COLUMBIA, Mo. – Eli Drinkwiz addressed the media ahead of Mizzou's Week 9 matchup against Vanderbilt. From highlighting the run game to stories about Zion Young and Marquis Gracial, here's everything Mizzou's head coach said.
Opening statement
"Great to be here. Really excited for this week's opportunity recap our win versus Auburn. You know, I thought our team was very tough, very resilient, tough minded, but as coaches, you know we got to do better. There's a lot of things that we have to clean up from that game. O line, tight ends, they got to play way more physical. Quarterbacks got to continue to improve. Take care of the football in critical situations, unnecessary sacks, defense, too many explosive runs, penalties that were undisciplined, and then coaching strategy, I got to do a better job at the end of the game, making sure we get an opportunity to fill both ball 30. So plenty of things for us to own as a group and focus on getting better.
Vanderbilt, awesome opportunity, great week. Obviously, I think Clark's done an outstanding job. His team is very tough, very physical. They're a complete team. They work together that you can tell. They're very complimentary. He's built, built it with veteran players, great schemes, fundamentals, and obviously the quarterback works in sync with that. It's going to be a great environment, sold out crowd. Game Day is going to be there. So really fun opportunity for us. You know, our team needs to work this week to improve, get better. You know, we have to play with better pad level. We got to play with better footwork on the offensive line and tight ends to stay square. We have to be better with our second step. We have to be more accurate our throws. We have to be better at pass protection, at the running back position, our defense has to take better tracking angles. You can't commit penalties that lead to extended drives."
On Zion Young's hot mic, first days with Mizzou
"Love who Zion is as a competitor, love who he is as a teammate, love who he is as a captain. And you know, there's there's benefits and negatives to having microphones everywhere, like this game is about people being ready to play, and he was obviously ready to play, and our guys fed off of it. And if you don't like it, don't listen."
"You know, we recruit him out of high school and out of high school, and he committed to us and then signed with Michigan State. So that was fun, and then, obviously, out of the transfer portal, young man's always had great energy. Always was great to be around. Coach Russ tells a great story this first day here when he got cleared. He literally got cleared from that physical stuff, like four minutes before he started. Before that, his group started the workout so we got change, went in there, puked three times during the workout. Every time he puked, he just came back and kept working, and he just knew he was going to be the right fit for our culture. And I think his leadership has grown. You know, last year, I remember when we lost the A and M game, and I was worried about the locker room, and I pulled him aside, and he said, Coach, I haven't four games my college career, like, we're fine, we'll be good, you know, like, I love this stuff, and so he's always just been really positive.
And, yeah, I mean, he's great, great young man, you know, he's got a side to him that's, you know, the way he plays with that intensity, is it sometimes hard to find that line for him to balance feeling that like with the penalty in the previous game."
"Bill Parcell said it best if you live with him, if you're not live with an edge, he's got an edge. And I mean, you know, I'm so tired of hearing about that penalty cost us the game. That was the second play of the game. It didn't cost us anything. Is it something that we got to correct Absolutely? Is it a self inflicted 100% but that narrative needs to go in a trash can, because that didn't cost us jack squat."
On what went wrong with the run game, how to bounce back
"Well, if you're going to win on the road, you need to be able to run football. Like I said, I think we have to be better at pad level. I didn't think our pad level was right. I didn't think our footwork was very good. We were we weren't staying square, we were crossing over, and so our second step wasn't where it needed to be. Our hands weren't in the right placements.
We looked timid, like we weren't sure what we were or why we were running certain plays, you know, the place we came downhill. I thought our counter scheme pops for us for whatever reason, we didn't get back to it enough. So I think it's a combination of making sure that we come back to plays that work, and it's a combination of making sure that our offensive line and tight ends are playing aggressive and they aren't overthinking it, playing with better fundamentals, and that's under our coaching staff to get corrected."
