3 Storylines Surrounding Mizzou Football Entering the 2026 Season

There’s no shortage of unknowns on the Tigers’ roster this season. With a new offensive coordinator, a new quarterback and many other positions on the team being retooled, the floor and ceiling for Mizzou are wide.

The storylines that will ultimately define its season aren’t unique to it as a program. Plenty of other schools in the SEC are managing new rosters and coaching staffs. There are even more factors when you include the new 9-game conference schedule, which greatly impacts the Tigers’ potential record.

For the sake of conciseness, here’s one storyline to monitor for each phase of the game this season.

For the third straight season, Mizzou is entering week 1 with a new starting quarterback. It’s a similar situation to 2025, when Beau Pribula came in with little experience and struggled in SEC play. Now, Austin Simmons transfers in with a lack of experience. The key difference being Simmons already has experience in this conference and was named the starter significantly earlier than Pribula.

Whether that was because of a clear talent discrepancy or coaches wanting a signal caller set in stone for continuity purposes is up for debate. What we do know about Simmons is that he should have a better arm to stretch the field than Tiger quarterbacks of late. He had a small sample of 41 pass completions last season, but ranked third in the FBS with 9.7 yards per completion.

The potential issue that comes with him airing it out is the turnover bug. He didn’t throw any interceptions on 32 pass attempts as a freshman at Ole Miss, but threw five last season on 75 attempts – two apiece against Georgia State and Kentucky.

His minimal experience as a starter against high-major teams is another worry. His biggest sample size against a Power Four school came against a mediocre Kentucky team last season. The Rebels barely escaped with a 30-23 win, largely due to Simmons going 13-for-24 for 235 yards and two interceptions. Plenty of flashes were shown in that game despite poor numbers at a glance.

Simmons averaged 18.1 yards per completion in that game and showed off some rushing ability – which is one of his poorer skills. He took eight carries for 44 yards. He also threw a 55-yard completion that set up Ole Miss on Kentucky’s 1-yard line.

He has the supporting cast to help him succeed. Offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey and quarterbacks coach Garrett Riley have a good track record developing quarterbacks, and he has a receiving core headlined by Donovan Olugbode, Cayden Lee, Brett Norfleet and Caleb Goodie. Simmons should also have the luxury of relying on the rushing game to carry him at times as long as one of Ahmad Hardy or Jamal Roberts is healthy.

Head coach Eli Drinkwitz mentioned some struggles throughout fall camp scrimmages, but said he had his best performance in the final scrimmage.

“First drive, I think he was no incompletions and threw about a 35, maybe 40-yard touchdown to Caleb Goodie down the middle of the field, which was awesome. Came back next drive, threw a back shoulder to Donovan for a touchdown,” Drinkwitz said.

The lefty has plenty to prove this season, but the talent and effort are there from what Drinkwitz said through fall camp. Keeping turnovers down and being able to move the chains rather than locking in on deep balls will define his season.

Mizzou has established a pedigree of great pass rushing over the past couple of seasons. It ranked in the top 10 of the SEC in total sacks in each of the last two seasons, including the fifth-most last season.

But after losing sack leaders Damon Wilson II and Zion Young, the new EDGE room is unproven outside of Darris Smith. Fellow returners Langden Kitchen and Daeden Hopkins have been praised for offseason improvement, but it’s going to take multiple jumps to replicate the Tigers’ recent success pressuring quarterbacks.

Four high-major, but unproven defensive ends transferred in this offseason: Jaden Jones (Florida State), Malik Bryant (Miami), CJ May (Louisville) and Kamauryn Morgan (Baylor). JUCO standout Demarcus Johnson (Hutchinson CC) also joins the team.

The three key returners totaled five sacks and 15 quarterback hurries last season, heavily carried by Smith. Drinkwitz seems to have confidence in this trio despite minimal production.

“I think Darris Smith and Daeden Hopkins have really established themselves as being able to rush the passer,” he said Saturday. “Kitchen’s done an excellent job of being a field end and then being a pass rush guy.”

Having returning production on the interior takes some pressure off the pass rushers. Marquis Gracial and Jalen Marshall are both talented in stopping the run, while Sterling Webb and Donta Simpson – pending return from injury – can provide more quarterback pressure.

There’s an old debate about defense in football: Would you rather have poor pass rush and lockdown corners, or great pass rush and poor corners? A team hopes to have both, but before there’s any tape on this EDGE room, there’s probably more trust in what the secondary can do.

Eric Link was Mizzou’s special teams coordinator for six seasons, but many didn’t even know his name until 2025. His firing came after woes in almost every area that he oversaw. It wasn’t entirely on him, as an injury to starting kicker Blake Craig forced the team to rely on a young duo of Robert Meyer and Oliver Robbins. However, woes on punting and kick returns accumulated, and Link and the Tigers parted ways after the season.

John Papuchis entered as the new hire from Florida State. He also plays a role as a defensive assistant, a job he can thrive in with experience as a defensive coordinator at Nebraska and North Carolina. A few Seminoles followed Papuchis to Mizzou, including punter Brunno Reus.

Reus converted on both extra point attempts he had as a true freshman and was the kickoff specialist in seven games, but did not punt at Florida State. He’ll be expected to contribute in multiple areas with the Tigers. Given what Papuchis and All-SEC long snapper Brett Le Blanc have said, it seems like Reus is the favorite to punt and hold for kicks. He could also fill in as kickoff specialist.

“(Brunno) comes in with something to prove,” Papuchis said at fall camp media day. “Brett Le Blanc, going into his fourth year, is a leader for us in our special teams phases. (Blake) has worked extremely hard to get himself back in place to be an elite player, which took a lot of hard work. Each guy has a different mission in terms of what they’re trying to prove. But it’s all the same direction for us to be the best team.”

Having Craig healthy completely changes how the offense operates. Situations that were go-for-it on fourth down last season can turn into long field goals with his strong leg. Craig has gone 7-for-10 on attempts from 50 yards or more during his career. He was the primary kickoff specialist during the media portions of fall practices.

Drinkwitz said that Craig went 4-for-5 during the team’s Saturday scrimmage, making four from 35 yards or more and only missed a 53-yarder.

In the return game, it was a big group of players fielding kicks and punts during fall camp. DeMarion Fowlkes, Cayden Lee, Donovan Olugbode, Caleb Goodie, Shaun Terry, Jamal Roberts, Preston Hatfield and Xai’Shaun Edwards have been the consistent returners.

This unit needs to have a chip on its shoulder this season. Craig should improve accuracy and power for place kicking, and the return game has a long list of options. The most interesting development will be if Reus can be a weapon in the punt game.