Mizzou transfers looking forward to first season of SEC football
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mizzou football team returned quite a few familiar faces for the 2023 season, but head coach Eli Drinkwitz also managed to bolster the roster with some transfers. Now on the third week of MU's fall camp, the new guys are settled in.
You can watch extended highlights from Tuesday's practice in the video player below.
From top to bottom, on the Tiger roster, there is competition. The wide receiver room is stacked, but Oklahoma-transfer Theo Wease Jr. comes in is the oldest guy in the group. Although he's new to the program, he said is coming in as a leader for the younger guys.
"I embrace it everyday," he said. "I just try to keep everybody in good spirits. I just know how it was as a young guy."
Wease said he is excited to play his first season of SEC football and see what all the hype is about.
You can watch the full interview with Wease Jr. in the video player below.
Mizzou offensive lineman Cam'Ron Johnson also transferred in during the offseason. He actually followed his former Houston o-line coach Brandon Jones. Jones was hired onto MU's staff after spring camp and Johnson knew he wanted to follow him to Columbia.
Johnson came into 2023 fall camp as a pretty versatile player. He challenged returning starter Connor Tollison for the spot at center and can also play at right and left guard. Drinkwitz said that Tollison earned the right to start at center for the upcoming season, as the offensive line looks to improve on 2022's struggles.
"Hopefully I can bring energy and leadership, we definitely be out there talking a lot more. We're just trying to get comfortable and familiar with everybody," Johnson said. "Our coach says confidence comes with preparation, so maybe last year just wasn't the right preparation, but we gonna get it fixed this year."
You can watch the full interview with Johnson in the video player below.
On the other side of the ball, despite the expereince returning on the defensive line, there are a couple new faces that will look to make an immediate impact. St. Louis-native Joe Moore III is back in his home state, after transferring from Arizona State. He said he has a goal of being the best defensive end in the SEC and knows Mizzou is the place to help him get there.
So far, three weeks into fall camp, he said meshing with an experienced group has actually been pretty easy for him.
"I was playing at Arizona State, so I didn't come from, you know, high school, so I really was kinda getting what everybody was trying to do. Even from the linebackers to the safeties, you know, they just got me in and make sure to get in that playbook. I was reminded everyday, like, you need to study, once you learn the playbook, stuff starts happening fast and you start developing easier. When I took that advice from those guys, it started showing on the field," Moore said.
Moore said, coming into the Southeastern Conference, all the players have the same mentality. He said if he goes in for extra work, on any given day, there are about 10-15 guys already in the facility, doing the same thing.
"Being at a program who just didn't really do much for me, being overlooked or just seeing how you can be at a DI college, but it doesn't mean anything. Just looking for those things and thinking, 'alright, I've got to get real serious,'" he said. "Just locking it down and seeing a place that could get me to where I want to be the fastest way possible."
You can watch the full interview with Moore in the video player below.
Defensive lineman Nyles Gaddy said he also wants to make his mark. He transferred to Mizzou from Jacksonville State, where he played for Deion Sanders. He did spend a brief time at Tennessee, as well. Gaddy said he knew that if he transferred from the SWAC, it would be to another school in the Southeastern Conference.
He said he's been working on getting the small details right in fall camp.
"I really wanted to make sure to fix my hand placement and work on different things with my rush and I feel like we're doing a good job with Coach [Kevin] Peoples. He's helping us all develop," Gaddy said. "Right now, we just keep going forward. That's the main thing we talk about is 'something to prove,' so that's the mindset that everybody comes out with everyday."
You can watch the full interview with Gaddy in the video player below.
One of the only transfers that will come with SEC experience is Florida-transfer defensive back Tre'Vez Johnson. He followed in linebacker Ty'Ron Hopper's footsteps, by coming to Columbia. Johnson said he talked to Hopper a lot during his recruiting process.
"He gave me a perspective of how the locker room was and staff and what kind of ball they like to play around here. Like I said, I just loved everything about it," he said.
Johnson said he is a high energy guy that loves competition, which is what he hopes he can bring to an already stacked Tiger secondary.
You can watch the full interview with Johnson in the video player below.
