Everything Drinkwitz said after Mizzou’s Lindenwood scrimmage

Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz met with the media Saturday after the Tigers held a practice at Lindenwood in St. Louis to simulate a road game. Here is a transcript of everything he said.

Kenny Van Doren attended for us.

Opening statement

Drinkwitz: “Any excuse to be out of Columbia, OK. Man, what an awesome day today, really appreciate Lindenwood letting us do this. Coach (Jed) Stugart, such a generous host to allow us to utilize their facilities. What a great opportunity for us to practice a road trip, get used to the adjustments of a locker room and the challenging of an environment.

“So what an awesome field and everything was first class, so we really appreciate Lindenwood. You know, it was a good today, we got a lot of, I know some people thought we were doing a walkthrough. We got a really good scrimmage with our younger guys, let the quarterbacks still go, but, but took out, you know, a good, good portion of players who had played significant snaps in college football, we kind of held those guys out and let some younger guys get the work. So was really good there.

“Then we let the special teams, skills, special teams specialist get the punt and the field goal work. You know, challenged. I didn’t feel like offensively or special teams, we started fast at all. You know, we had a shanked punt, we had a three and out and a three and out. And it just wasn’t what we need to do offensively or special teams wise, if you’re going to go on road. I thought defense started really fast, which was good. Offense settled in. Got a couple of scoring drives there. Blake was able to kick a couple of field goals just to get that work in.

“You know, was on the field a little less than an hour from a football-playing game. But, you know, totally came in and did our pregame and all that. So it was really good, good heat exposure, fired up where we’re at. So get back, dinner tonight, meetings, off tomorrow, and then finish up camp. I told them the next week’s all about urgency. You know, we got to have enough of that urgency to raise our level of where we’re at. We can’t just coast. We got to have some urgency to get going. So that’s where we’re at. So with that, I’ll take it for questions.”

Question: Eliah, I know this was an important practice for you to get in to go on the road. What did you want to see from your guys in this practice? And do you feel like you saw it?

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, I wanted to see where we were at, you know, I wanted to see from a mentality standpoint, you know, would we start fast? Did we have the right mindset? Did we come out ready to play? You know, in a road game, you can’t ease into it. You look at our poor performances last year, three of them on the road. We were really, really slow, and that can’t happen. We have to start fast, and that’s something that you can learn now and apply it instead of having to learn after you go on the road. So you know, they knew I was I was disappointed with that slow start.

Question: “Eliah, when you talk about having a solidified plan along the offense line, what does that look like? Does that include Cayden (Green) at left tackle and Curtis (Peagler) at right guard?”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, you know, for us, it’s all about getting the best five, right? And the challenge is, you know, you think you got guys slotted in positions. But, man, guys grow and develop and get better and play and play themselves into positions. And so, you know, Curtis Peagler’s really played well, and so it’s like, okay, well, is he playing better than the left tackle, or is, you know, Tristan Wilson playing better than the center, you know, and so, you know, we have, we’re having those constant discussions.

“I feel like we gave ourselves a chance to look at it. I like the way that looks right now, you know, we’ve got a little bit of camp left, so I don’t want anybody to think they’re out of the fight, but I feel confident the direction we’re going. I’ll say this, I have a ton of confidence in Brandon Jones. What he did with our offensive line last two years that he’s been here has earned him the ability to to be flexible with how he does it.

“And so, you know, all the the worry about, oh, man, we’re moving man, that’s, that’s ridiculous. Don’t worry about it. I promise you, we know what we’re doing with that. We’ll be just fine, if that’s the direction we go. You know, Cayden’s been an unbelievable team player. Slid out there. He’s played left tackle, that’s what he’s always been, and he looks like a natural to it to me. So I think we’ll be fine. But no, no final decisions yet.

Question: “Eliah, you said you let the quarterbacks go today. What did you see from each of them?”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, you know, it was a struggle for them, because they were going against or didn’t have necessarily the same group that they’ve been working with. So that was good. Got to see them work through some some difficulties, some slow starts and bounce back. So it was good.

“Big thing for me again, was to see their mindset, mentality coming out, and how do they respond to this situation? Nobody knew who wasn’t playing. You know, everybody thought we were coming out here, and everybody was going and then we went back in the locker room, and I just took people’s helmets and I told them, ‘Hey, when you go on the road, you always face adversity. You never know somebody’s got to step up. And so these guys that don’t have helmets aren’t playing today, and go figure it out.’ And, you know, was trying to create some adversity. I thought, I thought it did a good job with that.”

