Mizzou’s veterans strive to step into leadership roles
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The second day of spring football practice is now in the books. Mizzou held its practice inside the Stephens Indoor Facility on Wednesday afternoon, and afterwards, four Tigers answered questions from media members for the first time since spring camp kicked off.
You can watch extended highlights of day two of Mizzou's spring practices in the video player below.
Not only is Mizzou striving to replace the production of many of its talented veterans who chose to take their talents to the professional level, Eli Drinkwitz and company are also searching for its next group of players to take on leadership roles this upcoming season. Brady Cook is the only captain left from last year's team, and he's encouraging his teammates to help replace the leadership that Darius Robinson, Cody Schrader, Ty'Ron Hopper, Javon Foster and Chad Bailey brought to the team last season.
"There's a lot of leaders that we have to replace this year, a lot of holes to replace, so I think that's part of my responsibility to encourage those leaders to make sure they're doing what they need to do," Brady Cook said.
You can watch the full press conference with Mizzou quarterback Brady Cook in the video player below.
"It's definitely time to step up, and not even just for me, for anybody," Chuck Hicks said. "One thing that we had last year was that we did have a few captains or whatever it was, but we also had a whole team that was trying to lead each other."
You can watch the full press conference with Mizzou linebacker Chuck Hicks in the video player below.
"[Darius Robinson] and all those guys, they set a standard for the team, and I'm just going to follow in their footsteps in the best way I can," Theo Wease Jr. said.
You can watch the full press conference with Mizzou wide receiver Theo Wease Jr. in the video player below.
The Tigers are only two practices into spring football practice, but some players are already starting to emerge as the next wave of leaders for this program.
"I think Tre'Vez Johnson on defense is really making a mark and becoming a leader on that side. Kristian Williams, the same with him, same with Chuck Hicks. Those guys are really taking control of the defense," Cook said. I think Theo Wease is going to be my right-hand man on offense. He's stepping up vocally. Obviously, he's been around college football for awhile. He's a [veteran], so he's been really impressive."
Meanwhile, the new leader of Mizzou's defense, Corey Batoon, has now wrapped up the first two practices of his tenure as the Tigers' defensive coordinator. In his short time with the team, Batoon has already left some good first impressions on his unit.
"He's a pretty chill guy, intelligent, most definitely that," Kristian Williams said. "When it comes down to inside the white lines, you know that he'll be about business. He'll raise his voice and just be that guy, so so far, I don't have no complaints with him."
You can watch the full press conference with Mizzou defensive lineman Kristian Williams in the video player below.
Mizzou is gearing up for its Spring Game on Saturday, March 16th. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Faurot Field.
