Bring your Tigers football, basketball and recruiting questions, and talk to Eli Hoff in a live chat at 11 a.m. Thursday.
Transcript
Eli 贬辞蹿蹿:听Hello everyone, and happy Thursday. Thanks for coming by this week's Mizzou chat. Sorry we weren't able to do this last week 鈥 the program we work with to let y'all submit questions went down, which makes a chat pretty much impossible to do. But we're back now.听
And there was some news this morning: Mizzou has extended Eli Drinkwitz through the 2029 season. His salary remains the same but he now has more to spend on assistants, which makes sense given that I'm expecting an extension for Corey Batoon (if not others, too) to come through soon.听
Now, your questions!
Tom o:听I listen to a pod cast on the SEC. It ironically has given a lot of positive time to Missouri. In fact the co host( Uncle Shane) came up to the Missouri/ Oklahoma game and his pictures was flashed on the jumbo Tron. The show is now playing clips from SEC interviews at the recent SEC meeting. In one clip Billy Liucci (Texas A&M talked about upcoming games and when he reach Missouri said it I鈥檇 really not a SEC school. Peter Burns SEC commentator said there has never been anything special about Missouri and the coach is goofy. What is your experience with other people who cover the league when it comes to our reputation?
贬辞蹿蹿:听Uncle Shane has gained himself something of a cult following 'round here for being positive about Missouri, it seems. And of course there are fans and media (and fans who are "media") around the league who will say Mizzou doesn't belong in the SEC. Kind of funny that Liucci has joined that club 鈥 is A&M any more of a "true" SEC program? And what does that matter now in a time where Stanford, Cal and SMU are in the ACC?听
As is evidenced by the preseason All-SEC teams and poll, it's not like MU is thought of very highly or very often in conference circles. Honestly, I don't think it matters. The Tigers were picked low in the poll. That's free motivation for Drinkwitz to use. He'll happily play the underdog card whenever he can, and I don't blame him for it.听
But to be honest again, I don't have an especially grand take for you here. I don't pay attention to those talking points among my media peers. My job is to cover Missouri, and I'd rather dig into things on the field or in the athletic department than what somebody said to a camera about how the school fits in the league. I get that matters to fans, but I just don't think it's as real as so many other things we could focus on. It's why I hate the offseason. But that's a separate thing so I won't go off the rails too much in answering your question.听
搁耻蝉蝉:听Good morning, Eli.. What skill sets does Sam Horn bring as quarterback? Is it his arm, mobility, leadership, etc?
贬辞蹿蹿:听The arm is what jumps out to me. Of course every quarterback throws a ball well with a spiral and all that, but Horn's passes just look more aesthetically pleasing in the air. Don't know what it is, but when I'm watching practice, I can identify his throws without even seeing him throw it. He's decently mobile, too, though I don't think as much as Pribula. I don't have a read on either of their leadership styles. The area where Horn will need to take a leap from his 2023 QB competition performance will have to be reading defenses and the feel of things. That's what separated Brady Cook in '23. Horn has had a lot of time to watch film since then, so I'd assume that's improved 鈥 but we'll see.
Fly Man:听Good morning Eli! Do you have a sense for how much Mizzou spends on football and basketball vs the rest of the SEC, Illinois, Nebraska, others?
贬辞蹿蹿:听That I don't, simply because there are some numbers that haven't been reported. For example, we know how much Mizzou spend on football and basketball NIL in 2024, but I haven't seen those numbers reported concretely for any other school. We know how much some other schools are devoting to rev share on each sport for this upcoming season, but not Mizzou. Hopefully at some point down the road we'll be able to get this sense, just not now. When you look at the results and recruiting, MU is certainly competitive, but that's not really what you're asking 鈥 more so a byproduct of what Drinkwitz and Dennis Gates are doing with what they're given.
Tom O:听Never heard back from you regarding the opposing coaches comment in Lindy magazine that while Drink has done a good job recruiting he will not be able to keep it up. Interesting now when we see only 10 recruits so far. Do you buy Drink explanation especially when he lost so many recruits that he has courted for years.
贬辞蹿蹿:听Thanks for asking this again, Tom. The transcript from the July 3 chat when we talked about this vanished from our site, but since then the recruiting situation hasn't improved so we can talk about it again.
Here's what I wrote then, about the opposing coach section of the Lindy's issue: "I'd push back on that particular narrative because it doesn't really matter what state talent comes from: the portal is the portal. Everyone likes a good in-state recruiting win, but that's worth little more than aesthetics. Who really cares if the guy who scores a winning touchdown came from Springfield, Missouri or any of the other 33 Springfields around the country? If the sole determinant of success was which state produced the most talent, it wouldn't have been 11 years since a school from Texas, Florida or California won a national title."
Since then, by which I mean last week, Drinkwitz has told fans to "relax" on recruiting worries and explained his approach. This whole story is worth reading to understand his philosophy toward player acquisition right now:
Do I buy it? Yes, mostly. High school recruiting has never mattered less nor been less efficient. Drinkwitz, meanwhile, has done well for himself in the portal. It seems logical that he would then try less at the less effective thing and try more at the more effective thing when it comes to building a roster. Now, the 2025 class might still be shaping up a little worse than even he wanted, but again, what does that really matter? Will we be sitting here in 2028, when that group will be juniors, lamenting a down year in recruiting? Unlikely, if you ask me. The portal is just so much more important at this point.
Keith:听Things are changing so fast on the college football landscape that is hard to keep up at times. Do you forsee a time in the future where the power brokers (SEC and Big Ten) have to do everything they can (including bigger rev shares for bigger name programs) to keep conferences together? Surely a school like 'Bama could strike out on their own and make a deal nearly as big as Notre Dame's without having to carry the weight of Miss State around, for example. Or is it possible do you think for some of the conferences to eventually boot out the weak sisters, etc.? Offseason talk to be sure, but then heck, it is the offseason! Thanks Eli.
贬辞蹿蹿:听The cynical view of the future would be that the blue bloods pull away from the rest to form a "super league" or something similar together. Not necessarily the independent route, but something a little more jointly exclusive, in a phrase. Sure, Alabama would probably do OK as an independent like Notre Dame. But even ND has joined conferences in sports besides football 鈥 that framework is becoming essential for survival in college football. Alabama would still need to have Georgia and Texas and Florida and Auburn on its schedule to be as hyper-relevant as it is. Still, you have a point: Is there a time when Bama doesn't want to have Mississippi State in its league? Or Ohio State doesn't want Rutgers around? Or the SEC and Big Ten together don't care about sticking with the Big 12 and ACC? Or those collective Power Four conferences ditch the rest of the NCAA? This is certainly a fear. Already, the Big Ten and SEC have pulled away in resources and competitive depth/quality. What if they formalize that in some way, expanding on the exclusive control they already have of the future of the CFP?
It's all certainly possible. Money dictates everything now, and if a model emerges that would maximize money for the best schools at the expensive of the schools even just one tier below, they sure will consider it. I don't think anything like this would necessarily happen soon, but I also didn't think we'd be in a world with the Los Angeles schools in the Big Ten and the Bay Area schools in the ACC and the Arizona schools in the Big 12.听
And that'll do it for this week's chat! We'll talk again next week, and by that point, fall camp will be underway. Until next time...
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