Question: “Coach with Cayden moving out to the left tackle, just, what was kind of the genesis for the feeling at this point in camp that now was the time to give that a try?”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, just the way Curtis Peagler and Tristan Wilson have been playing and performing. Those guys, you know what happened with Connor (Tollison) got dinged up and we had to move Tristan to center. And in order to get the twos the reps we wanted, we moved Dom (Giudice) to the number two center, which gave Curtis a real shot to play at the one right guard position. He played really well. And it’s like one of those things, like, OK well, alright, what if he’s playing one of the best five? How do we, how we get our best five on the field?

“And, you know, whether it happens in camp, you know, I think there’s, there’s a misnomer that at the offensive line position, you just play one position, you learn techniques. That’s what outside zone helps, helps us do. You know, you take reps all across the line in position, flexibility is the name of the game. That’s, that’s, that’s why you got to be able to have your best five on field. And so, you know, Tristan and Curtis are competing at the right guard position, and Jayven (Richardson) is competing at the left tackle position. And competition is a great thing.

Question: “Eliah, how has the quarterback competition really brought out the best in Sam (Horn) and Beau (Pribula)?”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, I think both of them are really straining. And, you know, I think when one guy has a big day, the other one knows they have to respond. You know, my challenge for them, they were both, you know, we voted captains yesterday, and both of them were voted captains on the offensive side of the ball, along with Connor Tollison and Cayden Green. But my challenge for them is to lead when you’re not the quarterback. You know, don’t be in the back just watching the plays, like go lead. Go be on the sideline. Go provide energy, because that’s really the next step.

“It’s who really rallies the team. And it was awesome to see both of them get votes on the defensive side of the ball. Zion Young, Daylen Carnell, Jalen Catalan and Khalil Jacobs were voted and then Logan Muckey was voted the special teams captain. So lot of guys voted captain, nine. I’ve never had that many, but it’s one of those things where I knew this class had strong leadership and guys believed in them. So excited about that.

Question: “Coach, a few days back, you mentioned that you felt strongly about 18 defensive players on that side of the ball, but would like to maybe have a rotation consisting of 25. Have there been any new faces emerged since then?”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, I’ll tell you what man, Caleb Flagg has had an outstanding fall camp. Santana Banner has been really, really good. Mose Phillips has been good. I think we got, we know exactly where we’re at with the three corners. You know, we got six defensive ends that continue to pop for us. I feel really good about the way Marquis Gracial has grown up and developed and and the size and dominance that he can play with on the interior, and we got four really good linebackers, so I think we’re really close to that.

“The good news is the rest of these guys, like the Brian Huffs of the world, man, they’ve really shined on special teams, length and speed and can really run, and that’s been exciting. Jeremiah Beasley is a guy that’s really popped both playing and playing special teams. So it gives (special teams) coach (Erik) Link a deep bench to really get guys on the field.

Question: “On the quarterback situation, what do you need to see next week? And how do you see that decision playing itself out into Week 1?”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, I don’t have a timeline yet on the decision. So, you know, everybody else is pressed about the Week 1. I’m not really pressed about it. I’m pressed on who’s going to reveal themselves to the starting quarterback. I think, you know, they’re both playing really well from a statistical standpoint, from a touchdown to interception ratio, from a completion percentage, from a third down percentage. You know, I broke it all down yesterday in our off day, and it’s, it’s remarkable how close it is. For me, it’s about being a transformational leader at this point, and who’s going to lean into the team and really get the most out of those guys, and they’re going to have to kind of separate themselves from the quarterback battle and really get the most out of the guys they’re playing with.”

Question: “Coach, I’m not sure if you’ve seen it yet, but Pete Thamel just put out a report that the Big 10 is populating the idea of expanding the playoff to 24 or 28 teams. What are your thoughts on that?”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, my thoughts are, it’s hot as crap out there. And, you know, I’m really focused on, how do we start faster? You know, we didn’t start fast enough today. How do we make sure our punters ready to punt? On the ride home, I’ll look at Pete Thamel’s tweets, and I’ll, you know, I’ll process that but right now, I’m too hot to think about it.”

Question: “On the quarterback situation, do you feel like game, I know you mentioned urgency and you mentioned there’s no timeline as well, do game reps help with that decision? Would that potentially help sort of set somebody?”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, it could. Yeah, absolutely it could. If we, if we feel like there’s no clear-cut decision, I’m not going to force the decision. And then that means that they would both play in the first game, and we’ll evaluate those reps. But I don’t feel the pressure like, ‘Oh, I’ve got to make a decision. We got to move on and solidify it.’ Like, that’s not the case with this football team. So this team’s growing. They’re, they need, all of us need urgency to raise our level, because, again, we didn’t start fast enough today. So there’s got to be urgency when you, when you show up to play. And, but that doesn’t mean I need urgency to make a decision and force the wrong thing to happen, right? So, … be quick, but don’t hurry. Be quick, but don’t hurry.”

