eli, when watching Mizzou Bball it appears that they try and play too many players, they certainly appear to be much better than last year, but I'm wondering if they are at all worried about losing players from last years signings I'm thinking of players like Allen, Boateng, Burns and Pierce....what say you....

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýI wouldn't be worried about that at all. What Dennis Gates wants to do with his rotation (play a lot of guys) is obvious to anyone who watches the program. He says it too, and proudly. If any recruit comes in thinking they'll be one of eight guys to get consistent minutes, that's their delusion. They know they're going to be in a deep field. 

And that plays to the favor of young guys. If Gates was going to play a nine-man rotation, you know who doesn't get minutes? Freshmen who aren't ready. So the big rotation helps develop and keep those guys. Starting Annor Boateng may not have done a lot for the team, but it probably did a lot for him. 

I know a lot of y'all are concerned about the rotation size. Here's what I'll say: When Gates needed to go and have an all-out game to beat Kansas, there was no fooling around with guys who weren't ready just to give them minutes. Mizzou played 11 guys. The starting five all played at least 30 minutes. Boateng and Crews were DNPs. Gates will play as many guys as he can when he can, but when it's time to win, only the players who he thinks can help will see the floor. That, in my eyes, should clear up any concerns about rotation size. 

Joey Scheids: Two things that stand out from Mizzou's win over KU. 1.. We didn't pick up full court, but played very disruptive and inspired defense in the half court. 2. We attacked the rim and shot higher percentage shots, not relying on the 3 as much. Are these changes, things that we can expect going forward this season, or was this just the game plan against KU? Thanks

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýI'll ask Gates about the 3-point trend because that's now been two games in a row that the Tigers just haven't engaged with 3-point shooting all that much — and it's been working. I expect he'll say it's situational, but it's definitely something to monitor. The half-court offense has greatly improved, mostly because of attacking the rim.

During Gates' mini film session at last night's Tiger Talk radio show, he showed clips of KU sets that Mizzou knew the Jayhawks would run and then walked through in detail how the Tigers had to disrupt those sets. It was little things like the angle Josh Gray took while defending Hunter Dickinson off-ball in the post. And some of those sets were broken up by Mizzou to the point where Kansas gave up trying to run them. So yes, very effective stuff defensively too.

Joey Scheids: Besides Luther and the Portal players, has anyone else on the roster stated that they are going to sit out the Bowl Game?

Hoff: Armand Membou, who also declared for the draft, will be another opt-out. And there's a chance some of the portal players still play in the bowl, too. Last year, Drinkwitz said he wanted everyone to have the chance to finish out the season with the team. I'm not sure whether that same offer has been extended this year, but it's certainly possible.

bigron: Again, I worried about highly rated recruits not getting playing time, for instance Boateng being the highest rated player to come in this year and not even entering the game, either he was over-rated or is not getting good coaching.

Hoff: Or that he's not ready for that kind of game. There were a lot of players in that KU game who have three, four or five years on Boateng. Of course, that's true of the freshmen who played, too, so it could be any number of reasons. Boateng hasn't shown a whole lot in his minutes — but we really don't know what the behind the scenes development is looking like.

²Ñ¾±³ú³ú´Ç³Ü/±ô¾±²Ô³¦´Ç±ô²Ô:ÌýTwo questions - Is there still a chance Mizzou is trying to keep Nwerni here as being a big Mizzou fan I would hate to see him get grabbed by Nebraska; and has Mizzou even looked at QB Daniel Kaelen who entered the portal from Nebraska - he had originally committed to Mizzou a year ago and he is a good one

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýMizzou is not looking to retain Nwaneri. PowerMizzou reported that there were some efforts to do so early in the week, but by Tuesday, I was told that MU was done and the paperwork had been submitted for Nwaneri to enter the portal. He reportedly has a no-contact tag on his entry, which means he knows where he's going. Nebraska is the assumed destination.

I haven't seen anything about Daniel Kaelin giving Missouri another look. I don't think he would really fit what the Tigers are after. They need an immediate starter, not another young prospect — Matt Zollers fills that roll. Of course, anything can happen in the portal, but I'm thinking Kaelin would not be a target.

°Õ¾±²µ±ð°ùµþ´Ç³ú:ÌýI was hoping Moss would cancel other visits after being on campus at Mizzou, but apparently he is visiting Louisville today. Any insight on how things went here and what it looks like moving forward? He clearly appears to be the number one choice, but I've heard rumblings about the former Cal QB as well. Any thoughts?

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýThere are reports that Fernando Mendoza, the Cal quarterback, would be Mizzou's No. 2 option at quarterback. I don't think Moss actually going on his Louisville visit is automatically a bad thing. Some players feel like they need to see their options before picking one. It's like if you want to have showings at multiple houses or test drive multiple cars: Even if you love the first one, sometimes you just need another for some mental context. Sure, it would've been great for MU if he committed the second he got on campus, but it's far from the end of the world. The good news is that regardless of whether Moss commits to Missouri, it's early enough in the cycle that there are other options for the Tigers, too.

°Õ¾±²µ±ð°ùµþ´Ç³ú:ÌýDrink has proven to be a very good/great recruiter but seems to struggle at the QB position, Zollers may change that, but if he doesn't land a portal QB of impact it may be a tough next season. Along those lines, is Horn expected to return to the football team and when will fans know of his intent?

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýI don't think it's being overly dramatic to say this offseason is a defining one for Drinkwitz as it relates to his QB recruitment and evaluation abilities. He's known this is coming and knows the stakes for what next year's team could be with the right quarterback — or wrong one.

