‘We’re gonna be explosive’: Mizzou offense primed for fall camp, behind new leadership
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
As Mizzou football enters the 2026 edition of fall camp, there are some new voices leading the offensive unit.
First-year offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey and new starting quarterback Austin Simmons will hope to take the Tiger offense to the next level in the upcoming season, as the team's goal is to compete for a championship.
However, competing for a title all starts at practice...and an intense month of practices will begin on Monday, when the Tigers kickoff fall camp.
"It's not about the goals that you set, it's about the daily habits that you repeat that will help you achieve success. Our team really needs to focus on those daily habits," head coach Eli Drinkwitz said.
Before starting up practices, MU hosted media members at Faurot Field, on Sunday, as starting quarterback Austin Simmons hopped onto the mic the first time since arriving in Columbia.
The redshirt junior is taking the reins of the MU offense after spending three seasons at Ole Miss. He said head coach Eli Drinkwitz presented him with an opportunity that he couldn't pass up.
"I've heard a lot of great things, lot of great quarterbacks that came in the past and honestly, I heard about Coach Chip [Lindsey] coming in as well. You know, he recruited me a little bit out of high school. So, it's really just all summed up to be, you know like great deal, honestly - me coming here, you know, having a great running back unit and of course a great offensive line, a whole lot of great players."
Of course, Simmons, a left-handed quarterback, came to Columbia after an up-and-down ride with the Rebels. He was actually set to be the starting quarterback for Ole Miss, but suffered an ankle injury in a Week 2 game against Kentucky. As a result, backup quarterback Trinidad Chambliss took over the offense and kept control for the rest of the season, helping lead Ole Miss to the College Football Playoff.
Simmons took all of that adversity in stride, though, saying it only made him better.
"It definitely molded me into the person I am today," he said. "Really just seeing things through a different perspective. Honestly, I'm actually kind of grateful for that whole thing happening to me, actually made me really understand that this game can really go away at any point and honestly, I'm just grateful for being here."
It's clear that the way that Simmons handled that situation with the Rebels gained him a lot of respect with not only Mizzou players, but the coaching staff.
"I told him when he first got here, one of the most impressive things to me about him, not knowing him as well then, was how he handled that situation. You know, you've seen in the past, guys may left the team, you know, sometimes or whatever. You know, he got hurt and and was recovering and really handled that situation like a pro, I thought," Coach Lindsey said. "To stay with that team and stay with them through through their run [in the College Football Playoff] and really if you watch and see him on the sideline was into the game and excited. I think that says a lot about him and how he's raised. So, that's something, definitely, that I think will help him here and now that he becomes the leader. He understands everything we do is based on performance and how well you play and so forth and he understands that being being in his position, in my position both, you know, that's what it's about."
Coach Drinkwitz decided to name Simmons the starter, following spring camp, as he wanted to give him more time to build chemistry and confidence, as QB1, during fall camp. He's got a lot of guys to get to know, but he said that's kind of the nature of college football these days.
He said the important thing during fall camp will be letting his guys know that he has their back, no matter what, and stepping into that leadership role.
"I mean, I'm not the loudest guy. You know, I'm really just more more laid back for the most part," Simmons said. "Honestly, when I have to speak up, whenever the time comes, my voice will be heard. So, you just have to wait and see for that."
"I feel like [the way he's built trust so quickly] just goes into his character and who he is and what he believes in himself and just being able to just keep fighting, honestly," wide receiver Cayden Lee, who transferred to MU from Ole Miss with Simmons, said.
Simmons' ability to lead and command the offense will be critical in the first season under offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, who came to Mizzou from Michigan.
He doesn't want to stray away from what the bread and butter of Tiger offense has been over the years, as MU has always boasted a strong ground attack. However, he does want to take that passing game to the next level, dialing up the deep threat.
"That's definitely an emphasis. We want to be able to run the football downhill, but we also have to create explosives and throw the ball down the field. To do that gives you a higher chance and I think to do it first we got to run the football, like they've done here in the past. Then, when we get those opportunities to attack down the field, we have to do it," Lindsey said. "We've done a better job of that in the spring. I know that was a big emphasis and I like the progress we made. But, as well as it's not just Austin, you know, the receivers do their part, the line does their part, running backs do their part. It all works together to make it happen."
Coach Lindsey will have a lot of different weapons to dial up plays for, including a loaded wide receiver room. That unit includes returner Donovan Olugbode, Ole Miss transfer Cayden Lee, Cincinnati transfer Caleb Goodie, Florida transfer Naeshaun Montgomery and others.
Mizzou believes that the ceiling is high for what that unit can achieve.
