Mizzou reportedly hiring former FSU OC, LSU assistant as TE coach
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Missouri is reportedly adding a veteran Power 4 assistant to Eli Drinkwitz‘s staff.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel is reporting that Alex Atkins will be Mizzou‘s new tight ends coach. Derham Cato was Mizzou’s tight ends coach, but elected to follow Kirby Moore to Washington State.
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Atkins heads to Columbia after spending the 2025 season at LSU, where he served as the interim offensive coordinator. Before Baton Rouge, Atkins was on staff at Florida State as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.
Sources: Missouri is set to hire Alex Atkins as the school’s next tight ends coach. Atkins is a veteran coach who spent last year at LSU, including interim OC. He spent the prior five years at Florida State, including three years as offensive coordinator and two as OLine coach. pic.twitter.com/lJNojDjAQS
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 12, 2026
Brian Kelly hired Atkins as LSU‘s tight ends coach and run game coordinator in February 2025. When LSU moved on from Joe Sloan after Kelly’s dismissal, Atkins was given the role of interim offensive coordinator.
Atkins has been in coaching since 2007, getting his start as a graduate assistant at Tennessee-Martin, his alma mater. Atkins’ first Power conference coaching opportunity came at Florida State in 2020 as the offensive line coach under Mike Norvell. In 2022, Atkins was promoted to offensive coordinator, a position he held for 3 seasons.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
