Players, coaches & more: How Missouri Tigers will be represented in Super Bowl LIX

There’s a little more Missouri to the Chiefs than just Kansas City.

More specifically, Mizzou will be represented quite well at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. Twelve Mizzou products will play a role in the Big Game, from Kendrick Lamar’s tour production coordinator, Allison Fitts, to the man in the KC Wolf costume, Dan Meers.

On the field, Sunday’s contest will feature the second-ever Super Bowl matchup between two former Tigers. Nine years ago, Mizzou defensive ends Shane Ray and Kony Ealy faced off in Super Bowl 50, as Ray’s Denver Broncos stifled Ealy’s Carolina Panthers. Ealy had three sacks, while Ray recorded two tackles.

This time around:

• Charles Harris is part of the Eagles’ practice squad after being claimed off waivers on Nov. 26.
• Nick Bolton continues to play a prominent role on the Chiefs, and he’s on the cusp of some history.

Only former Mizzou cornerback Eric Wright has appeared in more Super Bowls than Bolton (three, counting Sunday), with Wright winning each of his four trips with the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s.

Even with a potential three-peat on the mind, Bolton still took time to praise his alma mater.

“I think Mizzou’s on the up and up,” Bolton told reporters on Tuesday.

Patrolling the sidelines will be a pair of Chiefs assistant coaches who were former Mizzou coaches. Andy Hill, Kansas City’s assistant special teams coach, was a wide receiver at MU from 1980-84, catching 51 passes for 946 yards and seven touchdowns. After spending a few seasons coaching at Hutchinson Community College, he then coached at Mizzou from 1996-2019, spending most of his time as the wide receivers coach.

Dave Toub, Kansas City’s assistant head coach and special teams coordinator, served as head strength coach at Mizzou from 1989-1997 and as defensive line coach from 1998-2000.

Part of the MU coaching tree also includes Kansas City head coach Andy Reid, who coached Mizzou’s offensive line from 1989-1991.

During his tenure, Reid helped reel in one of the best MU offensive linemen of the past few decades. Dr. Mike Bedosky was a star at Jefferson City High School in the late 1980s, helping the Jays to their fifth state championship in 1988. In the process, he received college offers from all across the nation, but then-Jefferson City coach Pete Adkins didn’t give players their recruiting mail until the end of the season.

Not only that, Adkins was not particularly keen on sending players to Mizzou. After all, the Tigers hadn’t registered a winning season since 1983. Essentially, Reid had two major barriers of entry if he wanted to keep Bedosky in-state.

“(Adkins) basically told coach Reid that he could not recruit me until he proved himself worthy,” Bedosky said. “And so coach Reid had to come down and sit and talk ball with coach Adkins for several hours before he was allowed to recruit me.”

When it came time to make a college decision, Bedosky had a litany of elite schools to choose from. Even during the recruiting process, Bedosky said he “swore up and down” that he wasn’t going to Mizzou.

Besides, MU didn’t even have a head coach, as Woody Widenhofer had been fired following the 1988 season after going just 12-31-1 in four seasons.

Bedosky had taken visits to a pair of much more accomplished programs in Michigan and Notre Dame. UCLA, who finished in the AP top 20 each season from 1982-88, looked like a viable option, and Bedosky was set to visit Westwood.

But the Bruins made a coaching change and Bedosky canceled his visit. He would ultimately take a visit to Mizzou; not too long after his trip, he committed, with Reid helping close the deal.

“It was just the way he presented himself,” Bedosky said. “He’s so detail-oriented. Everything coach Reid does is top-notch.”

Bedosky settled in and became a stalwart along Mizzou’s offensive line. He earned a litany of accolades, including Freshman First Team All-American and Sophomore Second Team All-American. He was a captain by his junior season and turned into a legitimate candidate for the Outland Trophy, awarded to the best interior lineman in college football.

Unlike Bedosky’s individual career, Mizzou football didn’t shine while he was there. The Tigers didn’t win more than four games in a season from 1989-1992, and they didn’t make a bowl game until well after Bedosky’s departure (1997).

Through the tough stretch, however, Reid remained a bright spot.

“He would always find the positives,” Bedosky said. “We took great pride in what we did as an offensive line. Things may be falling apart on other parts of the ball, but as an offensive line, we knew we were good and we were consistent in that we were able to get things done.”

Reid’s impact wasn’t just felt by the offensive line room. Former Mizzou tight end Larry Linthacum, who played for the Tigers from 1988-1990, still remembers Reid quite well.

“(He’s) just genuine and authentic,” Linthacum said of Reid. “He’s just the real deal.”

Reid still keeps in touch with many of his former players, including Linthacum, who’s the President and CEO of Special Olympics Missouri. Reid holds a fundraiser for Special Olympics Missouri every year at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, where Linthacum and Reid are able to reconnect.

However, Linthacum’s best memory of reconnecting with Reid, he said, wasn’t planned. When Reid was named the head coach of the Chiefs in 2013, an event was held at Missouri Western State University to introduce him. Linthacum, then a school superintendent in Maryville, went to the event. As Reid was exiting MWSU, he was surrounded by security. Wanting to say hi to his old coach, Lintahcum pushed through a crowd of people and stuck his hand out at Reid.

“I said, ‘Coach Reid, Larry Linthacum, Mizzou 1990.’ There were people saying, ‘Get him back.’ Coach Reid was like, ‘He’s fine. I got him,’” Linthacum recalled. “Coach Reid stopped right there with all these people, and we talked for probably 15 to 20 seconds.”

Reid is the only head coach to make the Super Bowl who’d played and/or coached at MU. The ones who remember his days with Mizzou remember him positively.

They weren’t surprised when he jumped to the NFL after his stint with the Tigers. They weren’t surprised when he took the Eagles’ head coaching job in 1999. And they haven’t been surprised that he’s experienced so much success with the Chiefs.

More so, they feel a sense of pride for their old coach, one who always made time for his players and never forgot about his roots.

“I just couldn’t be happier,” Linthacum said. “It couldn’t happen to a better guy.”

Copyright 2025 Columbia Missourian

This story was originally published February 8, 2025 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Players, coaches & more: How Missouri Tigers will be represented in Super Bowl LIX."