Mizzou’s Eliah Drinkwitz completes assistant coaching staff, hires Marcus Johnson
Missouri Tigers coach Eliah Drinkwitz completed his assistant coaching staff Friday. The final addition was Marcus Johnson, added as an offensive assistant coach.
Johnson joins Mizzou after two years from 2018-19 as offensive line coach at Mississippi State under former Bulldogs coach Joe Moorhead. He previously worked at Duke from 2011-17.
“I’m absolutely excited about the opportunity to work with Coach Drink and be part of the Mizzou program,” Johnson said in a school news release. “I think Coach Drink is one of the top young, innovative coaches out there, and this is an amazing opportunity for me to continue to grow and develop in the profession. My family and I are looking forward to this new chapter in our lives and I’m excited to get to work learning everything I need to know about Missouri.”
As part of Drinkwitz’s contract, he is allowed a $5.2 million pool to spread across 10 assistant coaches. Contract details and specific positional duties of Drinkwitz’s assistant coaches will be released now that the staff is full.
Of the 10 assistants, three are holdovers from former coach Barry Odom’s staff: defensive line coach Brick Haley, defensive coordinator Ryan Walters and defensive assistant David Gibbs. There are five defensive assistants, four offensive assistants and one special teams coordinator. Drinkwitz, known for his offensive background, has said he will control play-calling duties.
Drinkwitz’s next important step is in recruiting. The normal signing period starts on Feb. 5. Mizzou signed 10 recruits during the early signing period, with quarterback Brady Cook and wide receiver Jay Maclin set to be early enrollees. Drinkwitz has offered and re-offered recruits who are still unsigned in recent weeks as he looks for offensive and defensive linemen, along with potentially a defensive back.
Now that Drinkwitz’s coaching staff is set, he can assign each of his assistants a region for recruiting. That is a major shift from Odom’s recruiting style, where he had assistants recruit by position. Under Drinkwitz, assistants will recruit by region, with Kansas City set to be of crucial importance if the Tigers hope to succeed with in-state recruiting.
From there, spring football will be right around the corner.
DRINKWITZ’S ASSISTANTS
Name, title, previous school
Charlie Harbison, associate head coach/defense, Appalachian State
Erik Link, special teams coordinator, Appalachian State
DJ Smith, defensive assistant, Appalachian State
Brick Haley*, assistant head coach/defensive line, Texas
Casey Woods, offensive assistant coach, Alabama-Birmingham
Ryan Walters*, defensive coordinator, Memphis
David Gibbs*, defensive assistant, Texas Tech
Curtis Luper, offensive coordinator/assistant, TCU
Bush Hamdan, offensive assistant, Washington
Marcus Johnson, offensive assistant, Mississippi State
*retained from Odom’s staff