"I mean, starting with Donovan, he's proven himself in this league as a young player and watching him grow and take the next step, now as a leader. You know, when you're a freshman, sometimes you understand what you're doing and you try to handle your business, but now watching him mentor some of the younger guys or the transfer guys because even though a transfer comes in here, he may have played, he has to assimilate himself into the culture that we have here at Mizzou and the Mizzou way. I think that's something I've seen him do. I think that room has continued to improve. When you talk about a couple of the newcomers with Cayden Lee and Caleb Goodie, Naeshaun Montgomery and Shaun Terry Lee and [DeMarion] Fowlkes and you know, I think that's a good group. We got to do a great job of maximizing those opportunities for all of them," Lindsey said.
Olugbode, who is back for his sophomore season, mimicked that same excitement for his unit, as steps into a leadership role in just his second season of college football.
"Yeah, I feel like I've shifted into more of a leader in the receiver room. Just playing last year and having that year under my belt, so I feel like [my role] shifted in that way for sure," he said. "Just telling guys what I see. You know, I played last year, so just telling what I see, what to expect."
Although Olugbode does have a year under his belt now, he will still have some newness in the 2026 season, he learns to catch from a left-handed quarterback.
"At the start, it was different because I have never caught left-handed pass from a quarterback, like played with one, but definitely been working with getting on the jugs machine. We've been turning into left-hand spiral, and just catching passes with Austin when I can," he said.
Those receivers will, obviously, play an important role in dialing up the deep ball, as Coach Drinkwitz has mentioned throughout the offseason. But, on Sunday, the leader of the Tigers also emphasized that he wants to get the tight ends involved in the passing game more.
Seniors Brett Norfleet and Jordon Harris are back for 2026 and will look to make an impact.
"We have to do a better job of utilizing our tight ends, specifically down the field. I think one of the the disappointing things that we have not consistently done with Brett is utilized him further down the field. I mean, the guy's 6'6 and the further down the field he gets, the taller he gets in comparison to the other players," Drinkwitz said. "So, we need to challenge ourselves to utilize the tight end as an advantage for us this year and that's something I look forward to us trying."
"Our job as a coordinator to design the offense around your best playmakers and whoever those are. You know, as a staff, we'll lay those guys out of 'hey, who do we need to get the ball to? Who are our top five playmakers?' I think we'd all agree that tight end position is going to be in that mix," Lindsey said. "You can't necessarily force it all the time, but you look for opportunities, for sure. When you look at Brett, I think he's caught 70-something balls here in his career, so he's definitely very capable. Jordon is another guy that's capable of doing a lot of things for us, being a big guy to in the run game, but also, you know, big guys are easier to throw the ball to down the field. We'll look for opportunities that we can incorporate them in the offense and, you know, starting about playing in 11 personnel and 12 personnel."
New offensive coordinator, new quarterback, new scheme...how about throwing another piece of new in the mix, with a new center?
Returner Dominick Guidice will slide over to center for the 2026 season, after playing at left guard in his first season in Columbia. But, the role isn't totally new to the redshirt senior, as he said he played center for a handful of games at Michigan.
"I think overall I still had kind of, you know, the main tools that were built in me from then. But, just being able to get developed from Coach [Brandon] Jones, see more things from the defensive perspective and just being able to put technique together more, because obviously there's some techniques that are a little bit different at center. So, putting that together, just harping it in the offseason big time with Coach Jones, Coach Evans, Coach Meadows. The time that they put into us in the offseason is really held."
Guidice is on an offense line that's experiencing some changes of its own. With Simmons being left-handed, the right side of the unit is now his blind side. Unluckily for the Tigers, the man who was suspected to step into that starting job - Josh Atkins- was injured in spring camp. At SEC Media Days at the end of July, Coach Drinkwitz said Atkins suffered a setback in his injury, making it unclear if he'll be able to return for 2026, at all.
Despite that, Guidice sounded confident in the guys who are still left to compete for that job.
"I think the biggest thing is that we've all been working, so I don't think it's anything outside of what the guys have been working for. Like for the guys that are competing right now, I mean, everyone could do it. They're all playing at high levels just because of the amount of work that we put in and what that comes to trust," he said. "So, I think we trust anyone to whoever steps into that role, we know that they're going to put the best product out there, and all the work that they put in will show in."
Of course, one of the things that will stay consistent about the Mizzou offense, this season, is the run game. The Tigers returned running backs Ahmad Hardy and Jamal Roberts, who are widely considered the best running back tandem in all of college football.
However, Hardy is still in recovery from the gunshot wound he sustained in a shooting at a concert in Mississippi in early May. He is medically cleared from that, but will not be practicing in the first week of camp, according to Drinkwitz. As of now, he'll participate in walk-throughs, as the team looks to bring him back into the mix at a safe pace.
Whenever Hardy is able to return, Guidice said that that tandem - of Hardy and Roberts - makes his job incredibly fun.
"It definitely makes our jobs a lot easier," he said. "I mean, all we need to do is open up one hole or, you know, block up something a little bit and they'll make it an explosive play. So, it makes it very fun and exciting, especially going into the game. We know that anything can happen at any time with those guys in the backfield."
Mizzou will now begin prep for the 2026 season, when fall camp kicks off on Monday.
