Mizzou football pledge Connor Tollison hopes to make an immediate impact as a Tiger
When Connor Tollison was a freshman at Jackson High, he expected to get his feet wet with football. Get some reps with the freshman and junior-varsity teams, then eventually contribute to the varsity team.
Life had other plans. During the first game that season, Jackson High’s starting left tackle went down with a torn ACL. Jackson High coach Brent Eckley needed a replacement — fast.
After a week of practices, Eckley had his choice: Tollison was the starter.
“I was like, ‘Holy crap, guess I’m gonna have to step up,’” Tollison told the Star. “I wasn’t that nervous. It was just kind of it is what it is.”
Since then, Tollison’s been a rock in the Jackson offense. And he plans on doing the same thing at Mizzou, committing to MU coach Eliah Drinkwitz’s program on March 8. At 6-foot-5, 300 pounds, Tollison is around that tweener height, projecting at either tackle or guard at the next level.
Tollison pointed to his relationship with Drinkwitz and MU offensive-line coach Marcus Johnson as major positives. Tollison said every conversation he’s had with them helped him with his final decision.
“I’ve got pretty long arms,” Tollison said. “I could definitely still play tackle. Coach Johnson always tells me you’re more valuable if you can play more positions. So if I can play guard, center, tackle, that’d give me a good opportunity to play as early as possible.”
Tollison was named second-team all-conference his freshman season. He earned that honor despite weighing 205 pounds and playing the offensive line’s most important position at left tackle.
Since then, Tollison’s put more weight on his frame. Eckley said Tollison was about 250 pounds by his sophomore season. Last season, Tollison hovered around 280 pounds before making his jump to the 300-pound mark now. Eckley praised his left tackle’s work ethic, noting Tollison has worked diligently in the weight room nearly every morning workout.
“Great thing about Connor is that he’s a competitive kid,” Eckley said. “When the ball’s snapped, he wants to win. Being a left tackle on offense puts a lot of pressure on him in the way we do things. Really, we’ve been able to count on him winning play in and play out since he was a freshman.”
Tollison said picking Mizzou felt natural, the in-state school where his mom, Jeanne Hull, said she felt most comfortable.
During Tollison’s recruitment, Hull said there was a moment that she vividly remembers. They were on a visit at Oklahoma, which had already offered Tollison. But after the visit, Tollison told Hull he needed to call Drinkwitz and the Mizzou staff — he just had a whim.
Tollison and Hull were at Mizzou’s campus the next week when things clicked for the offensive lineman. He liked the atmosphere, the campus and Johnson’s vision for the positional group. Hull said Tollison originally established connections with the old coaching staff, but was immediately impressed with Drinkwitz and his assitant coaches.
“When you meet somebody and you know they’re good people, that first impression I got from them,” Hull said of Mizzou. “It’s held true from the moment that we met them. I think they’re very genuine. I love their mindset that there’s life during football and there’s life after football.”
As Tollison puts on weight and the Division-I offers started to roll in, scouts and others have taken notice. 247Sports updated their rankings and Tollison has climbed those rankings, labeled a three-star offensive lineman and the No. 378 prospect in the nation currently.
Tollison said he doesn’t pay too much attention to the ranking, instead focusing on his future and how he can contribute at Mizzou soon.
“It’s good and all,” Tollison said of the ranking. “I stayed under the radar but because I’ve got D-1 offers, (they noticed). So maybe the recruiting people didn’t really know me. Probably just more exposure.”
This story was originally published June 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM.