Missouri

Injury timelines and O-line: Notes from first Missouri football practice of spring camp

Published

1 year ago

March 1, 2025

Injury timelines and O-line: Notes from first Missouri football practice of spring camp

It must be spring.

For the first time in 2025, Missouri football opened a portion of its practice to the media, running through drills Saturday morning inside the Stephens Indoor Facility in Columbia.

The Tigers, who have 28 new players between transfers and high school early enrollees this spring, reported to the team facility Friday and held a walkthrough practice. On Saturday, the team went through more organized drills. The opening five periods of the practice — lasting approximately 25 minutes — were open for observation.

That makes takeaways tricky. Missouri’s big group of newcomers don’t yet have a number on their respective jerseys — a common practice under head coach Eli Drinkwitz, as players earn numbers as a performance-based incentive — which makes identification a challenge from three floors up on an observation deck.

In Saturday’s practice, the team mostly ran through special teams work and some ball-security drills. The team likely got into some situational work later.

Drinkwitz’s message for Day 1?

“I told them, ‘today should be the worst day you (have) as a Missouri football player, because it’s your first day, you’re unsure of everything,’” Drinkwitz said. “From this point on, it’s about growing and getting better. And I’m confident all those guys will do that.”

Spring camp is underway, and here are three notes to know from Mizzou’s first open practice:

Injury recovery: Who was practicing, who wasn’t for Missouri football?

Three players were wearing green no-contact jerseys Saturday: Tight end Brett Norfleet, outside linebacker Khalil Jacobs and boundary safety Marvin Burks Jr.

At least two prominent players did not appear to be on the field running through drills: Defensive end Darris Smith and center Connor Tollison, although Drinkwitz said both have been doing limited, non-contact work.

Most of those names were expected. Both Tollison and Jacobs sustained season-ending injuries during the 2024 campaign and likely are still in the recovery phase. Norfleet underwent surgery shortly after the Tigers’ regular-season finale and missed MU’s win in the Music City Bowl. Smith sustained a season-ending knee injury before the 2024 campaign started.

On Smith: “He’s going through what he can. He’s one of those that we want to be really cautious just because of his length and speed and twitch, and so everything’s on track but we limit the contact that he can have,” Drinkwitz said. … “He’s doing all the non-contact stuff that we can, but we just don’t want to put him in a negative situation. We know how physical and talented he is, now it’s just about getting him back acclimated.”

On Tollison: “He’s doing really good,” Drinkwitz said. “You know, he’s able to be out here and snap during seven-on-seven. Obviously he’s no-contact, but he’s really attacked his rehab, and I’m really proud of him and how much he’s gotten done.”

On Norfleet: “We like where we’re at. Obviously, we’re going to be very cautious in how we try to utilize him this spring. Don’t want any setbacks.”

Offensive line turnover in full swing

With Tollison on the sideline, the makeup of Missouri’s offensive line was almost entirely different.

Mizzou is replacing right tackle Armand Membou, right guard Cam’Ron Johnson and left tackle Marcus Bryant this season. On Saturday, Tollison’s absence meant left guard Cayden Green was the only holdover from MU’s five starters last year.

In the brief windows that the offensive line lined up for something that resembled a live rep Saturday, Mizzou ran with West Virginia transfer Johnny Williams IV at left tackle, Green at left guard, Michigan transfer Dominick Guidice at center, returning redshirt junior Tristan Wilson at right guard and Wake Forest transfer Keagan Trost at right tackle.

In another lineup, it looked like true freshman Henry Fenuku was at left guard while redshirt freshman Talan Chandler was at center, redshirt junior Curtis Peagler was at right guard and redshirt sophomore Brandon Solis was at right tackle. Redshirt freshman Whit Hafer, who has moved from tight end to offensive line in the offseason, also took some reps at right tackle, Drinkwitz said.

Drinkwitz said he appreciates how Guidice has taken on the challenge at center since arriving on campus, and the coach said he joked with Tollison about Wally Pipp, who famously was replaced at first base by Lou Gehrig for the Yankees after asking to sit out because of a headache. But, you can expect Tollison to return as the starting center once he’s cleared to practice again.

The head coach also expanded on the recruitment of the Tigers’ three new transfers — Williams, Trost and Guidice — who appear to be frontrunners for starting spots in the fall.

“It always starts for us with athleticism,” Drinkwitz said. “We want big, long, athletic guys, and then toughness. And, ultimately, we’ve got to make sure that they’re a scheme fit. We start with the outside zone. We felt like those guys were athletic enough and able to handle it.”

Special teams work

Most of the open portion practice centered on special teams drills. The Tigers were using returning wide receivers Daniel Blood and Marquis Johnson as punt returners, which is consistent with last season.