Question: “Coach, you spoke to the depth of your team a few months ago on paper, and it sounds like with everything we’ve heard the last few weeks, is that the depth is, is it lived up to your expectations and the competition that it’s brought this camp.”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, probably more so than I expected, specifically on the defense side of the ball. But even with the offensive line, like I didn’t know that we were going to have two young guys really develop into solid, I think, SEC offensive lineman with Tristan Wilson and Curtis Peagler, you know, those guys have kind of been penciled in as maybe, you know, quality backups. I’m telling you right now, those guys can play at a high level in this, this league, and you know that that has been really something to watch. So that gives you more flexibility with what you want to do. Watching Marquis Gracial and Jalen Marshall really push Elias Williams to get up to 270 pounds. The defensive ends with, I mean, D Hop (Daeden Hopkins) again, he was dominant out here again today, you know. So that’s that’s been really, really exciting.

Question: “With Dominick Giudice, … how have you seen him slot in at left guard? Is, at this point in time, is he the break-glass center as well?”

Drinkwitz: “So the thing about Dom is, he is like the glue that holds that whole group together. I think the way he has asserted himself as the leader of the offensive line, it’s been remarkable. I mean, because, you know, Connor was out, and so we needed somebody else to kind of be the guy like, ‘Hey, they’re they’re gonna get extra they’re showing up on Saturday.’ He’s been the one leading.

“We’re watching tape, and it’s been remarkable. And man, that guy puts the team person, everything he does. He can play center, he can play right guard, he can play left guard, he can play them all at a really, really high level. I would say right now, if something happened to Connor, we would start Tristan at center, and Dom would stay at guard. But, but that would be, you know, like I said, like, there’s times right now where I get mad at Connor, and I’m just like, hey, put Tristan in, because he, you know, he’s playing really well. So we got, we got no problems on sliding that in, you know. And I think people assume that flexibility means that we were struggling. We’re not.

Question: Coach with Cayden Green, I know we only see a limited part of practice, so we’ve just seen him at left tackle this week … is he doing left tackle work when we’re not there?”

(There was some back and forth between Drinkwitz and the reporter asking during that break in the question about evaluating talent. It’s about about the 12:30 mark of the video if you want to hear all of that.”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, I think that’s the again, guys, these people do, our players work all the time on their craft, right? And so I think you’re right. You get to see a small portion, right? And that portion you saw, ‘Wow, he’s moving at left tackle. Oh my gosh, they’re pulling the rip cord. Something wrong.’

“Now, it’s something that he’s been doing all summer. It’s something that he’s worked towards. It’s something that when he first got here he did, he wasn’t as comfortable, so we moved him into left guard. Played really, really high level, but now he’s more comfortable and confident as a player. So it gives us the freedom to slide him out and say, ‘Are you still comfortable? Comfortable and confident as the left tackle?’ Because it’s a little bit further from the ball, little bit more in space, little bit more isolation. Guess what? He’s pretty confident. He’s pretty comfortable. And so that’s a good sign. So I feel pretty good about it.

Question: Coach, with Tristan and Curtis, where have you seen over this last chunk of time, where have you seen them grow and develop?”

Drinkwitz: “I think physicality, but also footwork, fundamentals, understanding pad leverage. You know, they had an entire off season with Coach (Ryan) Russ(ell) so their their movement skills are so much different. You know, Curtis Peagler’s body has changed. He’s a big guy, powerful, but if he uses his feet right, gets his hands on you, that’s at, that’s a tough out, you know? And so, yeah, it’s good.”

Question: “You mentioned Daeden Hopkins as a standout today, where there any other freshmen that really caught your eye today?”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, Jason Dowell had a sack. D Hop had a sack. Javion Hilson had a sack, lot of sacks. Shaun Terry had a big-time third down catch. Donovan Olugbode always shows up. Marquise Davis and (Brendon) Haygood both had big-time runs. So yeah, just right off the top there.”

Question: “Coach your receiver depth, I feel like we overlook it sometimes with Luther (Burden) being gone. … How good have they been top to bottom?”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, been, been really consistent, right? Kevin (Coleman) Flash (Marquis Johnson), Josh (Manning), I think Josh has had the most consistent camp. I mean. Daniel Blood, those guys have played a lot, a lot of football. Right? And they know what it looks like in this league. They know how to get open. They know how to go up and get catches. So that’s been really, really good to watch. And then you got Xavier Loyd who’s played a lot of ball, so he’s come in and fit in nicely, and got the young guys competing now too.”

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