NOTE: THE END OF THIS NOW LOOKS STUPID AND IS IRRELEVANT
Just a few things to start the day here:
*Adrian Martinez is visiting Nebraska this weekend. He will visit Missouri next weekend. I wouldn't say I feel great about Missouri's chances on this one, but I didn't feel great about them yesterday either. The Tigers are going to get a shot on the visit and that's the first step.
*James Foster tweeted yesterday that Florida State was now back involved in his recruitment, and he added Alabama to his top five as well. Seems to change almost daily with this kid. Missouri would definitely still take him, but it obviously doesn't appear he's going to make a decision soon.
*Given both of those things, I would anticipate that Missouri does not sign a QB early and waits until February (or potentially even after the late signing day when transfers, grad transfers, etc open up more).
*Other visitors we have as of right now are Jahmir Johnson, Cameron Wilkins, Chad Bailey and Joshua Ezeudu. Here's the situation with all three as we know it:
Johnson was high school teammates with Yasir Durant and Johncarlo Valentin. He just picked up a Nebraska offer yesterday and a Texas offer a few days ago. He plans to visit USC in January. This one won't end early. In one article, Johnson said Durant was "my best friend" so that's got to help the Tigers.
Wilkins was supposed to visit Texas A&M last weekend originally. I would be surprised if that visit happened since the Aggies didn't have their coach in place yet, but I'm not sure. Have a message out to check. Will be interesting to see where Wilkins is at with Jimbo Fisher taking over with A&M. That was the offer that always concerned Missouri for its chances of hanging on to him.
The last we heard from Ezeudu was way back in October when he said he was going to visit Connecticut, Missouri and Syracuse. Hearing that Ezeudu is now going to visit next weekend (December 15th) but working to confirm that with him.
*There will be more uncommitted visitors. Guaranteed. We'll have a full list in the Chamber on Friday.
*At tight end, we still like Missouri's chances with both Messiah Swinson and Payne Durham. Swinson told Sean Williams last night he would visit Nebraska after picking up an offer from Scott Frost's staff. The plan has been for Swinson to announce his decision in mid-December. Not sure if the Husker offer/visit will change that timetable (or the decision which, as of now, we expect to be Missouri).
*I traded messages with Da'Ron Davis this morning. He will report to Columbia when everyone returns from Christmas break.
*Couple of team-related notes:
*I'm hearing that an announcement on Drew Lock's future is probably going to be a while. Certainly after the bowl game, most likely in early to mid-January. Most people I talk to still feel confident he is going to stay in school for his senior season, but we'll see. It's possible Drew already has submitted his name to the advisory board, but I don't think he's probably gotten an answer yet.
*Traded messages with someone who follows South Alabama last night. This is the job where Josh Heupel's name was mentioned last week. The person told me he heard Heupel's name as someone who had reached out through the search firm initially, but he hasn't really heard any more since then. Heupel makes $700,000 at Mizzou (which by the way is the highest base salary of any University employee). I was told that South Alabama would be pushing to get higher than 650.
My contact said: "He's got no ties here that I know of, and if he wants a G5 HC job, he could probably do better. Facilities here are OK, but no on-campus stadium and the fan support is not great. Program is only 9 years old and most of their alums grew up as Alabama/Auburn fans who would rather stay home and watch those teams on TV."
I've yet to see Heupel's name connected to any other jobs. Rice is set to make a hire (Mike Bloomgren, according to Pete Thamel. IDK who that is). UCF will announce a coach at 11 am this morning. I have no idea who it will be. (EDIT: Bruce Feldman reports UCF is looking at its own OC Troy Walters and Clemson co-OC Tony Elliott). So some of the G5 jobs are starting to fill up. At this point, I think Heupel is coming back, but obviously we'll pay attention for any info on that front.
Just a few things to start the day here:
*Adrian Martinez is visiting Nebraska this weekend. He will visit Missouri next weekend. I wouldn't say I feel great about Missouri's chances on this one, but I didn't feel great about them yesterday either. The Tigers are going to get a shot on the visit and that's the first step.
*James Foster tweeted yesterday that Florida State was now back involved in his recruitment, and he added Alabama to his top five as well. Seems to change almost daily with this kid. Missouri would definitely still take him, but it obviously doesn't appear he's going to make a decision soon.
*Given both of those things, I would anticipate that Missouri does not sign a QB early and waits until February (or potentially even after the late signing day when transfers, grad transfers, etc open up more).
*Other visitors we have as of right now are Jahmir Johnson, Cameron Wilkins, Chad Bailey and Joshua Ezeudu. Here's the situation with all three as we know it:
Johnson was high school teammates with Yasir Durant and Johncarlo Valentin. He just picked up a Nebraska offer yesterday and a Texas offer a few days ago. He plans to visit USC in January. This one won't end early. In one article, Johnson said Durant was "my best friend" so that's got to help the Tigers.
Wilkins was supposed to visit Texas A&M last weekend originally. I would be surprised if that visit happened since the Aggies didn't have their coach in place yet, but I'm not sure. Have a message out to check. Will be interesting to see where Wilkins is at with Jimbo Fisher taking over with A&M. That was the offer that always concerned Missouri for its chances of hanging on to him.
The last we heard from Ezeudu was way back in October when he said he was going to visit Connecticut, Missouri and Syracuse. Hearing that Ezeudu is now going to visit next weekend (December 15th) but working to confirm that with him.
*There will be more uncommitted visitors. Guaranteed. We'll have a full list in the Chamber on Friday.
*At tight end, we still like Missouri's chances with both Messiah Swinson and Payne Durham. Swinson told Sean Williams last night he would visit Nebraska after picking up an offer from Scott Frost's staff. The plan has been for Swinson to announce his decision in mid-December. Not sure if the Husker offer/visit will change that timetable (or the decision which, as of now, we expect to be Missouri).
*I traded messages with Da'Ron Davis this morning. He will report to Columbia when everyone returns from Christmas break.
*Couple of team-related notes:
*I'm hearing that an announcement on Drew Lock's future is probably going to be a while. Certainly after the bowl game, most likely in early to mid-January. Most people I talk to still feel confident he is going to stay in school for his senior season, but we'll see. It's possible Drew already has submitted his name to the advisory board, but I don't think he's probably gotten an answer yet.
*Traded messages with someone who follows South Alabama last night. This is the job where Josh Heupel's name was mentioned last week. The person told me he heard Heupel's name as someone who had reached out through the search firm initially, but he hasn't really heard any more since then. Heupel makes $700,000 at Mizzou (which by the way is the highest base salary of any University employee). I was told that South Alabama would be pushing to get higher than 650.
My contact said: "He's got no ties here that I know of, and if he wants a G5 HC job, he could probably do better. Facilities here are OK, but no on-campus stadium and the fan support is not great. Program is only 9 years old and most of their alums grew up as Alabama/Auburn fans who would rather stay home and watch those teams on TV."
I've yet to see Heupel's name connected to any other jobs. Rice is set to make a hire (Mike Bloomgren, according to Pete Thamel. IDK who that is). UCF will announce a coach at 11 am this morning. I have no idea who it will be. (EDIT: Bruce Feldman reports UCF is looking at its own OC Troy Walters and Clemson co-OC Tony Elliott). So some of the G5 jobs are starting to fill up. At this point, I think Heupel is coming back, but obviously we'll pay attention for any info on that front.
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