Mizzou officially announces hiring of new DC Steve Wilks; Eli Drinkwitz issues statement
The Missouri Tigers watched as DC Ryan Walters left for Illinois this offseason. It was part of a staff shakeup on the defensive side of the ball.
On Thursday, though, they officially announced former NFL DC and former head coach Steve Wilks as their new defensive coordinator.
In a press release announcing the hire, coach Eli Drinkwitz praised Wilks’ character and history in the pro ranks:
“We are thrilled to welcome Steve Wilks and his family to Mizzou,” Drinkwitz said. “Steve has a strong reputation as a man of character and a leader of men. His experiences both as an NFL head coach and defensive coordinator are exactly what we need at Mizzou. I’m looking forward to Steve putting his fingerprints on our defense as we continue to elevate Mizzou Football to greater heights.”
Wilks said Drinkwitz has been on his radar for a while, praising what Drinkwitz accomplished at Wilks’ alma mater, Appalachian State:
“As I took time off to reflect over the past year, I wanted to find a good program with great people that was moving in the right direction, and without a doubt, Mizzou Football has all of that,” said Wilks. “I reached out to Coach Drinkwitz when he got the job at Appalachian State as an alum, and Coach Harbison is a good friend of mine who spoke volumes about the culture and people at Mizzou. Mizzou has things moving in a great direction and I wanted to be a part of that.
“I’ve had a reputation of building relationships everywhere I’ve been, from college to the NFL. I pride myself on being a great teacher and communicator and having the ability to get the most out of my players. Players like Josh Norman, who developed from a fifth-round draft pick into an All-Pro selection, is just one example of someone who I was able to help develop. In college, you must develop players, and I believe I can bring that to Mizzou, along with being a great communicator and teacher.”
How will Wilks fare in 2021 calling Mizzou’s defense? We’ll find out as he gets his system in place this spring.
Papa’s got a brand new bag!
Here’s another new bag, Tiger basketball went to TN played defense this time and flipped the script.
And this is not “new bag” but it might be the best version ever. Tiger Wrestling now up to #6 in the nation. It’s eyebrow raising when you see an athlete being praised during an interview after a win and he says “well an NCAA Championship is my goal……” paraphrase. And Coach Smith’s recruiting is still headed north also. I like to attend, but when I can’t I always think, this would be a great project for Missouri School of Journalism TV broadcast.
So we just hired a guy with a ton of experience to replace a guy with next to no experience? Looks like the Walters bandwagon has blown a tire and crashed in the ditch.
Walter’s is going exactly where he needs to go to take a big step forward in his career. I’m withholding judgement on Coach Wilks BUT here are the grades on talking like a great coach. Teacher A+, Character A+, Communicator A+, NFL experience A+, Recognition of where Missouri is moving Missouri upward fast. A feeling of fraternity with Drinkwitz present, past, and future. This is a win for Drink, a win for Missouri, and a win for Walters. Wow. The proof is yet to be seen but it has all the good signs for now.
Color me underwhelmed by this hire. We know they’ve got better players coming and we know they’re going to have the advantage of Seniors coming back and playing an extra year, that should be a huge plus so yeah, the defense should take a big step next season regardless who’s coaching. Certainly hope it works out but this was a buddy hire when Drink had an opportunity to go big.
He was ok in the NFL, did well enough to get a head job, but sucked so bad he lasted 1 year. So who knows. What I do know is there’s a world of difference in the attitudes of NFL players vs. that of college players, and maybe his personality will jive better with younger players.
As long as he’s not Bo Pelini, I’ll stay optimistic until he proves otherwise.
Tiger TD. He did not finish well in the NFL. In his HC opp he finished 3-13 and then was very average as a DC. He didn’t even have a job in 2020.
His statement, “As I took time off to reflect over the past year, I wanted to find a good program with great people that was moving in the right direction…”,
could also be read, “I wanted to find a job, any job.”
He does have a little of that vagabond smoozer resume BUT sometimes those coaches are talented and just have bad luck hitching their wagons to fall falling stars. I think there is talent in this hire. But I’m not saying he doesn’t have his own next level he has to reach. Only a very small percent, 1-5%, of NCAA football coaches are 99% as good as they are every going to be. For one thing, the game changes.
@TigerTD: Yeah we can’t see behind the curtain yet and he’s never been any one spot long enough to really know what he can build over time (he was coaching McDermott and Rivera’s D in Carolina) so hopefully he will do that here. Not saying it’s a bad hire, just my immediate reaction is that it’s a little underwhelming.
@tonytiger: He moved around so much in the NFL it’s hard to say. He didn’t have much of a chance in Arizona. That was a job he never should have taken, they had no QB and no commitment to win that year so it’s impossible to take anything away from that. Same with his year in Cleveland, that season under Kitchens was a complete disaster and had nothing to do with the defense.
Bouches, the reason coaching jobs become open is most likely the team was awful to begin with and the previous coach was fired. If someone offers you a hc opportunity you take it. Look at Mizzou, no proven qb, all SEC schedule, lots of opt outs, shaky defense but Coach Drink still managed to go 5-5.
