Today, we got to talk to DC Blake Baker, LB coach DJ Smith, DT coach Al Davis, DE coach Kevin Peoples and CB coach Al Pogue.
We also got defensive tackles Kristian Williams and Darius Robinson and linebackers Chad Bailey and Ty’Ron Hopper.
I’m going to have Q&A articles with the position coaches and some of them if not most of the Q&A's will feature a player or two also getting asked questions. So, these takeaways won’t be too long and will be mostly about the players because the Q&A articles will answer a lot of questions.
Darius Robinson
The move to defensive end is a move that he voiced to the coaching staff and a situation has come up to allow him to be there. The situation head coach Eli Drinkwitz alluded to on Monday is there is a lot of scholarship players at defensive tackle. Obviously, Trajan Jeffcoat, Isaiah McGuire and DJ Coleman open up vacancies at defensive end for Robinson to try and make a mark there.
Coach Davis said he’s playing both. If I had to guess he will still play more defensive tackle than defensive end though.
Robinson wants to work on pass rush and the coaching staff wants to give him an opportunity to show his versatility. Robinson (more or less) said being a defensive tackle means the ball is snapped and then you instantly start trying pass rush moves but defensive ends have to get upfield and do pass rush moves and that’s something he’s trying to do.
Robinson’s draft grade was between a third-round and fifth-round pick. He felt slighted that some players on the list were rated higher than him.
He also said he was invited to the Shrine Bowl and the NFL Combine. He even began to tell coaches he wasn’t coming back.
He watched his tape and felt there was room for improvement and doesn’t think he was as good as he believes he can be.
Ty’Ron Hopper
Hopper wants to improve on using his hands better, communicating, being more vocal and recognizing plays and formations better so he can play faster.
Hopper was teammates with incoming safety transfer Tre’Vez Johnson at Florida and hosted him on his visit. He said Johnson is very fast and a heavy hitter and feel is he good at blitzing and playing in coverage.
He (and everyone I talked to today) is really happy with the buy-in defensively from the coaching staff and the players. They like each other and the continuity of having so many returning players and the same coaching staff has a lot of players at ease because it provides stability.
When Hopper got his draft grade he said it was what he expected it to be and he feels another year at Mizzou could boost it higher. I did ask if he wanted to share what his draft grade was and he politely declined to reveal that information.
He said players like Chuck Hicks (returning from injury) and Triston Newson (incoming JUCO transfer) bring a lot of speed to the linebacker group. “They both can cover and they both are some dogs.” Hopper said. “I feel like they can bring a lot to the team.”
P.S. I don’t know if “dawgs” is an official word but it should be.
Kristian Williams
One of the emphases for the defense as a whole on this media day was getting takeaways. Defensive tackles don’t have as much opportunities to do that per se, but Williams said the next best thing they will have to do is force more pressure on the quarterbacks. Trying to force quarterbacks to change his reads and being more disruptive in passing lanes with the pass rush or getting in the quarterback’s line of view.
He said in his first season in Columbia he learned to be comfortable being uncomfortable. He’s picked up more on controlling the controllables.
I asked about the Trench Mob, which is what the defensive tackles call themselves, and how being supportive and helpful can also coincide with being competitive and wanting to get the snaps and be on the field.
Williams’ response: “Whenever we try to do extra work we always bring somebody with us regardless. If we not getting better as a group – you’re only as good as the group. So, we don’t necessarily look at everyone’s individual achievements. We try to play selfless because if we are selfish then the group as a whole will be demoralized.”
His reasoning behind changing from No. 92 to No. 5 is pretty simple. His birthday is Dec. 5 and his favorite number is five. So, when he had the opportunity to get the number he took it.
Chad Bailey
The reason he changed from No. 33 to No. 9 is also simple. He just wanted a change. No emotional symbolic meaning.
He said the defense can play faster now that they’re one year into the scheme and have a grip on it. This is a common theme with just about every person that I talked to today.
Bailey’s biggest gripe with last season is the two-and-a-half games he missed. He wants to be healthy for all of camp and all of 2023 as a whole. Secondly, he wants to work on his coverage skills and then he wants to be able to work on a little bit of pass rush moves.
Bailey believes the way to force more turnovers is to “play angry.”
“We’ve got to strike at the ball,” Bailey said. “We’ve got to put pressure on the quarterback and make it hard for him to complete passes. Get tipped passes and stay focused on the ball.”
Bailey said Chuck Hicks is a guy he goes to for questions and Chuck does the same for him. He said Chuck’s experience starting at Wyoming makes him a good person to bounce questions off of him.
Apparently, being the best defense in school history is the theme of the season. I didn’t hear Blake Baker say this but other reporters asked players this question and said that Baker said that.
I don’t think this is something the players are taking too seriously from a pressure standpoint. They do want to be the best defense ever, but they’re focused on putting the work in and the results will come. It’s a healthy goal but also not something where if they don’t finish statistically as the best defense in school history they’ll hang their heads about it. They just want to be a better defense than last season.