"We call it every damn day drills, right? And you have to do those drills every damn day. The reality of it is, it's how you do those drills that matter. Like I can go every day and read a book, but if I'm not in tune to trying to read and grow and get better, then if I'm not intentional about the work, and I think we have to be more intentional about the work, and then obviously, as a coaching staff, we have to take the gray out so we can play faster. I think when you watch, there's some timidness, like we're not firing off the ball, confident and this is our target. This is our landmark. We're resetting a new line of scrimmage. We were like, timid on what they were going to do. We have to eliminate that gray, and then we have to do a better job of coming back to plays that are working and not getting away from when you hit the counter for eight yards and you don't call it again period. And that's on me. I knew it was a good call. I got to reinforce that. We got to get back to it. So, you know, that's everybody. And I think more than anything, I'm taking ownership of it's got to improve, and it's not fair, I think, as coaches, to get up here and illustrate or push all the blame to the players the other day, it's my job, and it's our coaches. Yeah, we paid a hell of a lot of money to put these guys in the right positions, and we got to do it all right."
On Donovan Olugbode
"I mean, I think he's just got really good ball skills. He is a natural hand catcher, and so he has great hand eye coordination, and he's a very good route runner. He does a really good job re stemming, creating separation on the top of the trout, and then Bo has a lot of confidence in who he is as a pass catchers."
On Josiah Trotter's last play, impact on team
"Yeah, obviously that last play was extremely impressive, not only by him. Daniel Wilson, obviously was held and makes the sack trot leaps the running back. You know, I showed that to the group of guys or to the team as a outstanding play. I think trots getting better and better as blitz path. You know, there was the one in Kansas where he could have been a free getter, and he kind of slowed up. And I think D Nick's just been really continuing to work with him on his blitz path and running through people and and he's a big, physical player has been awesome. Another guy who very, very pleased that He's on our team."
On Marquis Gracial's development
"Yeah, big Grizz, you know, I think, you know, we had a chance to spend some time together in harmony Jamaica on a work site. And I think it was great for me to get a chance to just spend some quality time, and I think it was great for him just to be around me in a different way, instead of always calling him into the office and, you know, challenging him on grades or challenging him on effort, it was just two dudes, you know, being in a foreign country, working their butt off, wishing we had a cold shower or a hot shower at some point for a hot meal. But, you know, I think also it kind of shifted his perspective. I think he can speak more about it, but he got up and shared with with the whole group about how his perspective changed, instead of a woe is me attitude to more of an attitude of gratitude about the blessings that He does have in his life, and the blessings of being able to play college football. And I think you know when you're when your mindset shifts from blame to gratitude, it can change a lot of things. And you know, mindsets the number one indicator of success. And so for him, I think you know being able to change that perspective, perspective and shift that perspective, has been able to help him grow as a football player. Takes coaching better, takes challenges better. It's been awesome to see. I think he's established a new standard for himself that now it's our job to continue to reinforce and make sure he lives up to that standard, continually."
On Keagen Trost's development
"About Zion, when you were looking at Keegan trust in the transfer portal, what made him desirable for you all want to bring him in, and how have you seen that so far? Yeah, I mean, Keegan's probably been, he was the offensive lineman of the game this last week, been our most consistent offensive lineman to be able to fill in at the right tackle position behind the number seven, you know, to fill in for the number seven pick and the draft, and really not have us fall off at all, has been very impressive. You know, I think, I think the thing that held him back from the portal was that the style of play that he was in in the previous year, you weren't sure how that would translate. But for us, we saw his athleticism. We knew some of the people who he worked with in the past, and felt good about who he was. I think the Brotherhood you know, Keegan has been at four different schools in four years, and so I think it took us a while to break down those walls, but now that he's he's totally invested in the Brotherhood. He's another great story from the mission strip, in being a part of the team, I think he's really grown. I think that group of five is really, there's really about eight of them that hang out all the time, is really gelled. And he's been impressive. He's done an excellent job. You know, we went into the matchup, and obviously they got some pressure on us. They did some good stuff, but I thought we held up against their defensive ends pretty well. I thought key and Katie did an excellent job with those guys. So it forced to bring pressures. So we got to do a better job."
On Santana Banner's development
"Yeah, he plays in on our sub packages, and then rotates, obviously, with the Safety Group, does a really good job of man to man coverage, which is going to be something that has to continue to evolve when we bring pressure. But he's an instinctual player and a physical player that's got great size and come running."
