Mizzou’s Eric Beisel relishes first career start, increased role with defense

Before each game at Memorial Stadium, junior linebacker Eric Beisel grabs the Missouri state flag and weaves through his teammates to lead the whooping and hollering processional onto Faurot Field.

Until last Saturday against Kentucky, it was the biggest honor Beisel had received from the Tigers program he reveres.

“It’s an extreme honor,” Beisel said. “I couldn’t be more proud to carry the flag out every game and represent the state of Missouri. … (First-year) coach (Barry) Odom asked me to do that the first game. He just said he wanted a special-teams player to carry that out, someone who represents the state of Missouri well, from the state of Missouri and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

Mizzou reverted to last season’s defense before playing the Wildcats, but senior linebacker Michael Scherer, who started at middle linebacker in that scheme, was out because of a season-ending knee injury.

Freshman Cale Garrett, who’d started the previous two games at middle linebacker, only had three days to learn the scheme, which he had no experience in having only arrived last spring.

That meant Beisel — a red-haired, bearded missile from Rockwood Summit High in Fenton, Mo. — made his first career start for the Tigers’ defense, finishing with five tackles and a team- and career-high three for a loss.

“I appreciate the coaches having enough faith in me to finally put me out there … ,” Beisel said. “I’ve kept true to myself and kept working. I’ve stuck to a plan, and it was just my moment.”

Beisel arrived at Mizzou amid a fair amount of hype from the fan base, complete with the nickname “Zeus,” but his journey from heralded high school bone-cruncher to an impact college player hasn’t been a straight line.

“With every guy who really cares about this stuff, if you’re not playing and not starting, you’re going to be frustrated no matter what,” Scherer said. “But some guys, when they get frustrated, they shut down. He just kept working, and that’s why he is where he is.”

Beisel could have cashed in his chips, sought greener pasture and more playing time at another program, but it’s not in his DNA.

“I had other options — other universities when I was getting recruited here — but I chose to stay home,” Beisel said. “Three years ago, I promised the state of Missouri and the fans and the University of Missouri I was going to come here and win a championship. I don’t take promises lightly.”

Instead, Beisel chose to work even harder for his dream.

“I know there were times that things weren’t going his way and he could have gone elsewhere, but I think there’s a lot of guys on this team that need to look at him and look how, when things weren’t going his way, he didn’t complain about it and kept doing his thing,” Scherer said.

Beisel is one of the Tigers who regularly goes above and beyond, putting in extra time before and after practice on his conditioning and technique.

“I don't call it extra, I call it necessary work ... ,” Beisel said. “I make a lot of promises, set a lot of goals and set a lot of expectations. I feel like to reach those expectations, you’ve got to go above and beyond and do extraordinary work. That’s just my personality.”

With Mizzou planning to continue using last year’s defensive system for the remainder of the season, expect Beisel to continue playing a significant role.

“He has a familiarity with what we’re trying to do as far as game planning and what we're trying to implement going forward,” Cross said. “The recall for him is good. He’s still got to make a few more plays that I know he wants to make, but his presence is good as far as being a veteran leader. His confidence is going up with each practice and each rep.”

This story was originally published November 4, 2016 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Mizzou’s Eric Beisel relishes first career start, increased role with defense."