Meet the Mizzou designer who creates the images for Drinkwitz’s cool recruiting tweets
It’s a video that Missouri Tigers fans have learned to celebrate.
Only 10 seconds long, it gathers tens of thousands of views despite being the same every time it’s posted, a tiger roaring the words, “Welcome to the ZOU.”
The reason for their elation? Simple: posting of the video means a new recruit has verbally committed to Mizzou.
Ever since Eliah Drinkwitz’s hire as the Tigers’ new football coach, he’s tweeted it out in anticipation of each commitment he earns. Like clockwork, within a few hours, a recruit follows by announcing his pledge to the Tigers.
The video has become a bat signal of sorts for Mizzou fans, one that stirs excitement in the form of engagement and retweets.
It also happens to be a behind-the-scenes success story for Mizzou recruiting’s graphic designer, Kyle Morris — a nod to the work that goes into creating such images.
“The fans just love it,” Morris said. “It’s something where you see, the second it comes out there, the comments and the likes and retweets ... everything just floods in. It’s really cool to see how much the fans have taken to that.”
The recruiting video isn’t the only graphic Morris makes, but it’s probably the most visible and popular. Drinkwitz saves it for special occasions. Other events, like the virtual player-evaluation period that Mizzou assistants are currently going through, have their own hype-graphics.
While Morris’ creates his images out of the limelight, the graphics take center stage. Aside from being posted by Drinkwitz and Mizzou football’s official social-media accounts, they’re often sent directly to prospective recruits. Occupying such a crucial role, Morris said he tries to create buzz around the program on a daily basis.
“Something that we learn very quickly in this business is a kid will never choose our school because of our graphics,” Morris said. “But our guy can be, ‘Hey, what’s Mizzou doing over there?’ It piques the interest. That’s something we take a lot of pride in. We are sometimes the first glimpse into the program, and it’s our job to set the stage as well as possible.”
In recent months, Morris’ job has been a busy one. The Mizzou accounts are pushing out more graphics via social media. For the most part, Morris said, he works in tandem with his assistant, graphic designer Tanner Morris (no relation), and MU assistant athletic director of creative services Ali Fisher.
Most of the graphics that appear on the Mizzou football Twitter account are created by those three, Morris said. For example, Fisher made the Border War renewal graphic. For May 4 (“May the Fourth be with you”), Morris created a Star Wars-themed visual.
On average, each graphic takes about an hour and a half to create, Morris said. Bigger projects — videos or special one-offs — can take longer. Morris said the key is building a final product that aligns with the coach’s vision and the brand Mizzou wants to portray.
In the past few years, Morris has seen up close how recruiting has become its own industry of sorts. Not just with Mizzou, but across the country, with an emphasis on creating eye-catching images and generating the sort of hype that leaves a lasting impression in the minds of prospective student-athletes.
That aligns with how Drinkwitz, 37, thinks and the youth he brings to his new position. The coach has already shown himself to be adept in the social-media space, and Morris said Drinkwitz makes clear how he wants the graphic designers to work.
“Coach Drinkwitz is really energetic when it comes to that stuff,” Morris said. “You can really see his passion, just in the posts and the videos and stuff like that. He loves getting information out there in creative ways, showing his dedication to the community and into the state and the recruiting aspect of things.”
When former coach Barry Odom was fired and Drinkwitz was hired after one season at Appalachian State, it wasn’t the first coaching change Morris had seen. He started his job with MU when Gary Pinkel was the Tigers coach about five seasons ago.
As a Mizzou grad himself, Morris said it’s important to be able to sell the university to prospective recruits.
“We want to make sure that our product is very crisp and very detailed,” Morris said. “Make sure that we’re showing the university in the best light possible. It’s a lot of pride for me, personally. It’s a small thing, but it really is. I know what my coach is trying to do — it’s our job to portray that to the players and the recruits.”
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 5:00 AM.