On playing against cover zero
"You mean, you know, they're zero. You got one or two options. You know, we checked protections. We had a protection bust on one in the third quarter that should have been easily picked up, and you're gonna have to throw off of somebody. But we didn't do it. We executed a couple of times on that last drive, we executed it left or down conversion, but got to do better job of protection, making sure all seven people on the same page, and then quarterbacks and wide receivers have to execute throws got to be accurate. You know, the interception in the third quarter or in the second quarter really led to us not being able to extend the game the way we needed to, and that's an accuracy throw ball can't be left inside."
On Mindset Monday
"I think Mindset Monday is when you have an opportunity to come in and you get to learn and grow from the previous game, the mistakes, the successes, you learn from it, and then set your jaw on what lies ahead. And every week's got a unique challenge, and we talked very specifically about what our plan to win is, and that goes into Monday. And so you got to start planning it. You got to start visualizing it. You have to start understanding what lies ahead for each and every day, moving forward. You know, for us, we got to really improve. And the only way we're going to improve in stopping the run or running football is to have a great toughness Tuesday, starting an inside drill and then moving on to dirty show. And so you got to set your jaw on Monday, knowing, all right, you got to improve coaches. Clearly pointed out, these are the areas that we were deficient in the road. And if we don't get those fixed, then we're destined to live in the past, and that's a great recipe for failure. So, you know, you have a choice, just like Marquis, you have an attitude that you get to choose, do you try to improve, or do you think you've already arrived? So, you know, there's a lot of great things about winning, but winning either football teams either continue to get better each week, or they get stagnant, you know, and there's a great Sean McBay quote about the best teams on to be the best of everything they got, to be the best at what they do. So the challenge for us is figuring out what exactly we feel like we're really good at, keep improving at it. Set that mindset on Monday."
On Auburn's differences between this season and previous seasons
"The group out every year we played it, except for my first year, 2021 is a one possession game. 2022 it was a one possession game. We needed a fourth and one stop by D Rob to seal the game. 23 was a 10 point game. They cut it to one possession in the fourth quarter. Last year was a double overtime game. So it's always been a competitive one score game. You know how they improved? Obviously, I think the quarterbacks one year better. They do a lot with them in the past game. I think they're tight end sours is an excellent player who's just gotten better, more chemistry. Their offensive line is physical. They brought in some transfers. Their size is better. The running backs are improved. Defensively, they're very physical and aggressive. I think number two, the nickel player is as good as anybody we've played against. I think he does an excellent job. You know, the DN capers is really good. Martel Hyde at corners and elite corner in this league. So they've got players with great experience coming back, but they're a veteran team. I mean, most of the transfers they took out of the porter Portal had played a lot of reps, and so, you know, they're on the upper end. I think 75% of their team is either graduate player or senior."
On Diego Pavia
"Yeah. I mean, I do think that's kind of a theme for college football right now, and specifically for the quarterbacks that we've played. You know, you speak about Daniels and sellers, and even Jackson Arnold, I thought did a nice job scrambling and so nor guys have some experience. I don't know that any of them are as good at the improvisation as Diego. I think he is. I mean, there's a third down play where LSU has everybody taken away at a DM with a free runner on on him, and he's able to make him this with a three move in the backfield, and then throw it to the tailback who's not even in the play. I mean, he's literally not even an option, but he's eligible, and he found him. So, I mean, that kind of stuff, it's hard to replicate. And again, I think he's the best that I've seen doing that. He's a magician back there. I mean, there were plays like that against us last year, you know. So we got to be really disciplined in how we tackle. We got to be disciplined in our angles. And it'll be, it'll be a real challenge. But so far, he's, he's the best that we've seen. And those other two guys are really, really good players, but his ability is the best."
On Vanderbilt's offense
"Well, I think one is their size. They both have great length in size and speed and can run. And then, obviously, they get you in a lot of 12 feet, or heavy 12, run the football, you know, and you try to stop it man to man. And then you're putting your linebackers in conflict, or your safety's in conflict. Are you fitting the sea area, or are you playing man? So, you know, that's a challenge. They do a really good job with it. I think they're offensive coordinators as good as anybody in the country at creating opportunities to get six yards, six yards, six yards, and stay ahead of James."
On if College Gameday makes the stage brighter
"Is it in first bank setting?"
"We'll show up and go to visitors locker room. We'll walk out on the field and play the game, whatever else they got for their fans there, but doesn't affect us. I don't think they want to talk to us."