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We called last week the slowest recruiting week of the year. If that's the case, this might be second. We're currently in a dead period for football recruiting, and of course the basketball staff is more concerned about finishing out this season and saving their jobs than recruiting (and they always recruit in silence anyway). But we still managed to dig up a few tidbits for you guys to end the week.-- Before we get to recruiting stuff, a quick rundown on the football staff movement this week. As expected, Eli Drinkwitz will promote Blake Baker to defensive coordinator. The news has not yet been officially announced by the team but we are confident it is accurate. In addition, Drinkwitz gave linebackers coach DJ Smith another title bump in naming him co-defensive coordinator. We do not yet know how involved Smith will be or how responsibilities will break down between him and Baker. We are scheduled to speak with Eli Drinkwitz after the first spring practice a week from today and with all the assistant coaches on Monday, Feb. 28, so that should provide some clarity.
But one thing we do know, which our source stressed, is that the motivation here was to avoid drastically changing the defensive scheme for the second season in a row. Drinkwitz feels like confidence in the scheme was the biggest reason for the defensive improvement toward the end of last season and he wanted to try to keep continuity there. There will almost certainly be subtle differences between Baker's defense and Wilks', but we would expect the 4-2-5 base formation to remain the same and players' responsibilities to be similar. Baker will still coach the safeties and Smith will still coach the linebackers, so Missouri needed a cornerbacks coach. They filled that void by hiring Al Pogue from Troy. Again, we expect all of this to be officially announced this week.
-- On to recruiting news. The biggest and strangest story continues to be the Marquis Robinson saga. To recap the situation, the Auburn defensive tackle entered the transfer portal on Jan. 27. He visited Missouri and Tennessee on the following weekend and, based on some public quotes and other intel, seemed like the Vols' to lose. But then about a week ago we got word that Mizzou felt good about landing Robinson, and then we found out that he had enrolled in classes, which made us believe an official announcement of Robinson to Missouri was imminent. Obviously, that has not materialized. As of right now, the official update on the situation is no update. We can say with confidence that Robinson is not on Missouri's campus. It's possible he's taking online classes, but we think someone would have told us by now if that was the case. The Tiger staff is still trying to land him. How this plays out is really anyone's guess. Staying at Auburn could still be on the table, he could wind up at Missouri or elsewhere. As soon as we get new info, we'll pass it along.
-- Newly offered quarterback Brock Glenn tells us he's "highly interested" in Missouri since picking up his offer back on January 26th. The three-star prospect had been talking to quarterbacks coach Bush Hamdan for a couple of weeks before Missouri extended the offer. Glenn says he plans to swing by Missouri's campus for a spring practice in the coming weeks. After passing for 1,575 yards and 23 touchdowns while completing 97 of 155 passes, Glenn has picked up other recent offers from the likes of Houston, Oklahoma State, Pitt, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan State.
-- We reached out to CBC running back Jeremiyah Love earlier this week. The speedster told us he's planning to make return visits to Missouri in the spring and summer. Love is another in-state target to keep a close eye on. Missouri was his first power five offer that Love picked up after impressing the coaching staff at camp last summer. The fact that he has a couple of return visits in mind is a very good sign. Love told us that he may release a Top 5 soon and schools like Vanderbilt and Boston College are also sticking out currently.
-- New offensive line offer Johnathan Cline said he's also very interested in checking out Missouri after picking up his offer from Marcus Johnson. The Cartersville, Georgia native said he would like to visit for a spring practice in the coming weeks. Cline has 23 offers on his resume with other notable schools like Purdue, NC State, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Cincinnati.
-- Cy Woods (Tex.) linebacker Dylan Rogers is another name to keep an eye on. The three-star prospect told us that he's really liking Missouri so far and that him and linebackers coach D.J. Smith stay in contact frequently. The Tigers are among his early offers that also include Houston, Kansas, and Texas Tech.
-- Kenwood (Ill.) athlete Kahlil Tate is a recent offer that has his eyes set on a Missouri visit this spring. He's got a visit to Iowa set for March 5th while Tennessee and Ole Miss are other schools he's looking to get out to as well.
- -Rivals.com analyst Clint Cosgrove caught up with DeSmet (Mo.) cornerback Christian Gray earlier this week for an update in his recruiting process. As you would expect, there was a lot of blue blood talk in terms of visits he plans to take this spring - LSU, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and USC. Mizzou has gotten Gray on campus a couple of times in the past, but it seems they are currently behind the eight-ball here.
