Mizzou captains strive to maintain success, create cohesive core of leadership

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Mizzou Football has assembled a jam-packed roster of leadership ahead of the 2025 season.

On Thursday, the Tigers will begin the road to a third straight 10-win season against Central Arkansas with nine captains leading the charge. It marks the largest group of leaders that the program has had in a single season under head coach Eli Drinkwitz.

"I've never had that many, but it's one of those things where I knew this class had strong leadership and guys believed in it," Drinkwitz said.

You can find a full list of Mizzou's 2025 team captains in the list below.

• Offense:
  • Beau Pribula (QB)
  • Sam Horn (QB)
  • Connor Tollison (OL)
  • Cayden Green (OL)
• Defense:
  • Daylan Carnell (S)
  • Jalen Catalon (S)
  • Zion Young (DE)
  • Khalil Jacobs (LB)
• Special Teams:
  • Logan Muckey (WR)

Those nine student-athletes were all elected captains for the first time as members of Mizzou Football.

MU's newest captains are following in the footsteps of some program-altering leaders. The Tigers have posted back-to-back 10-win seasons for just the third time in program history, guided by the leadership of their last two classes of captains. Now, this year's leaders are focused on accomplishing that same feat for a third consecutive year.

"Those guys have been with us for a long time and kind of been pillars to our success," Drinkwitz said when asked about previous captains. "But, it's opportunities for new guys to really take hold of the leadership."

While Mizzou's leaders share the same mission to become the program's first-ever team to achieve three straight seasons with double-digit victories, they each bring a unique leadership quality to the Tigers, combining to create a cohesive core of captains.

"It's on-the-field performance, and it's off-the-field leadership," Drinkwitz said. "I think Connor's got this level of four-year starter leadership that everybody knows nothing's going to rattle him. Then, you got Jalen Catalon on the defensive side of the ball, who has that same kind of experience. Then, you got Zion Young, whose just got unbelievable energy and an infectious personality, same thing kind of with Khalil. I think you saw it [at fall camp] with Cayden Green leading Tiger Jacks. He has that, and I think it's coming out of him right now with that leadership role put on him. So, I'm very excited about these guys."

Mizzou kicks off its season opener against Central Arkansas on Thursday, Aug. 28 at 6:30 p.m.