RECRUITING
Barring another snow storm that could obviously cause scheduling issues, we expect the following official visitors on campus this weekend:
- The longtime offensive tackle target confirmed with us that he will be back in Columbia this weekend for an official visit. The three-star prospect took his first official last weekend to Oklahoma and to perhaps the surprise of some, emerged from Norman uncommitted. Ike previously visited Missouri back in the spring and in the fall for the Kentucky game. Kansas State and Michigan are other schools that appear to be in the mix for official visits for Ike. Based on what we've been told, we would say Missouri is definitely going to have to make a big impression on the visit. But if you get them on campus, you've got a shot.
- Matute is a JUCO prospect we've updated you on earlier this week. Brad Davis met with him on Monday and this weekend's visit was setup although an offer has yet to be extended. He is a California native that was recruited as a quarterback coming out of high school, then tried his hand at tight end at Golden West C.C. in Huntington Beach (Calif.) before transitioning to offensive tackle this past season at Mt. San Antonio (Calif.) this past season. Matute has offers from Coastal Carolina, Liberty, and UMass.
Other Notes:
- We do know Missouri is also making a run at Tennessee offensive tackle graduate transfer Drew Richmond. A former five-star prospect coming out of high school back in 2015, Richmond hasn't quite lived up to his high school status during his time in Knoxville where he's started at both left and right tackle. Regardless, he's now on the market and college coaches are salivating for an opportunity to add an experienced starter at tackle...Missouri included.
- Staying on the graduate transfer news wire. It appears that Missouri has also reached out to former Virginia Tech defensive end. Hill was dismissed from the football team this past season after the Hokies upset loss to Old Dominion. Up until his dismissal, Hill lead Virginia Tech with 3.5 sacks and recorded 11 sacks total during his career.
- Price's status with Missouri will likely depend on how things shake out with Richmond. Price met with offensive line coach Brad Davis on Wednesday and was told that the staff is looking at either him or Richmond to come in be in the mix for the starting right tackle spot. Price came away very impressed with Davis during their two hour meeting and said he would definitely visit Missouri if he was extended an offer and given an opportunity. Price also met with TCU coaches this week and Utah, Colorado, and LSU is also scheduled to visit him next week. He has already taken an official visit to Southern Miss in December and has one scheduled to Washington State on January 25th. Price started his collegiate career at Stephen F. Austin, where he appeared in eight games, including two starts at left tackle.
- The Tigers extended an offer to the three-star defensive end out of Georgia at the beginning of the week. Linton is scheduled to take an official visit to Baylor this weekend, which will be his fourth overall official. His other three officials included Arizona State, Syracuse, and South Florida. We haven't been able to get a hold of Linton yet, but Rivals.com analyst Chad Simmons told us that Arizona State is his leader right now. It sounds like Missouri still has some work to do.
- We've already mentioned this on the board earlier this week, but we've now heard from multiple sources that Ferguson will not qualify academically and will be going the JUCO route. In regards to Shemar Pearl, all indications are he will sign with Missouri in February.
-The vast majority of the recruiting right now is 2020 and 2021 related. We have posted a ton of new offers this week. One interesting note: We've heard that Missouri is really going to make a push in the Chicago area this year. This is something that we've advocated for quite a while. It's a major city with a ton of talent and it's one of the few that Missouri can go to and tell kids, "If you want to play in the SEC, this is the closest to home you can do that." There are a ton of Mizzou alums in Chicago and a lot of these high schools have a lot of kids who go to Mizzou. It's really an area that the Tigers could make some headway. You're not going to go in and get the Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame level kids from there. But you can absolutely go in and beat out the likes of Illinois, Minnesota and a lot of others for the next level of player in Chicago.
TEAM STUFF
-Missouri announced two new hires yesterday. We have been telling you since the end of the regular season we expected Garrick McGee to be added to the staff as a full-time assistant. That happened. Our best guess right now is that McGee takes over coaching the wide receivers and A.J. Ofodile will coach the tight ends. Nothing is official on that, but it makes the most sense. McGee has work with receivers for much of his career and Ofodile is a tight end. It would seem that this is the way to maximize the expertise of both of them.
The other hire was David Gibbs, who comes from Texas Tech. He was the defensive coordinator for Kliff Kingsbury (interestingly, Barry Odom was in the mix for that job back when Missouri hired him to replace Dave Steckel). Gibbs has worked with defensive backs for most of his career and that's what we expect here. Not sure if he'll take over corners or safeties, but based on what we're hearing, we expect him to be in the secondary. That would mean Ryan Walters cuts his position duties in half, which is probably the best way to go with him also being the defensive coordinator. Vernon Hargreaves would likely coach all the linebackers.
So here's what we think the staff looks like:
Derek Dooley: OC/QB
Cornell Ford: RB
Garrick McGee: WR
AJ Ofodile: TE
Brad Davis: OL
Brick Haley: DL
Vernon Hargreaves: LB
David Gibbs: CB or S
Ryan Walters: DC/CB or S
Andy Hill: ??
We leave the last one blank because we're not sure what Hill's role will be. We do expect him to be on staff next year as one of the ten full-time assistants. But we're not positive he will remain the special teams coordinator. That didn't go so well last season. It could stay the same. But Odom could also choose to divide special teams up the way it always had been done before last year and give Hill a different assignment. The issue is that the Tigers already have every position filled on the offensive side and that's where Hill's history is. So we'll just kind of have to wait to see what happens there.
That's it for this week. Nothing new on the hoops front because we haven't been able to reach new offer Myron Gardner yet and in the heart of both high school and college basketball season, it's just not a time where there's a lot of movement on the recruiting front.
