Maybe third defensive coordinator in three years will be the charm for Missouri Tigers
Another season, another defensive coordinator at Missouri. Blake Baker makes it three in three years for the Tigers.
Instead of moaning about a lack of continuity, Mizzou’s veteran defenders have chosen to view the turnover pattern as a chance to expand their knowledge and add to qualities that would be seen favorably by future employers.
“If you want to play at the next level, you go through this,” safety Martez Manuel said. “I think it can be a great benefit to me when I go to the next level that I can say I played for three different defensive coordinators, running different stuff.
“It’s kind of bizarre for four years of college.”
The list grew when Steve Wilks returned to the NFL in February. A former head coach with the Arizona Cardinals, Wilks left Missouri to become the Carolina Panthers’ secondary coach and defensive pass coordinator.
It was a rough go for Wilks and the MU defense through most of last season. Eli Drinkwitz fired his defensive line coach after an embarrassing loss to Tennessee. The Tigers finished 124th in rushing defense and 113th in scoring defense.
Drinkwitz made an SEC Media Kickoff vow that the effort won’t be repeated.
“We will be improved on defense,” Drinkwitz said. “People have been asking me, ‘What’s it going to look like for us to have a successful season?’ Number one, we have to improve on the defensive side. We are going to.”
It will start with Baker, who joined the Missouri staff after last season as a safeties coach. He had coached linebackers at LSU in 2021 after spending the previous six seasons at a coordinator — two at Miami and four at Louisiana Tech. D.J. Smith continues to serve as co-defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator.
“In this business of football you’ve got to adapt to a lot of changes,” said defensive end Isaiah McGuire. “At Missouri we’ve really learned to do that. You have to get in the playbook and really study.”
Changes include adding several transfers, including Joseph Charelton (Clemson) at safety, Dreyden Norwood (Texas A&M) at cornerback, Ty’Ron Hopper (Florida) at linebacker and defensive linemen Jayden Jernigan (Oklahoma State) and Kristian Williams (Oregon).
Drinkwitz calls this team, which includes nine on defense who started at least six games last year, his most talented and deepest in his three seasons. Manuel, whose career dates to Barry Odom’s final season as head coach, nods his head when it comes to his side of the ball.
“Because of the transfer portal, every position is stacked,” Manuel said. “Everybody is going to have to compete and push each other. That’s going to make the competition better.”
The experience on defense contrasts with what’s going on at quarterback, where the three or four candidates to start have a total of two games of starting experience at Missouri. Early on, especially considering road tests against Kansas State and Auburn in September, the Tigers will need all they can get from their defense.
As a freshman, Manuel, a homegrown product who played at Rock Bridge High in Columbia, started one game and appeared in 12. Ryan Walters was his defensive coordinator, and Walters was retained when Drinkwitz got the job. After the 2020 season, Walters left for Illinois, replaced by Wilks.
Manuel and McGuire arrived for the 2019 season. Their teams have celebrated some big victories, but not enough of them. In regular-season games during their tenure, the Tigers are 17-17 overall and 11-15 in conference play.
Breaking that pattern in a positive direction is the objective.
“We’re very hungry,” Manuel said. “I feel like the biggest thing we have to figure out is just, what’s that thing that’s going to take us over the edge? And this is my last year to figure it out.”
McGuire calls it part of the process.
“I feel like we’ve been building up slowly but consistently,” he said. “We’re putting in the work and building up.”
This story was originally published July 19, 2022 at 5:05 PM.