Though last season was rough, it hasn’t been too long since the Missouri Tigers were one of the best teams in the SEC.

Fans will recall the 2013 and 2014 seasons, when Mizzou made it to the SEC Championship Game (losing to Auburn and Alabama, respectively).

However, the Tigers have fallen on hard times and 2016 looks to be another rebuilding year.

This being an election year, now’s a good time to borrow a few words from Donald Trump’s campaign and find five ways to “Make Mizzou Great Again!”

1. Develop a go-to receiver

Jeremy Maclin. Danario Alexander. Dorial Green-Beckham.

When the Tigers were successful in the past 10 years, an NFL-level receiver was a critical component of the offense.

Getting Chris Black as a graduate transfer from Alabama will help sophomore QB Drew Lock in 2016, but he’s not the long-term answer at the position.

The Tigers don’t have a lot of returning production at the receiver position, so finding a young guy to step into a big role will be important for 2017 and beyond.

2. Rebuild the offensive line

Evan Boehm and Connor McGovern were selected in the 2016 NFL Draft and OL Nate Crawford recently announced that he had to quit playing football after a slow recovery from his second back surgery.

Lock has a chance to develop into a solid quarterback this year and Oklahoma transfer RB Alex Ross should help the running game, but both need a strong offensive line if they are going to flourish.

3. Continue churning out defensive linemen

Since 2009, Michael Sam, Kony Ealy, Aldon Smith, Shane Ray, Markus Golden, Sheldon Richardson, Ziggy Hood and Stryker Sulak have all heard their names called in the NFL Draft.

Ray, Richardson, Smith and Hood were first-round picks.

The Tigers currently have a defensive lineman — Charles Harris — who will be playing on Sundays in the near future and another — Terry Beckner Jr. — who could find himself in the NFL in a couple of years.

The defensive line has been the team’s strength for years and it’s important that new coach Barry Odom keeps that going.

4. Don’t forget about Texas

The Mizzou roster only has eight players from Texas.

Back when the Tigers were in the Big 12, they had many more.

Granted, it was easier to recruit in the area when Mizzou played Baylor, Texas Tech, Texas and Texas A&M every year and Texas products could return to their home state a few times each season, but the Aggies are still a yearly rival for the Tigers.

In recent years, QB Chase Daniel, WR Alexander (mentioned above) and DE Michael Sam, to name three, were Texas recruits when they came north to join the Tigers.

In order to succeed in the SEC, Mizzou will need to continue snagging under-recruited players from the football-rich Lone Star State.

5. Regain stability in coaching staff

Longtime coach Gary Pinkel retired following the 2015 season, but the Tigers managed to keep defensive coordinator Barry Odom on board for the 2016 season by promoting him to head coach.

Mizzou would be wise to give Odom at least three years to rebuild the program into an SEC East contender.

Meanwhile, now that the Tigers have settled on Josh Heupel at offensive coordinator, letting him build a connection with Lock is crucial. They have three years to work together before Lock’s eligibility runs out, and having stability at the coordinator spot will only help him continue to improve.

Speaking of stability, hopefully Mizzou’s athletics director situation is solved with new AD Jim Sterk.

It’s been a tumultuous couple of years at the position following the 2015 departure of Mike Alden and the 2016 departure of Mack Rhoades.