On the 6th day of December, the Mizzou Tigers gave to me— anxiety, annoyance, and appreciation...

Again, this is NOT how I intended these pieces to go! I wanted to celebrate good things... Maybe next week will be better, or I might abandon this idea altogether. Stop ruining the holidays, Mizzou... GOSH (said in my best Napoleon Dynamite voice).

I express my anxiety that we are going to end up with a coach that’s not going to do anything for us, and leave many of us to wonder why did we just not keep Barry another year to end up with this?!? I express my annoyance the longer this goes on and the less we know about said coaching search.

But really... comparing the coaching search to the hotly debated GoT finale is...well...accurate?

And finally, I express my sincere appreciation for the bang-up job Football Editor NateEdwards (@NateGEdwards on the twitter— give him a follow) is doing with all these damn coaching search pieces. Dear Mizzou, please select someone so our beloved Nate can get some rest.

In regards to Nate’s posts, here’s all he’s done for us at Rock M, and you, dear readers, in the last WEEK alone:

• Three podcasts on the coaching search: one with Sam and BK, and another with Sam and the Godfather of Rock M, Bill C. And he’ll have another coming Friday morning with BK.
• 650-1200+ word Coaching Profiles on: Mike Norvell, Bryan Harsin, Lane Kiffin, Will Healy, Jim McElwain, and Willie Fritz, not to mention the ones that will be coming on Blake Anderson and (probably) the likes of Jay Norvell, Skip Holtz, and Jeff Monken.
• This piece in the immediate aftermath of Odom’s firing, looking at who’s next.

What have you all been doing?!? I know what I’ve been doing— reading/editing all of Nate’s amazing posts. So... to you, Nate...

Update: There is some good Mizzou news, y’all! THANK YOU, WOMEN’S BASKETBALL!

All smiles :)

Onto the links!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Sam updated the 2020 Recruitment piece after another (gulp) de-commit.
• Sam also wrote an awesome piece late Thursday night about what’s become of the coaching search, calling the whole damn thing ridiculous, because— let’s face it— it is.
• Ryan H said that Missouri has taken a big hit after losing three juniors to the NFL Draft.
• Sammy said Boise State’s Bryan Harsin just makes too much sense for Jim Sterk and Mizzou.
• Nate profiled another potential Mizzou Football coaching candidate in Central Michigan’s Jim McElwain, and we can surely all agree, this is Nate’s favorite. He also looked at Tulane’s Willie Fritz, where all he does is win, win, win.

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More Links:

Football

• KC Star: The editorial board published a very interesting piece about the Mizzou coaching search, asking if diversity is in the playbook for Tigers’ top football job.
• KC Star (more): Souichi Terada examined the factors Sterk could be looking for in a head coach.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Dave updated us on the coaching search, saying the board is ‘not thrilled’ with the coaching candidates. He also asked in a separate piece if a service academy coach could thrive in the SEC.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch (more:) BenFred wondered, if “sizzle” is wanted and Mizzou’s curators have sided with the fans, how will Sterk respond? Dan Caesar wrote a piece about Frank Cusumano, who recently dropped the hammer on Mizzou’s athletics director.
• STL Today: Dave Matter came at us with his weekly chat. He and the illustrious BenFred also put out a new episode of their Eye on the Tigers Podcast for your listening ears.
• PowerMizzou (free): former Rock M writer Pete Scantlebury posted a new edition of ‘Voice of the Fantlebury,’ where he outlined the four things the next MU Football coach needs. Mitchell profiled potential coach, Blake Anderson.
• PowerMizzou (mostly subscribers): PowerMizzou Coaching Search landing page
• The Maneater: Eli Hoff looked at how Odom’s firing and the NCAA sanctions will impact MU’s revenue.
• Columbia Missourian: Nick Kelly took a look at who’s staying and who’s going on the offense.
• The Athletic (subscribers only): Peter Baugh conducted a mailbag on what else... the coaching search!
• Blake Anderson, new Missouri head coach? According to Football Scoop, he’s emerged as a strong candidate. And Randy Karraker, 101 ESPN host, has heard similar things...

• Interim Head Coach Brick Haley has been conducting recruiting visits, and recently visited Montra Edwards, Jr.

• WR Maurice Massey had successful knee surgery, and looks forward to getting back out on the field. Tyler Murry of ABC17 offered additional reporting on this.

Hoops

• PowerMizzou (free): Eli Lederman wrote a gamer on the Tigers trouncing of the Billikens. Great to see them turn over a new leaf after a pretty ugly start to the season.
• Columbia Missourian: Owen Krucoff also provided a women’s game recap.
• MUTigers.com had a recap of the ladies’ lights-out shooting night as well.
• The men’s team heads to Philly for a road game against the Temple Owls on Saturday evening. Here’s to hoping they can get it together, because my poor heart can’t take much more ugliness.

This, however, does make my heart happier.

Other Mizzou Sports

• Jackson Stone of The Maneater wrote about how volleyball player Sun Wenting, from the northeast province of China, Heilongjiang, found success in her new home.
• Women’s volleyball plays Northern Iowa in the NCAA Tourney in Lincoln, NE starting today at 4:30pm. Read more on MUTigers.com.

Former Mizzou Player News

• Love this.

• Mile High Report says Drew Lock could lead the Bronco’s offense for a long time (!)
• SI.com’s Mile High Huddle said that while Drew’s debut was decent, he produced a concerning advanced metric— his Adjusted Net Yards per Pass Attempt was low.
• KVVR in Fargo, ND said native (and former Mizzou lineman) Connor McGovern will represent Fargo’s TNT Fitness for My Cause, My Cleats.
• CavaliersNation.com reported that the Philadelphia 76ers have ‘high interest’ in Jordan Clarkson. However, Fansided’s Section 215 countered that, while JC is a walking bucket, it’d be nearly impossible to make a trade for him given the salary cap.
• Here’s the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame’s new 2020 January Enshrinement class.

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