Everything Eli Drinkwitz Said to Preview Music City Bowl, Recap Transfer Portal

A full transcript from the Missouri Tigers head coach regarding five new additions, and the upcoming bowl matchup.

Nov 16, 2024; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz directs his team against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images / Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

In the midst of one of the most chaotic periods of the college football calendar— the winter transfer portal window — Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz spoke to reporters Wednesday about the team's five additions through the transfer portal, along with the upcoming matchup against Iowa in the Music City Bowl.

Here's a full transcript of what Drinkwitz had to say.

Opening Statement:

"Really excited to participate in the Music City Bowl. Our team has had an excellent week of practice so far and they're really excited about the opportunity to play in this. We spent last week and weekend really on developmental practices, working on fundamentals continue to sharpen our techniques and fundamentals and we've transitioned into preparation for Iowa. When you have a bowl game, location, bowl gifts and the opponent is what really sets up for a really good bowl game. And this, has all three. Obviously, Coach trains had a tremendous amount of respect for him and what he's done with the Hawkeye program, I think he's done 26 years as the head coach. Model of consistency and development. Does an excellent job with player identification and development.

Their defensive coordinator [Phil Parker], we were joking, he's been there since 1998, that's older than most of our team, most of our players and runs the same system, very disciplined, very, very detailed on the defensive side of the ball.

New offensive coordinator [ Tim Lester], obviously, they battled some injuries, but very sound in what they do on the offensive side of the ball. Special teams is consistent, so it's going to be a real difficult challenge for us to play.

Obviously, location, what a wonderful place to be, Nashville. Awesome stadium, Nissan stadium. Our fans, and I know Iowa fans, will travel so big time environment. I know we already sold out our ticket allotment. Have asked for more. So very excited about the venue. And then bowl gifts. Showed the bowl gifts to our players today, it's a point system, and they get to pick and some really, really cool stuff. So I know our team is excited to play and we're ready to go down there.

Now we'll finish out this week, and then we'll give our players three days off, so they get to go home and celebrate Christmas, be with their families, the 23rd 24th 25th and that's really important to to us as the staff, to allow our players to be home for the holidays and then come back. We'll be back to 26 we'll get a practice here. We'll travel the 27th and then play on the 30th.

Had a couple of opt outs so far, obviously, the guys who have some of the guys who have announced that they're entering the transfer portal have decided to move on early and have left. We've had three opt outs, obviously Luther burden, Armand Membou and Chuck Hicks. We wish them well in their careers. They left.

We will definitely miss but it is opportunity for other people to step up and play. Brett Norfleet had surgery that needed to be done, and so we went ahead and did that right after the last
game against Arkansas, so he will also be out for the bowl game. Will not play. But have total confidence in Tyler [Stephens] and Jordon [Harris] to pick up the slack there.

On if the transfer portal is becoming easier or more difficult to navigate:

"Yeah. I mean, you encounter and deal with new situations. Obviously, we had somebody enter the transfer portal, and seven hours later they had committed and signed paperwork to somewhere else. That's a new situation. So, you learn to adjust and deal with those things. So I think the one thing that I've come to grips with is, I've talked to the team about this, very confident in our foundation of our program, who we are and what we'e about. The process that we've shown, the development that we've shown the people who have consistently stayed here, even the transfers that come in, and what the final product will be. And so I'm confident in that process. and I'm confident that people choose to leave, there'll be others choose to come and embrace what we're doing here. And I'm confident that if they do, just solid foundation of what our program is about."

On if there's a right mix of freshmen, transfers and returners to have when constructing roster:

"No. Every situation is uniquely different. We had a plan going into this, but, you have to try to retain your roster based on the salary gap you have ,based on your perceived needs. We have a perceived value of what our players and that may not be their perceived value, which makes them maybe want to go portal, so, which is constantly evolving. There's no perfect solution to all of it.

The one thing I would say about this whole situation is it's not our players. Don't be mad at players. Do not be mad at the players one bit. This whole situation is not their fault at all. Don't hate the players hate the game. At the end of the day, there's no system. When there's no system, people will do what they need to do. Not mad at any of the players, totally understand it from there perspective, wish them well.

Just know that we have a great system here. We have a great product here. We have great oppurtunity here. And that's what you've seen with the five commitments that we've had so far. Really good players that fit our system, know exacltly what their getting."

