Everything Eliah Drinkwitz said in his fall camp wrap up

Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz met with the media Tuesday to conclude fall camp as the Tigers begin to prep for their season opener.

Here is a full video of the press conference.

If you would rather read what Drinkwitz said, here is a transcript.

Opening statement

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, today concluded fall camp for us. That was 18 practices. You know, we had three goals going into our fall camp. No. 1, it was hard. Number 2 was, embrace your role, put the team first. And No. 3 was, believe in us to become the team of teams. You know, No. 1 by a measuring stick, this was the hardest camp that we’ve had since we’ve been here. Combination of heat, good-on-good periods, number of periods, number of live-tackling situations. And I think our guys really responded really, really well. You know, just finished a two-minute, four-minute deal out in the stadium, in the heat. Very impressed with the energy they got. those guys had, the effort they had, and so really proud of them for that. Two was embrace your role, put the team first. The last couple of days, we’ve made some adjustments, started using some show teams. Guys had to get used to it. I thought the efforts been extremely well on both sides. I think our show teams are going to give us a great advantage because of the way the guys are playing with great effort and the talent they have on both of those. And this is the deepest team we’ve had. You know, we’ve, we’ve got a lot of talent and a lot of depth, and so, you know, I’m excited about that. We’ve got to continue to embrace it. And the last one’s believe in us, believe in our potential. Unity over self. And it’s not about anybody else but the people in this building, in this room, believing in what we can do and what we want to accomplish this year. So by all intents and purposes, we accomplish those goals. The goal of training camp is to get yourself prepared for what’s next. And, you know, I feel really comfortable with us being prepared for the season that lies ahead, and that starts with our preparation for UCA tomorrow. So with that, I’ll take the first question on the quarterback.”

Question: “I guess I’ll be the one to do it, how do you evaluate Beau (Pribula’s) and Sam (Horn’s) entire fall camp, I guess?”

Drinkwitz: “You know, it’s been something that’s kept me up every night and keeps, you know, wakes me up in the morning. I think those guys have played really good, both of them really well. In fact, the two minute, four minute just kind of sealed it in my mind, like, my gosh, these guys both can, can play at a high level and win. So what that move means moving forward? I don’t know yet. I just got off the field today, but we’ll start UCA prep tomorrow, and we’ll have a decision and talk to both those guys here in the next 24 hours about what we’re going to do and make sure the team’s comfortable with the plan. Move forward, and we’ll let y’all know.”

Question: “You mentioned how difficult it would be to tell one of them that, you know, the other one is the starter. With how good that they performed in fall camp and how much effort they put in. How much more difficult does that make it?”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, you wish it was easy and that there would be, you know, something definitive that you could point out and say, ‘Hey, this was the reason why.’ But it’s not gonna be the case. So we’ll figure it out from there. So they pay me to do. They pay me to make tough decisions. That’s what I gotta do.”

Question: “Just to clarify, you said you’ll decide in the next 24 hours what you’re going to do. Do you mean against Central Arkansas, or do you mean you’re naming the starter?”

Drinkwitz: “I mean what we’re going to do.”

Question: “Given what Beau’s role was at Penn State last year, is there a world in which you have both have a regular role for you?”

Drinkwitz: “You are into hypotheticals now. So we’ll know in 24 hours what we’re going to do. We’ll come back to it, but we don’t really need to read any more into it. Then we’ll make a decision in 24 hours, and we’ll let everybody know. And if y’all want to write yourself a headline to get yourself more likes or whatever.”

Question: “What’s the headline?”

Drinkwitz: “Drinkwitz unsure after 18 days.”

Question: “How many other spots on the field do you feel like you’re still kind of not 100 percent locked in what you want to do come the opener?”

Drinkwitz: “None. I think we’re, we’re, feel very confident in the plans we got. I think we’re really confident who you know, there’s some positions that three or four people are going to take, you know, you know, a linebacker, you could be a 60/40, split. There’s so many good players, maybe 50/50 there’s going to be packages where, you know, ‘Hey, this guy’s getting more reps.’ And D tackles are going to rotate through. You know, it may be 50/50 so, you know, I don’t, I don’t think we’re settling in on 22 total players. I think we know exactly where we think who can help us win, and what that role looks like moving forward, and how we start planning for that.”

Question: “I believe one of the requirements you have said to play quarterback here was leadership. After 18 days of fall camp where have you seen Sam and Beau perform in that regard?”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, I thought I challenged them after Saturday’s scrimmage, and I think, man, they’ve been really the best they’ve been the past three days. Even yesterday, we were doing an end of game scenario, and Matt (Zollers) threw a game-winning touchdown to (Logan) Muckey, and the first two guys in the end zone celebrating were 21 and 9 racing down there. So, you know, I think those guys have displayed an elite level of leadership, and the last three days really embraced it. It’s, quit making it about them, make it more about the team. And I feel very comfortable with both those guys.”