The Arizona Cardinals under Wilks were HISTORICALLY bad. Worst record in franchise history. Wilks team was pummeled. Here’s a quote from AZ Central: Bidwill said he began having major concerns after the Cardinals lost their first two games to the Redskins and Rams by a combined margin of 58-6. By the time the team slipped to 0-4, those concerns elevated to discussions about possibly having to make a change, and as the losses mounted with the Cardinals showing little to no signs of progress, Wilks’ likely termination became cemented.”
Wilks’ defense with the Cardinals and Browns were great vs the pass. Know why? Because they couldn’t stop the run! Other teams didn’t have to pass on them so they ran the ball to victory.
The best thing Wilks did for the Ariz Cardinals was get them the #1 pick and Kyler Murray.
I sure hope I’m wrong. I’m definitely not a football expert but just looking at this guy’s track record is scary. Plus now he’s going to be asked to recruit!
Again, I hope I’m wrong and Coach Drink is a genius and pushed the right button.
@tonytiger: Well Drink didn’t hire him to be HC, but even as DC it’s a reach. Again, my main issue isn’t Arizona or Cleveland, those situations had little to do with Wilks specifically. It’s more underwhelming because he’s never actually installed a defense, built and recruited one over time. Like I said, I’m not saying it’s a bad hire, and I couldn’t care less about his one year in Arizona or his one year in Cleveland, it’s just an underwhelming hire when Drink had the opportunity to get a clear upgrade. This isn’t a clear upgrade, his resume is long but there’s nothing much definitive as far as proven improvement because of him being anywhere he’s been. He just followed Rivera around from job to job coaching DBacks.
Bouches. I believe you’re only as good as your record says you are. But Wilks and now the hiring of Jethro Franklin to me are mind blowing. As you wrote Coach Drink had the opportunity for an upgrade and neither of these two guys look to be any better(and maybe worse) than Walters and Haley. Just a total head scratcher.
I’m only seeing slightly better freshmen and that won’t make a difference till 2023. Every program will have players taking advantage of the 5th year so there will be little net effect from that. ‘Buddy’ hires are good if you know what you are getting and you need it. Stranger hires are always more risky unless the statistics are overwhelming and Missouri is not going to land one of those candidates till they stay in the hunt for the division all season long.
At least he has “buddies” to hire. More than you can say for the past 25 years of MU football.
We just have to assume the guys who were rumored to be in the hunt all turned it down and Drink didn’t want to hire Gibbs. Which I’m fine with not promoting Gibbs, but even the guys like Stoops and Kiffin who came up should have gave us a hint Drink was shooting petty low here.
When a program hands you a trip to the best conference championship in the NCAA and scores 42 points, why pretend that didn’t happen? A few days later Alabama lost it’s bowl game to Oklahoma and Auburn lost it’s bowl game to Florida State but the Missouri Tigers put the SEC back in the winner’s circle breaking Oklahoma State’s heart. There are 130 NCAA division 1 programs, forgetting a number4/5 final ranking is happens in exactly zero other football programs, and certainly not at Mizzou.
@Booch, I think he knew the positive qualities he was getting in Wilks and also knew how he was going to staff under Wilks D staff. Smart move for a Head Coach who can get fired for what the DC does. A lot of hot shots and flash-in-the-pan types would demand 60% of the scholarships and complete control of the D coach hiring selections. Drink is seems like the smartest HC in Tigerland in a long time to me. I don’t have him in Divine company yet, but I already like him more than Smith. And in my mind he’ll blow past Pinkel in one-fourth of the time.
I guess actually installing a defense and having proven results over time wasn’t a quality Drink was looking for in a DC. That’s what makes it feel underwhelming and why it doesn’t feel like an exciting upgrade. The only defense he was successful in wasn’t even his own, it was ran by @wolfman: McDermott for the vast majority of Wilks time there, so there’s no way anyone can definitively say what kind of DC we have, not you, me, not even Drink. This is a classic ‘reach’, wait and see, not an “ok, he hired a guy who has built really good defenses before kind of hire.”
Edit: the ‘@wolfman’ above is totally in the wrong spot
Tigurr, sometimes I don’t get your posts at all. “ More than you can say for the past 25 years of MU football”
What in the heck are you talking about?
Walter needs to spend about 10 more years coaching at Div II level, oh I get it, you’re saying Illin IS Div II.. haha very funny!
For as long as he’s coached and as many players as he’s coached he should have a much longer list than Josh Norman. Welcome to Mizzou coach, this job is as good as any to make that list a lot longer.
Well said.
BTW, I hope I’m wrong…way wrong about this hire. He just seems so below average.
This is a real question, not a critique, but where’s the info that Josh Norman was the only player he improved?
Wilks’ own quote. It may not be the only one he improved, but it’s the only example he could thing of at the time I guess, which you would think if he’s trying to make a point he would have been able to rattle off several more names.