The 2019 season brings uncertainty, as the protracted appeal over a ridiculous "scandal" with a single actor still has not been resolved. On the field, Mizzou faces what appears to be a much easier schedule than in years' past. The early season is loaded with home games before a protracted road stretch from mid-October through November.
Schedule:
Spoiler!
8/31 @ Wyoming
9/7 vs. West Virginia
9/14 vs. SEMO
9/21 vs. South Carolina
10/5 vs. Troy
10/12 vs. Ole Miss
10/19 @ Vandy
10/26 @ Kentucky
11/9 @ Georgia
11/16 vs. Florida
11/23 vs. Tennessee
11/29 @ Arkansas
Recruiting:
Spoiler!
Commits:
Jalen St. John, OG: **** 5.8 RR, St. Louis, MO
Brady Cook, QB: *** 5.7 RR, St. Louis, MO
Jay Maclin, WR: *** 5.7 RR, Kirkwood, MO
Mitchell Walters, OL: *** 5.7 RR, St. Louis, MO
Kevon Billingsley, DE: *** 5.7 RR, East St. Louis, IL
Robert Wooten, DE: *** 5.7 RR, Stafford, TX
Drake Heismeyer, OL: *** 5.6 RR, St. Charles, MO
Elijah Young, RB: *** 5.6 RR, Knoxville, TN
Cooper Davis, DE: *** 5.6 RR, Melbourne, FL
Will Norris, LB: *** 5.6 RR, Columbia MO
Dominique Johnson, RB: *** 5.6 RR, Crowley, TX
Ray Curry, OL: *** 5.5 RR, Memphis, TN
Harris Mevis, K: Unranked, Warsaw, IN
Javian Hester, WR: **** 5.8 RR, Tulsa, OK
Jalen Logan Redding, DE *** 5.6 RR, Columbia, MO
In-state talent is noticeably better than 2019, but the depth is not as impressive as the 2018 class that Missouri missed badly on. There are 7 4+* recruits per rivals, and as per usual, Ohio State has poached one of the two best in-state recruits, with Notre Dame taking the first 5* prospect in several years, Jordan Johnson. The program has de-invested in Georgia after making inroads in and around Gwinnett, and has dug further into Texas to compensate. Whether or not this is a good strategy is yet to be borne out.
The previous best recruit, Antonio Doyle, an ILB from St. Louis, decommitted on Thursday
The Class Rankings are in the low 50s from Rivals and 24/7 and again near the bottom of the SEC.
Hamas' Crystal ball sees a lot of variance. I could see this team winning as few as 7 and as many as 10 games. Georgia is the only certain loss. Florida is likely still overrated by name, but time will tell.
Official prediction: 9-3. Recruiting prediction: slightly disappointing
I don’t understand why Dave Clawson has gotten so little attention.
If you’re not hiring flashy - and none of these names are flashy - why not look at a guy who has shown he can build a program when at a resource disadvantage? [Reply]
If they hire any of the guys outside of McElwain that are on Power Mizzou's latest hot list deer season will be season long. Nobody is excited by that list of turds. I hate the McElwain idea but compared to the rest of the list he is Saban. [Reply]
Originally Posted by OmahaChief:
If they hire any of the guys outside of McElwain that are on Power Mizzou's latest hot list deer season will be season long. Nobody is excited by that list of turds. I hate the McElwain idea but compared to the rest of the list he is Saban.
And everyone fucking HATES him.
I mean Jesus, Sterk - did you miss every possible lesson to be learned here? You have to do something to get fans interested. You have to have a program that's exciting and engaging.
And Jim McElwain is an ASSHOLE. He'll lose the press conferences just as badly, if not worse, than Odom did. Fans will hate him. The media will hate him.
On a list of terrible candidates, he stands out as perhaps being the best raw coach and yet somehow the least likely to make this program something anyone wants to actually bother with.
Whatever. However this ends, Sterk's been exposed. He's a risk-averse chickenshit with no finger on the pulse of the fans at all. He's been a good fundraiser but this guy doesn't know dick about assembling a football team.
He'll make his hire and 2-3 years from now this whole thing gets blown apart. [Reply]
Christ Sterk, have you forgotten that the McElwain era Gators were essentially the Odom era Tigers? His offenses were AWFUL.
Take every one of Odom's warts and McElwain !@#$ING HAS THEM!!
Seriously, give me one inch of distinction between McElwain and Odom. Where do they differ, even in the margins? They're the same goddamn guy except that McElwain got to recruit from a home base in Florida. That's it.
And he's presently being touted as the 'best' possible option. Which tells you a ton about the rest of them.
I think Calhoun's the only guy on that list I can even attempt to make an argument for. And it's a bad one at that. This is fucking pathetic. [Reply]
Note: He's an Odom-esque 9-22 vs. teams with winning records. (Actually I think Barry was 3-24 or something, but still.)
