“We’re not going to accept mediocrity …” said Desiree Reed-Francois, Mizzou’s director of athletics, to the Post-Dispatch before Saturday’s football game against Middle Tennessee State. “We work really hard because we owe that to our state and we owe that to our student-athletes. That’s the given in this equation. And we’re determined. Make no mistake about it, we belong in the Southeastern Conference. And we’re going to stay true to our core values, and we hire people with high-character, low-ego, high-outcome and energy. But yeah, make no mistake about it — we’re not here for a participation trophy.”