On if he believes there was tampering in any of the program's former players acquired by other schools:

"Nah, I don't know. I don't really care. I haven't seen anything done about it anyways so why would I complain about it. Don't care. Don't worry about it. It is what it is. And if someone wants to go, there's the great John Wooden line 'love you dearly, miss you greatly.' We'll be alright, and they'll be alright too. Their all really good players.

Was called on one of them, and asked about, and absolutely told that coach, you should sign him as quickly as possible, he's an unbelievable player and he'll do a great job for you."

On freshman leaving the program after one season:

"Six months, that's my reaction. I just again, I wish I could convince them that Darius Robinson had to wait, really, three years. There's no such thing as an overnight success anymore. Doesn't matter how highly you're recruited or how low you recruited, none of that matters, man, just get in there and continue to do the work. That what I regret. Everybody when they come to college football faces a level of adversity that they have to overcome. But I just wish they would understand that there's no such thing as overnight success. Whether you're talking about Luther Burden, I vividly remember traveling home after the Auburn game, and him taking all this stuff down on social media and having to deal with that for about 36 hours. And he stayed, put in the work, stayed the course, and was All=American the very next year. Whether you're talking about Ennis Rakestraw, Kris Abrams-Draine, JC [Carlies], , Isaiah McGuire, Javon Foster, Brady Cook, Cody Schrader, they all faced a level of adversity and continue to fight through.

I just wish, six months, I just think that's a really short time period to give a program. But again, everybody's got their own journey. Core value number four for us is to enjoy the journey. And if six months was all that journey was, then I know they made us better. I know they lived a positive impact here with us and I hope that we did the same for them. We wish them well."

On hope for improvements to system:

"I mean, I guess it is. I'm to the point now where it is what it is. Until - who's in charge of college football? So what good does it to me to complain? don't know who's in charge. So coaches can, we can vent or say we want to say, but there's nobody in charge. So until there's people that are in charge, we're wasting our breath. You just gotta adapt to it.

I worry that the game that I love and have dedicated 30 something years of my life is slowly getting taken away from us."

On the lack of progress/changes to system in college athletics:

"I mean, there's paralysis. There's paralysis based off of perceived lawsuits. There's paralysis based off that there's a perceived settlement that's going to solve everything. . I operate in the real world that says neither one of them are going to solve anything. And again, I don't know who's in charge. We fixed feigned injuries, but the transfer portal and all the other stuff we don't even touch"

On what he would do if he was the commissioner of college football:

"I'm not in charge. I don't have any idea what the system should be. I just know that, again, I keep coming back to we have a great foundation in place, and it starts with knowing what our goals are, what our core values. We got an unbelievable athletic performance team. You talk about Ryan Russell and his Elite Edge program, and [Director of Performance Nutrition] Liz [Stuart] and [Director of Football Sports Medicine] Zach [Parker], you talk about [Director of Equipment] Mike [Kurowski], talk about Tami Chiveous in our academic department. I know we have a great program that's going to take care of kids. We're going to challenge them to be their personal best. We're going to give them an opportunity to play at the elite level in front of the best fans of college football that sold out 13 straight home games. I don't know what the future should be and all that. I just know that we have a great place here."

On the acquisition of former Mississippi State wide receiver Kevin Coleman:

"He's a dynamic playmaker. First year in the SEC, had 900 yards, he was the leading receiver in the SEC at one point, third team all SEC. He was in the SWAC his freshman year, Jackson State. Went to St. Mary's, won a state championship in high school with [running back] Jamal [Roberts]. We know he's a dynamic playmaker [with] the ball in his hand. We're losing a pretty good slot receiver who wears number 3, we just said, 'who's the best number 3 slot receiver that we could go get?' It'd have to be Kevin Coleman. Really excited about what his game is, and what he'll bring to our team and explosive nature. He's a genuine young man. I really enjoyed spending time with him and his family when they came on their visit. He's a great young man, great work ethic. Got a great competitive spirit and vibe to him, we know that [from] playing against him and I'm glad he's on our team now."

On competition at the wide receiver position:

"End of the day, no. 1 core value is always compete. And the thing that I've learned in this portal is that it's not my job to give anybody a starting positions. My job is to create competition and let everybody work to be the best version of themselves and those guys will earn their roles. I think Marquis [Johnson] and Josh Manning are great examples of that, of working every single day, to keep getting better, run your own race. I think Josh is a really good example, had the best spring, spring game MVP. He still didn't quite have the role that maybe he wanted this year. Obviously, now with people leaving, he's gonna have a great role in the bowl game. Made some big time catches for us this year. So my job is just to give guys opportunities. It's their job to take advantage of them. "

On how transfer portal shuffling has changed roster construction:

"I think everybody has to get rid of that mindset and understand that we're a six month free agent business. Every six months there's free agency, and you do the very best you can to build the roster you can with that kind of mindset, or with that kind of thinking. But that that old style of thinking of, hey, I'm going to have 85 scholarships, and I'm going to recruit four deep at each position, and once this guy leaves, then the next guy comes, that's not really realistic anymore. Our job is to build the best team that we can so that when we start spring practice in March, we have the best team possible, knowing that in April there's another free agency period, your team could look drastically different.

