Missouri Tigers fans can watch football practice this Saturday. Here are the details
Techincally, spring football practice at Missouri will happen mostly in the winter. March 20 is the first day of spring. But the weather has been nice and three straight weekend practices, starting Saturday, are open to the public. Here are three things to know about the first open workout on Faurot Field in Columbia:
1 Repeat, it’s open
The usually secretive world of college football practice is available for public consumption. Well done, Mizzou.
The standard COVID-19 restrictions apply: Face coverings are required. Fans will pick up tickets for assigned seating locations at Gate 6W and sit in the West Stadium.
Gates open at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and practice starts at 10:30 a.m. On March 13, fans can view the South End Zone premium seating areas from 10:40-11:45 a.m. and get information about premium ticket options.
2 A first look at new defensive coordinator Steve Wilks
The coach tabbed to replace Ryan Walters, who became the defensive coordinator at Illinois, is someone who hasn’t worked on a college staff since 2005. But don’t be fooled. Eli Drinkwitz got a potential big-time replacement in Steve Wilks.
Since coaching at eight schools — Notre Dame and Washington were the final two — Wilks spent the next 15 years in the NFL. He was the assistant head coach and secondary coach for the Carolina Panthers in 2015. That team went 15-1 and reached the Super Bowl.
Three seasons later, Wilks served as head coach for the Arizona Cardinals, a team that had one of the NFL’s top passing defenses but quarterback flaws. The stint lasted one year.
After spending 2019 as the Browns’ defensive coordinator, Wilks was out of football last year, and an Appalachian State connection got him to Columbia: Wilks played and coached there, Drinkwitz was the Mountaineers’ head coach two years ago.
Not sure how much will be unveiled at practice, but Wilks’ defenses like to apply pressure and blitz his defensive backs.
3 Connor Bazelak’s deep throws
The Missouri quarterback gave himself a list of items for offseason work, and accuracy on extended routes topped his list.
“The biggest thing I want to work on is my deep-ball accuracy and we have to have a better on our vertical passing game, throwing the ball downfield,” Bazelak said last week.
Drinkwitz said he wants to see better efficiency in the red zone, but if Bazelak finds his improvement, the Tigers will score more touchdowns from outside the 20.