Mizzou Football Preseason Camp Notebook: Day 4

As the Tigers enter the home stretch of fall camp, position battles are heating up.

By Parker Gillam Aug 16, 2022, 2:08pm CDT

Blake Baker | Defensive Coordinator

“We’re inching closer to that “Top 22” as I like to say. Now, we’re teaching how to do it after teaching what to do early in camp.” On deciding on a starting lineup for the defense
“Dreyden Norwood has done a phenomenal job improving from spring to fall camp, our corners are really understanding and getting a good grasp of the system as a whole.”
“McGuire and Jeffcoat both have developed counter moves to go along with their strength.”
“Ja’Marion Wayne is at the free safety spot, and he definitely flashes. He’s yessir, no sir, always smiling. You can see him in the last 3 days picking the system up. It is absolutely realistic that he sees the field.” On Wayne’s development shifting from WR to DB
“There’s no better pass coverage than a good pass rush. It’s like having hockey platoons, we can go 2-3 deep along the line.”
“I would like to see more consistency from the younger guys, but the older guys have done a good job getting them up to speed.” On the linebacking core
“I feel like I would be cheating what we could become if I jump ahead.” On if they have started prep for LA Tech

“Definitely a bigger difference, playing in the SEC. I’m playing against some of the best guys I’ve played in my life. The speed of the game is so different.”
“Every single day in that position room, we know that it is a battle.” On the competition in the tight end room
“Every guy in that room loves the game of football. We have nothing to lose but everything to prove. We all play with chips on our shoulders.” On the personality of the tight end room
“There’s not a time that we aren’t hype. You hear the music playing, we’re dapping every guy up.” On the atmosphere of this team in fall camp
“It was a competition, and there’s no selfishness on this team. We respect and understand coach Drink’s decision, and I love every guy in that room.” On the QB decision

“Brady’s been a great QB since I got on campus, but he’s really improved a lot. I’m excited for him.”
“When everybody is on the same page, it’s easy to have fun, especially when you’re always around the facility. In the weight room, on the field, we’ll even get mosh pits going sometimes.” On the positive atmosphere surrounding this team

“I was just looking for a place with a good brotherhood where I can contribute on this side of the ball.” On transferring from Baylor
“We push everybody everyday. If you have a bad day, it ain’t gonna look good in film.” On the intense competition in the D-line room
“D-Rob and Chad Bailey showing me the Mizzou way.” On older guys that have been pivotal in his transition
“I’m versatile, I’ll be ready to do whatever the coaches ask me to do.” On how he can fit on this team

“It was a whole new offense, whole new system. Right now, I’m working on blitz pickups and slowing the game down mentally.” On how the transition has been and what he is working on now
“I was never the biggest, fastest, strongest. You hear about that eye test, I guess I never really passed it.” On why he was not highly-touted out of high school
“I felt mentally that I was there, I had grown into my body and the game slowed down for me mentally.” On why he thought now was the time to make the leap to D-I
“I was getting extra work in at the field and the sun was going down around the stadium. I looked and thought in that moment that I belonged here.” On when he felt truly at home in Columbia

“He’s as hard a worker as I’ve seen. It’s a very impressive jump to take. He’s drawn from my experience in taking a similar path.” On Schrader making the jump from Truman State
“If you can run the rock, you can play for us. That’s the view of our team.”
“At first when he got here, he was still in this dream. I’ve seen him take on that role of ‘Ok, this is reality now and its my turn.’” On how Brady Cook has matured over time
“We know what we are in the locker room, the brotherhood we have in there.” On outside expectations for this team
“Intentionality. There was some stuff with our locker room we needed to get rid of after last year, so this offseason we were very intentional about building that brotherhood and making sure everyone could hold anybody accountable.” On the team’s improved bond this fall
“We did something called ‘The Program’. We had some military guys come in and teach us a whole lot about accountability and following chain of command. The military has figured out the best way to run a team. We got in a pool, and there were some guys that didn’t wanna be in there and weren’t too fond of swimming. It was up to some of us to help them out.” On an example of an activity this team did to better the brotherhood