So I would just caution everybody, including Mizzou Twitter, that it's really going to be okay. It's going to be okay. We value production over potential and that's going to be a key driving force for us and the decisions we make with player acquisition and player development. So it is what it is.

On acquisitions at linebacker of Nebraska's Mikayi Gbayor, West Virginia's Josiah Trotter:

"Mikai has played in 25 games, 15 career starts, had 73 tackles. This year he had 49 tackles. Was an All-American candidate in Sports Illustrated. Played a really tough, good physical nature at Nebraska, was really a big time get for us.

And then obviously, Josiah Trotter, who was the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year. So very excited about what he brings to the table. He had 92 tackles, four TFLs an interception, five quarterback pressures, both of those guys are going to have an opportunity to come in and compete. Obviously, we'll be getting Khalil [Jacobs] back off injury. Very excited about Nick [Rodriguez], J[eremiah] B[easley] and Brian [Huff], and so that room with those addition turns into a real strength for us at a position that got dinged up with injuries pretty early. So for us building a roster, to be competitive in this league, you have to have competitive depth, and then you gotta allow young guys to go into the opportunity."

How he evaluates Trotter's production:

"The production on tape is easy to identify. Obviously, there'll be a transition moving from the Big 12 to the SEC, but he's made of the right stuff. He's got the size and the framework, he's got the mentality, can tell he really loves football and prepares the right way, just being with him. So we're excited, thinking that it's an investment and a really good player."

On what they look for in a quarterback available in the transfer portal:

"Toughness, preparation, decision making, accuracy and leadership are the five characteristics of elite quarterbacks. And it's been that way since I've been here, and it's not going to change. Quarterbacks come in all different shapes and sizes. You can talk about MVP Lamar Jackson or you can talk about Tom Brady, you can talk about Pat Mahomes, you can talk about Josh Allen, you can talk about Brock Purdy. You can talk about Bo Nix. They're all a little bit different, but the characteristics that are same as they're tough, both physically, mentally, they prepare the right way. They're very good decision makers with the ball in their hand. They don't put the ball in jeopardy, they don't lose football games because the decisions they make, they're accurate throwing the football. There's no defense for the perfect throw. And so you've got to have guys who can accurately throw the ball down the field.

And then leadership components, are they a group of guys that people want to be around and want to play hard for? You look at the best quarterbacks that Mizzou's had, and they've had those characteristics. You look at Brady Cook, he's got those characteristics. So that's what we look for and that's what we evaluate. And again, I feel confident that every day I lay in I had on the pillow, and after I say my prayers, I'm thinking about, are we doing everything we can to put this team in a position to compete for a championship and how do I build a roster in order to do that.

And if we need to add a quarterback, we will, and if we don't, we dont. I really feel confident that we have really good players in that locker room, and they all understand that if we feel like we can add a player to create competition to bring the best out of everybody in the brotherhood, then we'll do that.

On the progress Sam Horn has made in injury recovery:

Sam is 11 months post surgery. Had a follow up after the first week in December, which was the first opportunity that he had to begin throwing the football. He went to a well-renown surgeon who majors in UCL surgeries, the Tommy John surgery. We followed that rehab to a T. Between Zach Parker, our trainer, the baseball trainer. We were adamant we did it right. Sam was present every day here for meetings, practices, would alternate on which days, he could throw three days a week and just kinda build up his arm. He's now in the rehab phase where he can throw a little bit but he's not medically cleared to fully throw in practice, and would not be able to fully participate in the game. So we will not see Sam Horn in-game. But he has been able to go and ramp up his throwing and we've liked everything we've seen so far. And yes, he does plan on participating in spring, and he does plan on participating in [baseball], which is why he signed here.

[Baseball] coach [Kerrick] Jackson and I have a great relationship and we've worked out a plan in place that will allow him to be fully involved in baseball, when it's time for baseball, but also in spring [foot]ball, to be fully involved in spring football. So, feel confident in our plan.