COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz has learned a lot about his new starting quarterback since the end of last season, but it was during a midsummer meeting that could have gone awkwardly when he fully appreciated the competitor that is Brady Cook.
Drinkwitz's offseason hunt for a more experienced quarterback was not a secret — he called it "a public pursuit" — but he was especially impressed with Cook's response to the carousel of Power Five targets coming through campus.
Drinkwitz recalled that conversation Wednesday: "He just said, 'Coach, it means nothing more to me than to be the starting quarterback at the University of Missouri. So I'm here. I'm going to fight for it. As long as you're telling me it's an open competition regardless of what happens, I'm going to be here.'"
"He ran to the fight," Drinkwitz said.
Cook's reward? He'll start when the Tigers open the season in three weeks against Louisiana Tech, on Sept. 1. Drinkwitz called off the four-man competition on Tuesday after watching Cook stack back-to-back productive practices on Sunday and Monday. Drinkwitz broke the news to Cook and the other contenders on Tuesday, then told the whole team.
The decision came nine days into preseason camp and earlier than Drinkwitz expected, he said.
"I just felt like for us offensively, for this team to take the next step, let's solidify who our quarterback was (and) eliminate the questions and the indecision," he said. "That's what they pay me to do. They pay me to make decisions and so we made it."
With a grin splashed across his face, Cook tried to describe his reaction after Wednesday's practice.
"I wouldn't say I was necessarily surprised," he said, "but just more overwhelmed with this fulfilling happiness. ... This is something I've been waiting for and working for a long time."
"It means everything to me," added the redshirt sophomore. "I'm in a position right now that I used to dream of. I've really worked my whole football career for this moment. It means so much, just growing up and watching the Tigers and being from St. Louis, it means even more. So it's really special."
Drinkwitz could sense that much way back in November when he started freshman Tyler Macon at No. 1 Georgia in place of Connor Bazelak, who was sidelined because of a leg injury. He planned to rotate both backups against the eventual national champions, but Macon would get the first series instead of Cook.
"I vividly remember the night before the Georgia game telling Brady that I was going to start Tyler in that game and how disappointed he was but how resilient he was to put the team first," Drinkwitz said. "And at that moment, I knew this was a special young man, because he could have been mad at me, could have been mad at the world, could have pouted. But he waited for his moment, came in there and played with some big heart."
As for the other contenders, they'll continue to compete for the No. 2 job, Drinkwitz said. Macon and seventh-year graduate transfer Jack Abraham were disappointed in the decision, he said, but bounced back with strong Wednesday practices. Freshman Sam Horn, probably the longest of long shots to win the job, continues to impress the staff.
"He's a lot further ahead than I kind of expected, to be honest," Drinkwitz said. "He still has his rookie moments. So we're still letting him just grow into the best version of himself on a daily basis."
For Cook, he'll start the opener nearly four years after he verbally committed to play for his dream school. Cook's pledge in September 2018, just as he started his junior year at Chaminade Prep, was Mizzou's first for the 2020 class.
He stuck with his commitment after the school fired coach Barry Odom and hired Drinkwitz following the 2019 season. As a freshman in 2020, Cook eventually earned the backup job and appeared in three games off the bench, completing 6 of 7 passes, including a 25-yard touchdown toss against Vanderbilt. Last season, with Bazelak entrenched as the starter, Cook played in four games off the bench and took over the starting duties for the Armed Forces Bowl against Army. In his most extensive playing time since high school, he completed 27 of 34 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown while running for 53 yards plus a score.
The next day, Bazelak entered the transfer portal — he ended up at Indiana — leaving Cook and Macon to split snaps during spring practices. Drinkwitz pursued multiple Power Five transfer options and settled on Abraham, a former starter at Southern Mississippi, and turned the competition into a brief four-man weave with Cook, Macon, Abraham and Horn.
Now with Cook at the controls of the offense, Drinkwitz plans to maximize his underrated athleticism.
"It's about taking our offense and pushing in the direction that Brady can really operate," he said. "Brady's worked really hard since he's been here to continue to become an accurate passer. He's got good arm strength and velocity. He's a tough runner. His biggest strength is between his ears. He's got a great mind. He understands exactly what we're doing. And he anticipates what defenses are doing and knows what the scheme answers are. We've got to do a good job of giving him opportunities to play to his strengths.
"I do think one of the things that he likes to do is run the football. And I think that was one thing that we emphasized in these first 10 days of camp, was let's make sure that we don't shy away from the quarterback run game, which we did a little bit too much the previous two years."
That's one matter solved for Drinkwitz, who will start a third different Week 1 quarterback in his third season at Mizzou. He's maybe not the QB some expected when Drinkwitz rummaged through the transfer portal, but Cook never doubted his chances. Now, the job is his.
"My plan was to be here for the 2022 season and compete my butt off regardless of who they brought in," Cook said. "So my plan never really changed and never really wavered. Here we are."
Mizzou's Nate Peat, Tavorus Jones miss practice due to injury
As for the running back competition, a couple of contenders in the race have been sitting out the last few days nursing minor injuries.
Nate Peat, a senior transfer from Stanford, tweaked a soft tissue, Drinkwitz said, but could return for Saturday's practice. Freshman Tavorus Jones came up limping with a hamstring injury after he scored a touchdown in Sunday's live drills.
"Nothing serious," Drinkwitz said. "We'll be able to get that corrected."
