SO MUCH FOOTBALL NEWS!

By now you’ve all heard it, and if you somehow still don’t know that Mizzou Football’s BIG TIME target decommitted from the Sooners, then I’m actually questioning your fandom. Seriously. We covered the breaking news here at Rock M, of course, and you can check out the links to the other local stories covering the news down below.

To kick off some of the other non-Luther Burden related football coverage, let’s first check in with Mr. Mike Kelly, voice of the Tigers for episode two of Inside the New Zou. In this ep, he interviewed Tight Ends Coach/Recruiting Coordinator/Uniform Designer (yes, you read that right)— Casey Woods, Assistant AD for Mental Performance & Psychological Services— Dr. Scotta Morton, and Director of On-Campus Recruiting— Tori Washburn, who tells fans who earned their jersey numbers this week.

Moving on. It’s time to praise Shawn Robinson, because WHAT A GUY.

As you likely read in Parker’s practice recap from Monday — if you didn’t read it yet, do it now — Quarterback turned Safety, Shawn Robinson, was made available to the media and continued to make quite an impression. While it’s not a given for him to win a starting spot, it doesn’t much matter to him as Robinson, the ultimate team player, just wants the team to win.

Max Baker, who’s currently interning at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, wrote more about Robinson, who is embracing his new role as safety for Mizzou. From Coach Drinkwitz, in regards to suggesting the switch from QB to S last season:

“We have a mutual trust and respect and have been through some stuff together,” Drinkwitz said Monday. “That’s really what a relationship takes. You go through some adversity and face a few things. I try to pick on him when he’s over there on (defense). He knows our plays, knows our signals so it’s fun.”

Robinson has now had a full offseason at strong safety, and according to Baker, he’ll have the opportunity to compete for playing time with the loss of Joshua Bledsoe and Tyree Gillespie, and he’s eager to learn from the likes of Martez Manuel.

“I’m definitely trying to be like a sponge, just learning from the guys who have been doing this for years,” Robinson said. “Just trying to learn little techniques and little intricacies that I don’t have right now.”

Read the story. Max does excellent work.

And lastly, a new season is upon us, and Tiger Town returns! Mizzou Athletics announced on Tuesday a new and improved Tiger Town, which will be located in two distinct spaces around the stadium, and will have fun for all ages. Music! Food trucks! Inflatables! Face painting! Read more about it at MUTigers.com.

Onto the Links!

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Yesterday at Rock M Nation

• Nate the Great, Football Scientist, examined the DNA of this year’s Tigers.
• Sammy introduced what will be a weekly post after the Top 25 reveal. While the Tigers didn’t receive any votes this time, still check it out.
• Nate’s got the scoop on the Luther Burden OU decommitment news.
• IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The Knights of the Rock M Roundtable are back with a new Q&A about the filling the shoes of linebacker Nick Bolton.
• COMING UP: BK asks if Blaze Alldredge is ready for the spotlight, and Parker says Devin Nicholson is a candidate to spearhead the linebacker room.

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More Links:

Football

• The Trib’s Eric Blum wrote a great story about Mizzou linebacker Will Norris, who is relishing his lifelong dream in hometown opportunity.
• Matter wrote about how Trajan Jeffcoat, Mizzou’s next great edge rusher, is ready for his encore season. He also asked if Mizzou can win over the likes of that VERY important East St. Louis Flyer, Luther Burden. Also, there’s this tweet:

• Kyle Jones wrote all eyes are on the Tigers as Luther Burden decommits from Oklahoma.
• According to Adam Spencer, after the news broke on Tuesday, there’s some buzz that the Tigers’ 2022 class could be getting even better soon.
• In news no one will ever remember because it won’t occur for another 12 YEARS, Mizzou has added MO State to their non-con schedule in 2033. Yay? I’ll be [redacted] when this game finally takes place, and my 2nd grade niece will be in COLLEGE… OMG.
• Congrats to Sr. Offensive Analyst, Kegan McDaniel, one of 247Sports’ CFB Rising Stars.

• Tight End U? I like the sound of that, as does Mr. Mizzou Tight End, Chase Coffman.

• Five-star purchase for Coach Drink, who got himself some new wheels. Nice ride, Coach, and loving the “five star” tweet.. very timely.

• Welcome to the hot seat, Martez Manuel! He is KP’s guest in the newest edition of Hot Seat, Cold Tub.

Hoops on Social Media

• Time to get to know some of the newbies on Zo’s squad. First up, Ohio native Amari Davis.

• KOBE! Is it Hoops season yet?

(Yes, I know we still have a full season of football to come, which I am excited about, to be honest)

• Damn, Izzy. Looking forward to seeing this skill at the arena.

Other Mizzou Sports

• Three Mizzou Wrestlers have been competing at the Junior World Championships in Ufa, Russia — Rocky Elam, Colton Hawks, and Keegan O’Toole— and two will be on the mat for gold medal matches, according to the Missourian’s Anthony Kristensen. Visit MUTigers.com for more info.
• In soccer news, MU’s team has been picked to finish 12th in the SEC preseason poll, according to Anthony Kristensen. I find this a bit suspect, given the Tigers were a 5 seed in the SEC Tourney last season, and they knocked off a ranked team in the preseason already. Time to PROVE ‘EM WRONG!
• New Director of Athletics, Desiree Reed-Francois, sent this out to fans on her first day (or TSF donors, not entirely sure which, but I received it and forgot to share):

Mizzou in the Pros

• In the NBA Summer League consolations, the Heat lost to the Mavs, 83-82. In Dru’s 21 minutes off the bench, he had 10 points on 4-11 shooting (though 0-4 from three), with 2 rebounds and 1 assist. He was +8 on the floor.
• Here’s Dru’s final stats from Summer League:

• PowerMizzou’s Joel Lorenzi wrote a great story about Dru, who is used to being underestimated. This is GREAT read.
• Recent birthday girl Sophie played 24 productive minutes off the bench in the Mercury’s 80-84 win over the Fever. She scored 8 points on 3-4 shooting (2-2 from three), with 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. She was +5 on the night.
• ESPN’s Steve Levy gave his early impression of Drew Lock on WJOX’s “McElroy and Cubelic In the Morning”, according to SDS’s Keith Farner.
• MARKUS!

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