Mizzou wraps up ‘hardest’ fall camp of the Coach Drinkwitz era

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Mizzou football team has officially put a bow on the most difficult fall camp in head coach Eli Drinkwitz's time in Columbia. With a combination of heat, good-on-good periods, the shear number of periods, number of live tackling situations and more all testing the Tigers, the group made it out on the other side.

In fact, Coach Eli said, as he knocked on wood, that it is the healthiest his team has ever been coming out of fall camp. As a result, he expects every player to be available for the season opener against Central Arkansas on Aug. 28.

You can watch extended highlights of the final practice of fall camp in the video player below.

Mizzou expects the difficulty of the 2025 edition of fall camp to translate well onto the field. Drinkwitz and his coaching staff got to see a first-hand look at the determination and drive of their team, unlike ever before. Specifically, Drinkwitz mentioned a day that he tried to break his team, but they just wouldn't go.

"We simulated a two-a-day at the end of execution week," Drinkwitz said. "We had never done that before, we'd only done a certain number, but we decided let's see if we can break them and we couldn't."

You can watch the full press conference with Drinkwitz in the video player below.

Safety and captain Jalen Catalon said that day that the team wouldn't break showed all of them that they can go ever further than their minds and bodies think.

"It was just about pushing our minds and making sure we realize that we can go farther than we think we can," he said. "It was a cool moment because we saw everybody kind of ask for more and everybody was kind of huddling around each other and really just wanted to see each other be great and just encouraging everybody."

You can watch the full press conference with Catalon in the video player below.

Catalon is one of nine captains for the Tigers in 2025, which is the most Coach Drinkwitz said he's ever had. Offensive linemen Cayden Green and Connor Tollison, quarterbacks Beau Pribula and Sam Horn, defensive end Zion Young, linebacker Khalil Jacobs, safety Daylan Carnell and receiver Logan Muckey were all voted captains by their teammates, as well.

All of those guys, except for the two quarterbacks, caught up with media members, on Tuesday. Each and every one of them emphasized how big the honor of being voted one of the leaders of this team is.

"It means a lot, you know. I've been here for five years now, so just being able to gain the respect and trust of your teammates because those are the ones who voted for you. It means a lot. You know, I voted for a lot of different guys over the past four years, so to have somebody vote for you, it means something," center Connor Tollison said.

You can watch the full press conference with Tollison in the video player below.

The honor means even more to Muckey, who will serve as the special teams captain in 2025. The Kansas City native has had quite a journey in his team in the black and gold, as he started as a walk-on in 2021. On Tuesday, he also told media members that he beat cancer in the offseason.

In April, Muckey was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer, which came as a major shock to him, his family and his teammates. The 22-year-old has since beaten that cancer and is now not taking any moment for granted.

"Anything you have can be taken away from you just like that, without you knowing, without anything happening," he said. "Taking it day-by-day and really enjoying every moment I have and every situation I have, you know, finding gratitude in everything. It definitely changed me for the better. You know, it's crazy to say, but it's a blessing in disguise."

You can watch the full press conference with Muckey in the video player below.

Mizzou's nine team captains will hope to help lead their team into a historic season in 2025, as the group looks for the program's first-ever third-straight 10-win season.

Coach Drinkwitz said he feels very secure and locked into what each position will look like, as far as staters go this season. That is, except for at the quarterback position. On Tuesday, he said he will make a very difficult decision about how to proceed against Central Arkansas in the next 24 hours, as the competition between Beau Pribula and Sam Horn continues.

"It's been something that's kept me up every night and wakes me up in the morning. I think those guys have played really good, both of them, really well. In fact, the two-minute, four-minute just kind of sealed it in my mind, like my gosh these guys both can play at a high level and win. What that means moving forward, I don't know yet. I just got off the field today, but we'll start [Central Arkansas] prep [on Wednesday] and we'll have a decision and talk to both of those guys here in the next 24 hours about what we're going to do," Drinkwitz said.

The leader of the Tigers did not clarify if he will name a starter in the next 24 hours or just decide his game plan for how to split reps against Central Arkansas. However, he is set to talk to the media to preview the season opener, on Saturday.

One of the other position battles that has taken over fall camp has been left tackle. Mizzou started preseason work with Jayvn Richardson taking the snaps on the left side, however, about midway through Coach Eli decided to mix things up a bit. In week three, he switched junior Cayden Green over to left tackle, placed Michigan transfer Dominick Giudice at left guard, kept Tollison at center, put Curtis Peagler at right guard and ended up with Keegan Trost at right tackle.

During Tuesday's press conference, Drinkwitz did confirm that Peagler has earned the starting job at right guard, headed into 2025. Although he didn't out-right say it, that move does lead to the assumption that Green would work in at left tackle, after playing left guard all of the 2024 season.

"I get put whatever I'm needed, so it was pretty much that simple," Green said. "I think my arms are pretty long, you know, I like to think I'm pretty athletic. I guess we'll see here in the next few weeks."

You can watch the full press conference with Green in the video player below.

On the defensive side, Coach Drinkwitz has been wildly impressed with all the depth he brought on in the offseason. Specifically, the coaching staff has hammered home just how excited they are about the deepness of the defensive end room.

"We are fixing to shock the world," Young said.

You can watch the full press conference with Young in the video player below.

But even outside of the defensive end room, the defensive depth is endless. Linebacker Khalil Jacobs is entering his second year in Columbia, as he leads a room that has quite a few options in 2025.

On Tuesday, he mentioned how much more comfortable and settled he feels in this program, after battling an injury in his first campaign.

"When I first got in, I was trying to like find my way around and get comfortable and get settled into the new team I'm with. But, now I feel like I have a bigger voice and a bigger role. Now, I'm just trying to make sure everybody's up to the standard and get folks who aren't with and to the standard," he said.

You can watch the full press conference with Jacobs in the video player below.

Carnell is set to enter his fifth season at Mizzou and has taken on a bigger leadership role than ever. With the most difficult fall camp he's ever been through in the books, he said it showed him this defense can accomplish a lot.

"We can push through and we can get a lot done," he said. "[Drinkwitz] would put us in like the defensive back positions and then see how we'll respond, I feel like we responded well a lot of the times."

You can watch the full press conference with Carnell in the video player below.

With fall camp a wrap, Mizzou will now turn the page to game week. The season opener against Central Arkansas is slated for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff on Thursday, Aug. 28.