I don't think anything will be clear with Horn until fall camp next year unless he decides to make an announcement himself. He's still recovering from Tommy John and isn't expected to be back for spring football. For now, it seems both sports are still on the table. But it won't certain until we hear directly from him.

³¦³å²µ´Ç´Ç»å:ÌýHas anyone ever tried to plant a P-D flag in the KC Star's newsroom?

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýI chuckled at that one. Maybe we should get a pickup game going between the newsrooms just to have an excuse for a flag-planting!

Jim S: When someone enters the portal do they stop going to class and leave the university? Or finish out a semester? Not that a bunch of them go to actual classes but i always wondered that

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýThat's a good question, and I don't know the answer. I imagine a lot of players take online/asynchronous classes when possible (or at least I would). But someone like Miller Moss, who's on visits right now, obviously isn't in class. It probably doesn't come up too much with this particular portal window since most universities are in finals week and about to be on winter break. But it is interesting to think about how they handle that.

Larry M: Any stats available to compare last years defensive pressures vs. this years. Seems like Batoon seldom used more than 4 to pressure the QB and allowed way too much time for opposing QB to find a receiver. I was shocked when I rewatched the last drive by Arkansas to try to tie MU. Watching Ohio St vs Indiana, the IU QB was under constant pressure after the quick start and never recovered.

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýI'm sure that stat is collected and distributed somewhere, but I don't know where, so I go by something sort of makeshift: The number of pass rush snaps on PFF for non-defensive linemen. It's not perfect, but it gives us an idea of how often blitzes are happening, sort of. So let's dig into that.

In 2024, the Mizzou defense has been on the field for 726 snaps. Slightly more than half were passing situations where we can look for blitzes, so let's say about 380. PFF has 148 pass rush snaps from non-D linemen. That would be a blitz rate somewhere around 39%. But again, this is just a ballpark figure.

In 2023, there were 865 snaps. We'll say about 450 were passing plays. PFF has 350 non-lineman pass rush snaps. Now, that's a crazy-high rate in part because Mizzou would blitz multiple players. But it shows that there were far more blitzes last year compared to this year, even if we don't have the exact/perfect number.

Larry M: Seems like going to a non SEC school as a high prospect (3 or 4 star) and building a reputation has merits to gain recognition early (freshman year) and then get into the portal. Do you see this as having merit vs (like Nweiri sp) not getting reps and transferring.

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýThat's certainly a possible path. I've wondered about whether one of the crazier ways that college football could shake out is some sort of de facto farm system coming together. Like, what if Alabama told some players to go spend a year or to at, say, UAB and then they got "called up" to the Crimson Tide? I don't think that would happen and that's also not your question — just a thought I've had. 

There's definitely value to getting playing time early on. One of the knocks on a guy like Sam Horn right now is that due to sitting on the bench and now an injury, he's thrown only a few competitive passes in the last three years. That's just an example of what can happen, and he's a unique case for other reasons (baseball). In a vacuum, position coaching probably won't be quite as good at a lower level, though. I'd guess that most SEC position coaches are better than their G5 counterparts. So it's not like there's nothing to be gained from a developmental/redshirt year at a bigger program. It probably boils down to the player's preference for how they think they can become the best — and of course there's a money component too.

Todd H: Good day to you Eli, and hope all is well your way. I was stunned to see Mizzou beat KU, and even more stunned that I witnessed it in person. As far as the game itself went, it seemed like Mizzou actually scored very few points in transition if I am saying that correctly even off of all the turnovers and just went into their half-court offense for the most of the game where they did surprisingly well overall. Just wondering, was there strategy involved with that, or was it just that despite MU forcing so many turnovers, KU still managed to do a good job of getting back on defense?

±á´Ç´Ú´Ú:ÌýHey Todd, hope you're well. You're right: Mizzou scored just 17 of its 76 points in transition. I think it was part of Kansas' scouting report, trying to stop the Tigers in transition. That's where Missouri does most of its damage, especially when getting steals in the back court. Mizzou still had plenty of transition possessions but scored less efficiently on them, which makes me think KU's defense was a factor. They are still a very good team!

³¢³Ü:ÌýYou have any thoughts on Belichick to UNC? It feels like everything I see or read talks about how terribly its going to go. I dunno man, its a pretty nice recruiting pitch to say "hey you want to get to the NFL, I'll show you what it takes."

Just some of my thoughts...

I feel like a lot of people think these recruits are just dumb kids who are woo'd by photoshoots and uniforms. I would imagine the top priority for 90% of 4 and 5 star recruits is getting to the league. How do you think Deion got dudes to come to Jackson State?

As far as college vs. NFL. I think college coaches actually have more autonomy than NFL coaches nowadays. My guess is that

"Thats was drew Belichick to Chapel Hill" was the end of my blurb

Hoff: Feels like a fun note for us to end on today. Seth Wickersham at ESPN has about why Belichick is doing this. It seems like the control factor is part of it. 

I also don't know how much Belichick will rely on high school recruiting. As other people have pointed out, it's funny to imagine him sitting on a couch with a 17-year-old kid on a home visit trying to make a pitch. I could see him wanting to get older portal guys and say "You want to make it to the league? Come here for a year and we'll get you ready." It would almost be an NFL prep school model. Just my thought on how I could see him doing it and drawing in players. Then he gets guys who are more serious and avoids some of the high school recruiting nonsense while being able to run the program like the NFL, which seems to be the direction he wants to go.

And that's where we'll wrap up today's chat. There'll be a fun story for y'all tomorrow — I'm about to head to Mizzou Arena for an analytics lesson with Dennis Gates and the MU staff. They're holding a little class for reporters to show us behind the scenes of how they make decisions with advanced stats, and I'm quite excited to write about it. Stay tuned for that, and thanks for coming by!

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