Programs across the country have turned their attention towards filling out their coaching staffs following a flurry of player movement over the past month.
And in Columbia, Eli Drinkwitz and the Missouri Tigers formally announced the addition of four assistants to the program on Wednesday.
Garrett Riley will step in as quarterbacks coach, Levorn “Chop” Harbin takes over the defensive line, Alex Atkins will lead the tight ends while John Papuchis will act as special teams coordinator and a defensive assistant.
RELATED: Calling all Missouri residents! SDS is your go-to source for Missouri sports betting promos!
Drinkwitz also released a statement to welcome the coaches and introduce them to COMO:
“We’re thrilled to add Alex, Chop, John and Garrett to our coaching staff,” Drinkwitz said. “All four bring a tremendous work ethic, are fantastic recruiters, have a deep understanding of the game and a strong ability to connect with our players. We’re excited to welcome them and their families to Columbia, and we are all ready to get to work.”
Riley was notably last seen as Clemson’s offensive coordinator from 2023-2025, with him serving stints at SMU and TCU prior to that.
Harbin spent five seasons under Josh Heupel at Tennessee prior to landing at Mizzou, where he served as an outside linebackers coach.
Meanwhile, Atkins was at LSU last season after working at Florida State for five years, primarily as an offensive line coach with some tight end work sprinkled in. He will take over a defensive line room that has been known to produce high-caliber NFL prospects since the program joined the SEC.
And lastly, Papuchis also spent a considerable amount of time with the Seminoles prior to landing with the Tigers. He worked as special teams coordinator and defensive end coach from 2020-2024 before shifting to linebackers in 2025 while in Tallahassee.
Parker is currently the sports editor for the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Mississippi. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.
