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Disclaimer: For those of you who are coming here expecting to read about the Chiefs and the NFL playoffs and who are here mostly for my vast knowledge of all sports and not just my vast knowledge of Mizzou sports, fast forward to point number 8. It doesn't mean Mizzou sports aren't important, but I understand that some of you are not here for that. Some are here in hopes I will have an emotional online breakdown and to rub salt in the wounds of others. I understand that and I want to cater to you too (well, except for the breakdown part) but I'm just not doing it first. Consider yourselves warned about the content prior to the start of the thoughts. Just need to make sure everybody is properly prepared.
1) The transfer portal overhaul continues for Eli Drinkwitz. Tyler Stephens committed and then Ian Matthews did the same. That brings the offseason total to eight out and ten in if I've counted correctly, which it's certainly possible I have not. It is a higher number coming in than I thought would occur at the start of this. To me, it states a clear intention that the staff expects to see immediate progress next season. They've been presented an avenue through which they can remake the roster and they're doing so. I do not believe the transfer activity is done. Mizzou is waiting on a decision from Auburn defensive tackle Marquis Robinson and will certainly take him if he chooses Mizzou. There could still be an addition or two after spring ball--and will absolutely be some departures at that point.
2) The portal wasn't the only supplier of recruiting news this weekend. Mizzou landed Louisiana LB Carmycah Glass. This seems to be a player that came on the radar when Blake Baker was hired from LSU. He did not have any major offers, but had some lower level attention and had some schools sniffing around. This is a classic case of having room to take a chance on a kid that has the athletic potential to turn into a player. Maybe he will, maybe he won't. And you don't want a class with 10 kids like this. As we've said year over year, on a macro scale, recruiting rankings matter. The more four- and five-stars you have, the better chance you're good. But that doesn't mean an individual kid can't be underrated. I messaged with a writer from our LSU site who covers a lot of Louisiana high school football. His thoughts are linked here. The high school recruiting might not be done for this weekend. We're still monitoring another weekend visitor.
3) The Tigers' class, right now, ranks 12th in the country. It is ranked fifth in the SEC. This is after all the re-rankings and the addition of Glass, who was rated as a 5.6 three-star prospect. This shows the importance of getting close to 20 high school prospects. Missouri has 17 right now. Just adding Glass moved the class up from 18th to 12th. Only four schools in the top 20 have as few as 17 commitments (Mizzou, Clemson, Oklahoma and North Carolina). Auburn and Kentucky are the only other two under 20. We really don't think Mizzou is going to get to 20. Even if the Tigers add another high school player or two, we do not anticipate four-star Deshawn Woods signing on Wednesday, which will have an impact on the ranking. Still, Missouri is swimming in uncharted waters as far as recruiting rankings go. Fun stuff for those who follow this closely.
4) All of this activity means as of today, Mizzou is over the limit of 85 scholarship players. That, of course, means nothing. They have to be at or below 85 by August 1. They will be. Everyone always manages somehow. Like I said earlier there will be some more transfers out. The more interesting part to me than the overall number is to break down the roster by pre-Drinkwitz and post-Drinkwitz. So I did that.
Players who were signed before Drinkwitz was the coach: 19
Players who signed since Drinkwitz became the coach: 66 (we aren't including Woods here)
That means 77.6% of the roster was brought in by Drinkwitz. That percentage will go up when he brings in a few more players this offseason and others transfer out. This is college football. In just two years and two months, Drinkwitz has overhauled approximately 80% of the entire roster.
5) Of course, with that sped up timeline for the roster, it also speeds up the timeline on judgment for a new coach. The roster is his this year. The time to blame the last guy has pretty much passed. Yes, a lot of his players are still going to be young and I'm not demanding ten wins or anything, but there needs to be progress. They've brought in nearly 20 players via transfer over two seasons in addition to the two most highly rated recruiting classes in school history. You expect those to show up on the field. The roster isn't quite "let's talk about the SEC East" ready, but 2022 needs to be a winning season. There aren't many in the fanbase who aren't full-on Drink converts at this point in time, but the reasoning from those who exist is "I know he can recruit, but can he coach and build a program?" And that's the answer we'll start to get this year. The minimum line for success and what makes you optimistic is seven wins. That's not an unfair bar in my mind. A winning season gives you hope that the talent identification is there. And then 2023 needs to be the year you take a step beyond that where you start talking about getting the program back to where it was a decade earlier. By the end of the 2023 season, I think we'll have a pretty good idea whether Missouri fans should worry that they won't be able to hang on to their coach or whether they should worry that they might have to start learning about the buyout.
