Mizzou Head Coach Eli Drinkwitz Keeps Door Open for Future Starting QB Spot

The Tigers head coach, at the first available spring practice to the media, responded to questions about the future of the quarterback spot.

Michael Stamps | Mar 1, 2025

Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz stands at the center of the Stephen's Indoor Facility football practice fields during a fall camp practice on Aug. 14, 2023, in Columbia, Mo. / Chris Kwiecinski/Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Missouri Tigers

The Missouri Tigers have one massive question to answer on their roster right now, and that lies at the quarterback position.

According to head coach Eli Drinkwitz, there's a quarterback competition right now on the roster. There is also no plan to name a starter through the spring camp process, leaving that question potentially unanswered until the beginning of the 2025-26 season.

“I told those guys that there is no plan to try to name a starter through spring,” Drinkwitz said to reporters Saturday. “I don't really believe in that, because I think it puts too much pressure on the team and everybody involved.“

The three that are presumed to contend for the spot are Penn State transfer Beau Pribula and returners Sam Horn and Drew Pyne. Each has their own story and maybe even a claim to the position, but there is nowhere near enough information to throw a guess out as to who will end up with the spot.

Nov 30, 2024; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Beau Pribula (9) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Maryland Terrapins during the second quarter at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Drinkwitz doesn't know the timetable for when the starter will be named. Outside of knowing that information won't be known until after the spring, he's going to leave it up to the trio of players to prove themselves.

“The quarterback position, there is no time lined up, no timetable. When the starting quarterback makes himself known to the rest of the team, we’ll announce a starter.”

In fact, Drinkwitz is so set and stone on not knowing who the starter is that he left the first man out during the spring practice on March 4 to chance. He let his guys play a game to determine who would kick the practice off, with no prior feelings about it.

“You know how we decided who was going to be the first quarterback out there today? Old fashion rock, paper, scissors. So don't look too much into that.”

Instead of worrying about a starter, Drinkwitz wants to focus on players adapting and improving. If that happens over the period of spring practices, then a starter may become more apparent. For now, he wants to see his guys, regardless of the position, get better.

“This is about individual player development. It is about each player trying to get better and better every single day.”

There are plenty of players on this roster that are either new or inexperienced and there's an argument that all three potential quarterbacks fall into that category. Pribula's first time throwing on a Tiger jersey of any sort was at Missouri's first spring practice and both Horn and Pyne have only played on rare occasions.

Pyne probably has the most experience of any of the three in actual game time, but there still is a lack of field experience in the room. The spring session is a perfect time to figure that out, get used to offensive coordinator Kirby Moore's system and create chemistry with the people surrounding them.

“It's about player growth and not having pressure to perform right now. That'll come. It's about these guys making plays.”

The Tigers will carry on with spring practices until Thursday, March 20 and kick off their 2025 season on Saturday, August 30 at Faurot Field against the Central Arkansas Bears.

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