Missouri Tigers football adds 4 new assistants, St. Louis high school safety
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Missouri hires four assistants — Papuchis, Atkins, Harbin and Riley — to reshape staff.
- Coaching group brings 86 combined collegiate seasons, plus two additional assistants.
- Senior safety Graham Faust of MICDS commits to Mizzou after a 95‑tackle, 2‑pick season.
The Missouri Tigers football program this week hired four new assistant coaches for head coach Eli Drinkwitz.
Headed to Columbia are John Papuchis, Alex Atkins, Lavorn “Chop” Harbin and Garrett Riley. Their hires were first reported by ESPN.
Papuchis is Drinkwitz’s new special team coordinator and defensive assistant. He spent the past six seasons at Florida State as special teams coordinator, also serving as linebackers coach this past year. He was FSU’s defensive ends coach from 2020-24.
Atkins is the Tigers’ new tight ends coach. He started at Florida State the same time as Papuchis, serving as the Seminoles’ offensive line coach. Atkins was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2022 while continuing to serve in his previous role until 2024. Last season, he was hired as LSU’s tight ends coach, then was promoted to offensive coordinator and became that team’s primary play-caller.
Harbin will serve as Mizzou’s new defensive line coach. He has spent the last five seasons at Tennessee, starting as a defensive analyst before being promoted to outside linebackers coach in 2025.
Riley is Missouri’s new quarterbacks coach. He spent the past three seasons as Clemson’s offensive coordinator but was fired after last season. His previous stop was as TCU offensive coordinator in 2022, coaching QB Max Duggan as the team reached the national championship game.
The four newly hired MU coaches have combined for 86 years of collegiate coaching experience.
In addition, the Tigers this week hired Luke Meadows as an assistant offensive line coach and Brendan Bognar as an assistant quarterbacks coach.
The Tigers, who previously hired Chip Lindsey from Michigan as their new offensive coordinator, are likely done reloading their coaching staff ahead of the 2026 season.
Graham Faust joins Tigers
Senior safety Graham Faust of MICDS in St. Louis has committed to Mizzou.
Faust earned first team all-state honors after recording 95 tackles, two interceptions and three forced fumbles. Faust, whose father Vic played tight end for the Tigers in the 1990s, contributed on offense and special teams at MICDS.
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