Also full disclosure: I live in Florida and have a son who is a junior at UF. DJ is right: The fans hated McElwain and couldn't wait to dump him. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Christ Sterk, have you forgotten that the McElwain era Gators were essentially the Odom era Tigers? His offenses were AWFUL.
Take every one of Odom's warts and McElwain !@#$ING HAS THEM!!
Seriously, give me one inch of distinction between McElwain and Odom. Where do they differ, even in the margins? They're the same goddamn guy except that McElwain got to recruit from a home base in Florida. That's it.
And he's presently being touted as the 'best' possible option. Which tells you a ton about the rest of them.
I think Calhoun's the only guy on that list I can even attempt to make an argument for. And it's a bad one at that. This is fucking pathetic.
Eh I know people don't like McElwain but to say he's no different than Barry...? Come on.
22-16 in the SEC, won the East twice, then took a 1-11 Central Michigan team and now has them in the MAC Championship game.
Note: He's an Odom-esque 9-22 vs. teams with winning records. (Actually I think Barry was 3-24 or something, but still.)
Also full disclosure: I live in Florida and have a son who is a junior at UF. DJ is right: The fans hated McElwain and couldn't wait to dump him.
Yup - that's pretty much spot on.
McElwain is an older, dumber, less likeable version of the guy we just fired. You can point to just about anyone else on that list and draw some kind of distinction between that guy and Odom and say "well THIS is why we liked him over Barry..."
You simply cannot do that with McElwain. He's the worst possible hire I've seen thus far if for no other reason than he's simply a less attractive version of the guy we just canned. And significantly so.
There is ZERO justification for hiring Jim McEwlain. None at all. Other than declarative statements like "Man, he's less dumb than Fritz" (which I don't even believe to be true) there's simply no argument to make in his favor.
He will not make the games more enjoyable to watch - he never has. He will not energize the fanbase. He will not excite the donors. He will not build the program for the next guy. He will not recruit at an elite level. He will not present anything new on offense.
The nicest thing you can say is that he might not sabotage the defense. But if that was your goal, just keep Odom.
There is nothing about Jim McElwain that makes him a good hire. There's not even anything that makes him a less bad hire than any of those other piles of shit on the list. Not a single fucking thing.
Hiring McElwain will prove that Sterk has learned absolutely nothing. Y'know what, that's not even accurate - INTERVIEWING McElwain has proved that Sterk has learned absolutely nothing.
Originally Posted by Jerm:
Eh I know people don't like McElwain but to say he's no different than Barry...? Come on.
22-16 in the SEC, won the East twice, then took a 1-11 Central Michigan team and now has them in the MAC Championship game.
Odom isn't even close....
It's. The. MAC.
Who cares?
And he went 22-16 in the SEC because he was recruiting in Florida to a bunch of kids that want to go to an SEC school and had a chance to stay home to do it. My god, the talent pool that guy can pick from is unreal. The natural advantages that UF has are incredible.
Odom's probably BETTER than McElwain. McElwain is dogshit. [Reply]
As a non blue blood power 5 school, what were you guys really expecting? Not shitting on anyone, my pops is a tried and true Tiger fan, so I hear about it all the time.
But what was the expected outcome here coach wise? [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
So as an outside observer, I gotta ask.
As a non blue blood power 5 school, what were you guys really expecting? Not shitting on anyone, my pops is a tried and true Tiger fan, so I hear about it all the time.
But what was the expected outcome here coach wise?
If you can't pry the guy away from Boise State, what the fuck are you even doing here?
We're not even in the running for dudes from Memphis or Louisiana.
Bottom line is that if you look at the list of coaches we're pursuing - an SEC School with top shelf facilities, a solid recruiting base and no clear rival in the state - our list isn't any better than a school like Southern Florida - a bottom tier school in the American Athletic Conference.
What in the actual fuck is that?
What Mizzou SHOULD be able to do, if the program wasn't a fucking tire fire, is go after PJ Fleck. Yeah, Fleck's had an amazing year at MN but it's still Minnesota. Mizzou is a BETTER job than Minnesota. At least it damn well should be. And maybe it doesn't happen; that kind of move is awfully difficult to pull off. But they should be able to force a conversation there.
They should be able to get his attention. They should be in the running for guys like Fleck or Campbell. Then if needed they should get their pick of the litter from the group of guys like Harsin, Norvell or Fickell if the big game hunting fails them.
But they're a full tier down from there. MAYBE. Harsin/Norvell/Fickell is a tier they hope to get an interview with and then they settle with warmed over dogshit like Jim McElwain and a bunch of service academy guys.
Again - that's the kind of stuff I expect from Southern Florida. That's what I figure Memphis will have to do. That's not okay for an SEC school with these facilities and advantages. [Reply]