Question: “Outside of quarterback, what are some things you’ve learned about your team over the past 18 days?”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, I think they’re tougher than I expected them to be. To be honest, I think they’re more resilient. Last Wednesday, we simulated a two-a-day at the end of what would have been execution week. We had never done that before. We’d only done a certain number, and we decided, let’s, let’s see if we can break them. And we couldn’t. I mean, those guys, they chewed it up and spit it out pretty easily, I mean, I was, I was very impressed with that. I think the consistent energy they’ve had at practice, no matter what the scenario is, they find a way to be energetic and excited about the opportunity to practice, and I think that’s a direct reflection of the competition. If you get, if you have bad day, you can get passed up, you know. And so I think they’ve all had to bring their ‘A’ game every day.”

Question: “Want to ask about this group of captains, obviously, more than you’ve had in your time at Mizzou here. What stands out about this group of nine guys?”

Drinkwitz: “Well, I think it was just, there was a clear separation between those four and everybody else on each side of the ball. And so, you know, I think that just distinguished them as being guys who are captains. Obviously, there’s two different ways to look at it. It’s on-the-field performance, and it’s off-the-field leadership. And I think, you know, Connor (Tollison’s) got this level of 4-year starter leadership that everybody knows nothing’s really going to rattle him. And then you got a Jalen Catalan on the defensive side of the ball, kind of has that same kind of experience, and you got Zion Young who, I mean, he’s just got unbelievable energy, and it’s an infectious personality. Same thing kind of with Khalil (Jacobs). I think y’all saw it yesterday with Cayden Green leading Tiger jacks. He has that, I think it’s coming out of him right now with that leadership role put on him so very, very excited about what these guys. Obviously, Logan Muckey beat cancer. So of course, he was going to be elected captain, you know? I mean, that was pretty easy.”

Question: “Coach from a health standpoint. How’s the team doing?

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, healthiest we’ve been ever out of a fall camp. Yeah, I don’t anticipate a single person to be out for Week 1 for an injury. Not one guy on our roster. We held (Trajen) Greco the past two days just to try to get him 100 percent back from his hamstring. But that’s, that’s it.”

Question: “Curtis Peagler and Tristan Wilson, kind of the two guys right now at the right guard position. You know, given that you said, you pretty much know the way you’re going at every position outside of quarterback. Have you decided on a starter between those two? Are they planning to kind of switch between those two for the first week?”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah. If we started day, Curtis would be the starter, and then Tristan would come in as needed, in a rotational spot. If we felt like on the third series, we needed to put Tristan in either guard position or a center position, so but right now, Curtis would be our starter.”

Question: “We saw a drill with the wide receivers blocking today in practice. How did you feel that went and overall how do you feel about, you know, the blocking right now from the wide receivers and skill position players overall.”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, we call that perimeter drill, which is just inside drill for the that, the perimeter side of the play. We do that every Toughness Tuesday. You know, we expect our box players to be tough and physical on the inside, run the ball and stop the run. And we expect our perimeter players to be able to set edges. We expect our wide receiver players to be able to block edges so that we can stretch the field 53 and a third yards. So, you know, I was more involved in the BPU side of it, so I wasn’t really paying as much attention to the field, but we’ll watch it, evaluate it. I think in the past, I mean, obviously, I think we do a really good job blocking on the perimeter. I think that’s something that Coach (Jacob) Peeler always emphasized. Obviously, Ben Johnson emphasized it a little bit more, and Luther (Burden) has kind of shined at it the last week, but I’d argue that he’s had some really good blocks for us here too. So it’s not something new to NWO.”

Question: “A number of transfers expected to play a big role this year. Just how would you describe the culture? This point that you’ve built here for guys to come in and immediately kind of be accepted and know what this is all about?”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah. I mean, I think that’s a deeper question than probably I can just answer right here. I think the first thing is, it’s a brotherhood. So when anybody walks in, you know, there’s trust and respect between coaches and players. And so they, I believe our team trusts our coaching staff. So when they bring somebody in, there’s going to be an instant amount of respect given to them. Trust is earned through competency and character, but there’s a level of respect that’s going to be given to anybody that walks in this building because they believe that our coaches are going to pick guys that align with the values of our program. The second thing is, we have an always-compete mindset, so what we bring in is inconsequential to your race and what you’re trying to do every single day to be the best version of yourself. And you know, if we bring in a transfer, that doesn’t mean we’ve promised them anything, it just means we’ve given everybody an opportunity to compete. So I think it takes a while to create that trust, and I, for one, was, didn’t do a great job early in my tenure here, creating that trust with the locker room. But I think over the course of the last four years, I think there’s been a consistency to our approach, and I think there’s been more trust and respect built. And then it goes back to core value No. 1, which is always compete. So I think guys know they get a fair shot when they come in and transfer. And I think the guys that stay know they get a fair shot. And I think that when the guys come in, they feel a sense of respect from the from the locker room that allows them to grow.”

Question: “Just with Jude James, can you talk about how he’s built off the spring he had, and how much more flexible can that, make an offense when you have a guy that is capable of blocking and receiving like that.”

Drinkwitz: “Yeah, I think Jude’s had an outstanding camp. He’s been a guy that you can count on from special teams to a tight end role to a H back to a full back. So he gives coach (Kirby) Moore and the offensive staff a lot of flexibility about what how you want to utilize him. But I think the biggest contribution he’s going to, I think he’ll be a starter on three or four units on special teams, and, you know, really embrace his role and will do an excellent job with that.”

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