Mizzou Central

Luther Burden Shares Unique Trait About Eli Drinkwitz: The Buzz, Friday, September 20, 2024

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Joey Van Zummeren

Aug.17, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz looks onto the practice field at the team's annual fan night practice at Faurot Field.
Aug.17, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz looks onto the practice field at the team's annual fan night practice at Faurot Field. / Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSI
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If you go to a practice for the Missouri Tigers, you might not see head coach Eli Drinkwitz in the scrum of coaches and players, but you'll certainly hear him.

With the microphone in hand, sometimes he's giving casual encouragement. Or yelling to "hustle" to the next drill. Othertimes, he's doing his best karaoke of a country music song. On Tuesday's, he'll interpolate Lebron James' "taco Tuesday" chant, replacing the "taco" with "toughness."

In other words, he's an active part of Missouri's practices, something generally expected of a coach at any level.

According to Missouri star receiver Luther Burden III, however, some of the transfers on Missouri's roster were pleasantly surprised with Drinkwitz's involvement at practice.

"I was just talking to some players yesterday about how he is at his practice," Burden said on the Paul Finebaum Show. "Other players on my team, when they played elsewhere, they said the coach (was) not even at practice."

Even if there's some slight hyperbole in the newcomers accounts, it's difficult to imagine any head coach being as lively as Drinkwitz at practice. Especially when the young-at-heart coach threw himself through a running back gauntlet in the Tuesday practice ahead of Missouri's matchup against Boston College.

His players recognize and appreciate the efforts he puts in to building and spending time with the team.

"Just realizing that our head coach up here at practice, coaching his butt off for us and always around when we need him, it's truly special," Burden said.

Friday's Schedule

Volleyball vs. Illinois at the Lippy Invite in Nashville, Tennessee, Live Stats, Watch

Thursday's Results

• Soccer fell 1-0 to Texas A&M to open SEC play. The Tigers now sit at 2-5-1 on the season.

• Missouri volleyball opened its weekend at the Lippy Invite with a 3-1 win over Lipscomb, moving to 7-3 on the season.

Did You Notice?

• Four-star wing Aubrey Shaw, the younger sister of Missouri men's basketball player Aidan Shaw, included Missouri in her final eight schools. She is the No. 43 ranked player in the Class of 2025.

• Mizzou football revealed their uniform combo for week 4 in a country-themed video featuring offensive lineman Drake Heismeyer at the NashVegas bar in downtown Columbia.

• Current men's basketball head coach Dennis Gates and Norm Stewart, the legendary former coach, spoke at the Missouri Basketball Coaching Association Coaching Clinic.

On This Day in Mizzou History:

September 20, 2003: No. 23 Missouri escaped with a 41-40 win in overtime over Middle Tennessee State. Even though Missouri was three-touchdown favorites, it took a four-yard touchdown run from quarterback Brad Smith in overtime. Smith threw for three touchdowns, 192 yards and added 136 on the ground.

Missouri Tigers quarterback (16) Brad Smith rushes for yardage in the second half against the Nebraska Cornhuskers
Oct 22, 2005; Kansas City, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback (16) Brad Smith rushes for yardage in the second half against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, MO. Missouri won the game 41-24. Mandatory Credit: Photo by John Rieger-Imagn Images Copyright (c) 2005 John Rieger / John Rieger-Imagn Images

More from MizzouOnSI

Vanderbilt's Clark Lea Describes Challenge of Defending Mizzou's Offense - READ

Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea watches the video board after a missed call against the Alcorn State Braves
Sep 7, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea watches the video board after a missed call against the Alcorn State Braves during the first half at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Hear from Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea on how Vanderbilt is preparing for Mizzou's offense and the challenge of defending the Tigers' many playmakers.

"It's the complete package," Lea said. "It's well coached, it's well designed, it's well executed, and it's executed with good players."

FEATURE: Kicker Blake Craig is the Confident Fallback Option Mizzou Needed - READ

Missouri Tigers place kicker Blake Craig (19) readies to kick a field goal against the Murray State Racers
Aug 29, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers place kicker Blake Craig (19) readies to kick a field goal against the Murray State Racers during the second half at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Missouri football reporter Michael Stamps details the confidence of redshirt freshman kicker Blake Craig and the trust his teammates have with him.

"With the full trust of the offense behind him, the redshirt freshman has all the momentum in the world heading into SEC play," Stamps writes.

After missing two field goals in week 2 against Buffalo, Craig bounced back against Boston College, going three-for-three on field goals. He was named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 3.

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Joey Van Zummeren
JOEY VAN ZUMMEREN

Joey Van Zummeren is a sports journalist from Belleville, Ill. He's currently a freshman at the University of Missouri studying journalism, and joined MizzouCentral as an intern in 2023. His beats include football and basketball.

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