Barring another snow storm that could obviously cause scheduling issues, we expect the following official visitors on campus this weekend:
- The longtime offensive tackle target confirmed with us that he will be back in Columbia this weekend for an official visit. The three-star prospect took his first official last weekend to Oklahoma and to perhaps the surprise of some, emerged from Norman uncommitted. Ike previously visited Missouri back in the spring and in the fall for the Kentucky game. Kansas State and Michigan are other schools that appear to be in the mix for official visits for Ike. Based on what we've been told, we would say Missouri is definitely going to have to make a big impression on the visit. But if you get them on campus, you've got a shot.
- Matute is a JUCO prospect we've updated you on earlier this week. Brad Davis met with him on Monday and this weekend's visit was setup although an offer has yet to be extended. He is a California native that was recruited as a quarterback coming out of high school, then tried his hand at tight end at Golden West C.C. in Huntington Beach (Calif.) before transitioning to offensive tackle this past season at Mt. San Antonio (Calif.) this past season. Matute has offers from Coastal Carolina, Liberty, and UMass.
Other Notes:
- We do know Missouri is also making a run at Tennessee offensive tackle graduate transfer Drew Richmond. A former five-star prospect coming out of high school back in 2015, Richmond hasn't quite lived up to his high school status during his time in Knoxville where he's started at both left and right tackle. Regardless, he's now on the market and college coaches are salivating for an opportunity to add an experienced starter at tackle...Missouri included.
- Staying on the graduate transfer news wire. It appears that Missouri has also reached out to former Virginia Tech defensive end. Hill was dismissed from the football team this past season after the Hokies upset loss to Old Dominion. Up until his dismissal, Hill lead Virginia Tech with 3.5 sacks and recorded 11 sacks total during his career.
- Price's status with Missouri will likely depend on how things shake out with Richmond. Price met with offensive line coach Brad Davis on Wednesday and was told that the staff is looking at either him or Richmond to come in be in the mix for the starting right tackle spot. Price came away very impressed with Davis during their two hour meeting and said he would definitely visit Missouri if he was extended an offer and given an opportunity. Price also met with TCU coaches this week and Utah, Colorado, and LSU is also scheduled to visit him next week. He has already taken an official visit to Southern Miss in December and has one scheduled to Washington State on January 25th. Price started his collegiate career at Stephen F. Austin, where he appeared in eight games, including two starts at left tackle.
- The Tigers extended an offer to the three-star defensive end out of Georgia at the beginning of the week. Linton is scheduled to take an official visit to Baylor this weekend, which will be his fourth overall official. His other three officials included Arizona State, Syracuse, and South Florida. We haven't been able to get a hold of Linton yet, but Rivals.com analyst Chad Simmons told us that Arizona State is his leader right now. It sounds like Missouri still has some work to do.
- We've already mentioned this on the board earlier this week, but we've now heard from multiple sources that Ferguson will not qualify academically and will be going the JUCO route. In regards to Shemar Pearl, all indications are he will sign with Missouri in February.
-The vast majority of the recruiting right now is 2020 and 2021 related. We have posted a ton of new offers this week. One interesting note: We've heard that Missouri is really going to make a push in the Chicago area this year. This is something that we've advocated for quite a while. It's a major city with a ton of talent and it's one of the few that Missouri can go to and tell kids, "If you want to play in the SEC, this is the closest to home you can do that." There are a ton of Mizzou alums in Chicago and a lot of these high schools have a lot of kids who go to Mizzou. It's really an area that the Tigers could make some headway. You're not going to go in and get the Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame level kids from there. But you can absolutely go in and beat out the likes of Illinois, Minnesota and a lot of others for the next level of player in Chicago.
TEAM STUFF
-Missouri announced two new hires yesterday. We have been telling you since the end of the regular season we expected Garrick McGee to be added to the staff as a full-time assistant. That happened. Our best guess right now is that McGee takes over coaching the wide receivers and A.J. Ofodile will coach the tight ends. Nothing is official on that, but it makes the most sense. McGee has work with receivers for much of his career and Ofodile is a tight end. It would seem that this is the way to maximize the expertise of both of them.
The other hire was David Gibbs, who comes from Texas Tech. He was the defensive coordinator for Kliff Kingsbury (interestingly, Barry Odom was in the mix for that job back when Missouri hired him to replace Dave Steckel). Gibbs has worked with defensive backs for most of his career and that's what we expect here. Not sure if he'll take over corners or safeties, but based on what we're hearing, we expect him to be in the secondary. That would mean Ryan Walters cuts his position duties in half, which is probably the best way to go with him also being the defensive coordinator. Vernon Hargreaves would likely coach all the linebackers.
So here's what we think the staff looks like:
Derek Dooley: OC/QB
Cornell Ford: RB
Garrick McGee: WR
AJ Ofodile: TE
Brad Davis: OL
Brick Haley: DL
Vernon Hargreaves: LB
David Gibbs: CB or S
Ryan Walters: DC/CB or S
Andy Hill: ??
We leave the last one blank because we're not sure what Hill's role will be. We do expect him to be on staff next year as one of the ten full-time assistants. But we're not positive he will remain the special teams coordinator. That didn't go so well last season. It could stay the same. But Odom could also choose to divide special teams up the way it always had been done before last year and give Hill a different assignment. The issue is that the Tigers already have every position filled on the offensive side and that's where Hill's history is. So we'll just kind of have to wait to see what happens there.
That's it for this week. Nothing new on the hoops front because we haven't been able to reach new offer Myron Gardner yet and in the heart of both high school and college basketball season, it's just not a time where there's a lot of movement on the recruiting front.
