‘Kind of like fall camp again’: Eli Drinkwitz explains Mizzou Tigers football changes
Things are anything but business as usual this week for Missouri football.
Following the Tigers’ 62-24 loss to Tennessee last Saturday, which dropped the team’s record below .500, head coach Eliah Drinkwitz replaced defensive line coach Jethro Franklin with Al Davis, previously a defensive analyst. During his news conference Tuesday, Drinkwitz announced there is no depth chart for Mizzou’s Week 6 game against North Texas; for the first time all season, the team will go into practice without knowing who the starters and primary backups are.
“It’s kind of like fall camp again,” Drinkwitz said. “Whoever plays and practices the best, that’s gonna be the one who plays Saturday.”
After the blowout defeat to the Volunteers that saw Mizzou give up nearly 700 yards on defense, Drinkwitz evaluated film from the first five games. Through five weeks, the Tigers rank dead last in the FBS in run defense (306.8 rushing yards allowed per game), 128 out of 130 FBS teams in third down defense (55.4%) and they also sit near the bottom in scoring defense and total yards allowed.
Drinkwitz said he noticed a disconnect on the line of scrimmage, specifically noting a breakdown between what the coaching staff was saying was supposed to be happening and what was actually taking place on the field.
Though he declined to elaborate further on the timeline of how he made the decision to fire Franklin — which he made a point to say was “my decision and my decision alone” — the second-year head coach said he had made up his mind by Sunday morning that the coaching change was necessary. Drinkwitz then had to determine who would be the best fit to take over the position in house, given the timing, and after evaluating the different options he landed on Davis.
“Al is a strong, charismatic leader,” Drinwitz said. “He has great work ethic, instant credibility from his time playing in the SEC, performing at a high level in the SEC. He’s coached at a high level and I think he’ll do well.”
Davis joined the Missouri coaching staff this season after a year coaching defensive tackles at Illinois. Before that, he was the associate head coach, co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas from 2018-20. The College Park, Georgia native played defensive tackle at Arkansas from 2009-12 and was a graduate assistant there from 2014-16.
When asked about the response from players on the defensive line, Drinkwitz said there was “obviously disappointment, but understanding that that was the decision I made and move on from there.” Mizzou did not make defensive players or defensive coordinator Steve Wilks available to reporters Tuesday.
“We’re working really hard to solve that right now,” Drinkwitz said when asked about the issues with Wilks’ defense.
Drinkwitz said he hopes having a new voice in the room will recharge and energize players with a new focus as Mizzou tries to get back on the right track to reverse a 2-3 start to the season.
Another thing Drinkwitz noticed when reviewing the game film was a couple of plays where there was a lack of effort, on both sides of the ball. He said those things would be addressed in a team meeting Tuesday, in which players would also be told that the depth chart has been thrown out the window.
“I’m trying to be 1-0 this week,” Drinkwitz said. “Whatever it takes to be 1-0 and whoever it takes to be 1-0 is what we’re gonna do.”
This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 2:33 PM.