P.s. Ky Montgomery officially moving to DT. Ian Matthews I believe is staying at DE though.
We also got defensive tackles Kristian Williams and Darius Robinson and linebackers Chad Bailey and Ty’Ron Hopper.
I’m going to have Q&A articles with the position coaches and some of them if not most of the Q&A's will feature a player or two also getting asked questions. So, these takeaways won’t be too long and will be mostly about the players because the Q&A articles will answer a lot of questions.
Darius Robinson
The move to defensive end is a move that he voiced to the coaching staff and a situation has come up to allow him to be there. The situation head coach Eli Drinkwitz alluded to on Monday is there is a lot of scholarship players at defensive tackle. Obviously, Trajan Jeffcoat, Isaiah McGuire and DJ Coleman open up vacancies at defensive end for Robinson to try and make a mark there.
Coach Davis said he’s playing both. If I had to guess he will still play more defensive tackle than defensive end though.
Robinson wants to work on pass rush and the coaching staff wants to give him an opportunity to show his versatility. Robinson (more or less) said being a defensive tackle means the ball is snapped and then you instantly start trying pass rush moves but defensive ends have to get upfield and do pass rush moves and that’s something he’s trying to do.
Robinson’s draft grade was between a third-round and fifth-round pick. He felt slighted that some players on the list were rated higher than him.
He also said he was invited to the Shrine Bowl and the NFL Combine. He even began to tell coaches he wasn’t coming back.
He watched his tape and felt there was room for improvement and doesn’t think he was as good as he believes he can be.
Ty’Ron Hopper
Hopper wants to improve on using his hands better, communicating, being more vocal and recognizing plays and formations better so he can play faster.
Hopper was teammates with incoming safety transfer Tre’Vez Johnson at Florida and hosted him on his visit. He said Johnson is very fast and a heavy hitter and feel is he good at blitzing and playing in coverage.
He (and everyone I talked to today) is really happy with the buy-in defensively from the coaching staff and the players. They like each other and the continuity of having so many returning players and the same coaching staff has a lot of players at ease because it provides stability.
When Hopper got his draft grade he said it was what he expected it to be and he feels another year at Mizzou could boost it higher. I did ask if he wanted to share what his draft grade was and he politely declined to reveal that information.
He said players like Chuck Hicks (returning from injury) and Triston Newson (incoming JUCO transfer) bring a lot of speed to the linebacker group. “They both can cover and they both are some dogs.” Hopper said. “I feel like they can bring a lot to the team.”
P.S. I don’t know if “dawgs” is an official word but it should be.
Kristian Williams
One of the emphases for the defense as a whole on this media day was getting takeaways. Defensive tackles don’t have as much opportunities to do that per se, but Williams said the next best thing they will have to do is force more pressure on the quarterbacks. Trying to force quarterbacks to change his reads and being more disruptive in passing lanes with the pass rush or getting in the quarterback’s line of view.
He said in his first season in Columbia he learned to be comfortable being uncomfortable. He’s picked up more on controlling the controllables.
I asked about the Trench Mob, which is what the defensive tackles call themselves, and how being supportive and helpful can also coincide with being competitive and wanting to get the snaps and be on the field.
Williams’ response: “Whenever we try to do extra work we always bring somebody with us regardless. If we not getting better as a group – you’re only as good as the group. So, we don’t necessarily look at everyone’s individual achievements. We try to play selfless because if we are selfish then the group as a whole will be demoralized.”
His reasoning behind changing from No. 92 to No. 5 is pretty simple. His birthday is Dec. 5 and his favorite number is five. So, when he had the opportunity to get the number he took it.
Chad Bailey
The reason he changed from No. 33 to No. 9 is also simple. He just wanted a change. No emotional symbolic meaning.
He said the defense can play faster now that they’re one year into the scheme and have a grip on it. This is a common theme with just about every person that I talked to today.
Bailey’s biggest gripe with last season is the two-and-a-half games he missed. He wants to be healthy for all of camp and all of 2023 as a whole. Secondly, he wants to work on his coverage skills and then he wants to be able to work on a little bit of pass rush moves.
Bailey believes the way to force more turnovers is to “play angry.”
“We’ve got to strike at the ball,” Bailey said. “We’ve got to put pressure on the quarterback and make it hard for him to complete passes. Get tipped passes and stay focused on the ball.”
Bailey said Chuck Hicks is a guy he goes to for questions and Chuck does the same for him. He said Chuck’s experience starting at Wyoming makes him a good person to bounce questions off of him.
Apparently, being the best defense in school history is the theme of the season. I didn’t hear Blake Baker say this but other reporters asked players this question and said that Baker said that.
I don’t think this is something the players are taking too seriously from a pressure standpoint. They do want to be the best defense ever, but they’re focused on putting the work in and the results will come. It’s a healthy goal but also not something where if they don’t finish statistically as the best defense in school history they’ll hang their heads about it. They just want to be a better defense than last season.
P.s. Ky Montgomery officially moving to DT. Ian Matthews I believe is staying at DE though.
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