There have been a lot of questions and comments on the number of transfers since Drinkwitz took over. Going to lay some things out here. Before I do, I want to be clear that this is not about a specific player. I do not have information on any specific individual (other than Anthony Watkins who spoke up) being ushered out the door. What follows is more of a general rule on the way things work.
The way big time college football programs operate are on a series of one-year deals. You need to produce to assure the next year. If you don't produce, they replace you with someone who they believe will. Nobody is ever flat out told "you don't have a scholarship here." Some kids figure out on their own that they're not going to play and they leave for a place they can. Others are told "You can stay here and we'll honor your scholarship but the truth is, you're not going to see the field for us. If you want to find a place you can see the field, we'll do everything we can to help you in finding it."
For 20 years, Missouri hasn't done much of that. Pinkel didn't really operate that way all that often (far less often than I thought he should have. It was one of the few things I thought he should have done differently). Odom did some of it, but not a ton (partly he didn't take over a talent rich roster and was only here four years, but his bigger sin was not being able to do enough of it because he wasn't bringing in sufficient talent to shed guys that needed to be shed).
When a new coach takes over, there's going to be attrition. Whether a guy doesn't fit the system, whether the relationships don't mesh or whether the coach simply doesn't think the player is good enough, there will be a lot of roster turnover with a Power Five coaching change in most cases. That's all that's happening here. People have asked when they should become concerned with the volume of transfers. The answer is when they start occurring with guys who are significant contributors. Until then, all this is is space clearing so that the coaches can replace guys that aren't going to contribute here with guys that are. And that's not a thing that happens immediately at a program like Missouri. It's going to take two or three recruiting cycles. But it's happening.
Again, Missouri fans aren't really used to this because there hasn't been much coaching turnover (even with assistants) over the last 20 years and the program Pinkel ran often didn't operate this way nearly as much as a lot of Power Five programs do. But I think this is a positive of bringing in a guy with no ties to Missouri. Drinkwitz is running this like the vast majority of Power Five programs are run. Sometimes it sucks for the kids and I do feel for a kid who wants to be here but doesn't really have a spot. But that's the price of big time college football these days. If you're going to compete with programs that are doing this every year, you're going to have to do it yourself.
I want to re-emphasize, this isn't about Dominic Gicinto or any other individual player. But there are enough questions and posts indicating people might not have a full understanding of the process that I figured it was worth posting.
The way big time college football programs operate are on a series of one-year deals. You need to produce to assure the next year. If you don't produce, they replace you with someone who they believe will. Nobody is ever flat out told "you don't have a scholarship here." Some kids figure out on their own that they're not going to play and they leave for a place they can. Others are told "You can stay here and we'll honor your scholarship but the truth is, you're not going to see the field for us. If you want to find a place you can see the field, we'll do everything we can to help you in finding it."
For 20 years, Missouri hasn't done much of that. Pinkel didn't really operate that way all that often (far less often than I thought he should have. It was one of the few things I thought he should have done differently). Odom did some of it, but not a ton (partly he didn't take over a talent rich roster and was only here four years, but his bigger sin was not being able to do enough of it because he wasn't bringing in sufficient talent to shed guys that needed to be shed).
When a new coach takes over, there's going to be attrition. Whether a guy doesn't fit the system, whether the relationships don't mesh or whether the coach simply doesn't think the player is good enough, there will be a lot of roster turnover with a Power Five coaching change in most cases. That's all that's happening here. People have asked when they should become concerned with the volume of transfers. The answer is when they start occurring with guys who are significant contributors. Until then, all this is is space clearing so that the coaches can replace guys that aren't going to contribute here with guys that are. And that's not a thing that happens immediately at a program like Missouri. It's going to take two or three recruiting cycles. But it's happening.
Again, Missouri fans aren't really used to this because there hasn't been much coaching turnover (even with assistants) over the last 20 years and the program Pinkel ran often didn't operate this way nearly as much as a lot of Power Five programs do. But I think this is a positive of bringing in a guy with no ties to Missouri. Drinkwitz is running this like the vast majority of Power Five programs are run. Sometimes it sucks for the kids and I do feel for a kid who wants to be here but doesn't really have a spot. But that's the price of big time college football these days. If you're going to compete with programs that are doing this every year, you're going to have to do it yourself.
I want to re-emphasize, this isn't about Dominic Gicinto or any other individual player. But there are enough questions and posts indicating people might not have a full understanding of the process that I figured it was worth posting.