The Tigers have two kickers on campus, with returning starter Blake Craig and preferred walk-on Robert Meyer taking reps kicking field goals. Mizzou currently does appear to have just one punter in Stanford transfer Connor Weselman.

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Missouri Farm Bureau to host agritourism conference in Hermann | Fulton Sun

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4 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Press Room

Missouri Farm Bureau to host agritourism conference in Hermann | Fulton Sun

Missouri Farm Bureau’s 2026 Agritourism Conference will be held Sunday through Tuesday in Hermann, bringing together agritourism stakeholders to explore opportunities in Missouri’s growing agritourism sector.

The conference usually draws 60-70 attendees annually, said Janet Adkison, director of public affairs and advocacy with Missouri Farm Bureau. This includes farmers, agribusiness leaders, tourism professionals and local economic development partners.

At the conference, participants will see firsthand how farms, wineries, orchards and other value-added agriculture business and rural destinations are connecting tourists and consumers with the state’s agriculture scene, while diversifying revenue streams for farm families and rural communities.

“Whenever folks think of agritourism, they think of a pumpkin patch or a flower farm,” Adkison said. “But agritourism is really anything that gets folks to connect with the agriculture industry. So from your Airbnbs that are out in rural Missouri to the wineries that you see across the countryside, to even a tree farm or just a simple orchard, those are all part of Missouri’s agritourism industry.”

The conference kicks off Sunday with welcome remarks by Missouri Farm Bureau president Garrett Hawkins and a dinner at Hermann Farm Store Barn. Participants will spend the nights at The Inn at Hermannhof.

Monday will include an agritourism bus tour, with stops at Thierbach Orchard, Heritage Valley Tree Farm, White Mule Winery & BNB and Cool Cow Cheese, where participants have the opportunity to speak to business owners.

It will be followed by a farm-to-table, wine-pairing dinner at Hermannhof Winery Court with the Missouri Wine & Grape Board.

“If you are somebody who’s interested in agritourism, you get to hear from somebody who’s been there and done that, and some of the hurdles that they may have experienced along the way,” Adkison said. “You’ll have that exposure both on the tour and also during the programs that they’ll provide on Tuesday.”

On the final day of the conference, participants will attend educational workshops and network with other vendors at Hermannhof Festhalle. Topics discussed in the workshops include marketing, risk management, USDA Rural Development resources for agricultural businesses.

“You’ll hear from some folks as far as the missteps or wins that they had while trying to market and get those crowds to come to the farm, and sometimes something might work, (or) something surprises you and it doesn’t work,” Adkison said.

The conference location rotates around the state each year — past stops have included northeast and west central Missouri, which Adkison said gives the conference a chance to showcase how agritourism looks based on the terrain and agricultural strength of each region.

Find out more about the event or register for it at mofb.org/event/2026-agritourism.

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Missouri politicians champion unity, diversity on America’s 250th

Published

14 hours ago

July 8, 2026

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Missouri politicians champion unity, diversity on America’s 250th

Former Missouri Gov. Jeremiah “Jay” Nixon followed in his ancestor’s footsteps, 250 years to the day.

On July 8, 1776, Colonel John Nixon was the first person to publicly read the Declaration of Independence from the steps of the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall.

Jay Nixon, along with other Missouri officials from local, state and national offices, participated in a semiquincentennial celebration at the Historical Greene County Courthouse on July 8, 2026.

“As we commemorate 250 years of American independence, may we remember not only the courage of those who signed the declaration, but also our responsibility to preserve the freedoms they declare,” said Connie Yen, director of the Greene County Archives and Records Center.

While the reading of the Declaration of Independence was the main event, patriotic music from the Salvation Army Band, Springfield Sound, the Patriotic Chorale — as well as the national anthem sung by former U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft and former judge and representative Max Bacon — rang throughout the courthouse’s rotunda, which was packed with people. The music itself, Ashcroft said, was a metaphor for the nation.

“There is something charming about America that doesn’t require that we be uniform. There’s a difference between unity and uniformity. As a matter of fact, you can’t have harmony if you only have one note. You have to sing different notes for things to be harmonic and it’s much more beautiful,” he said. “Maybe America is America not because of uniformity or everybody being in unison, but America may be America because we have disparity, but we’re in harmony. We believe in unity, not uniformity.”

Before reading the Declaration of Independence, Nixon shared part of a speech he gave at Fulton’s Westminster College in August 2025, where he encouraged people to “resist apathy with action” through involvement with civic and faith organizations, and by voting. Like others, he emphasized diversity as the strength of America.

“(We’re) a nation of immigrants. Many of our ancestors fled poverty, injustice and tyranny to build something better. We are the great-great-great-grandchildren of slaves, and those who enslaved them; the first families who inhabited these lands, and those who drove them from it,” Nixon said. “A nation of scrappy strivers stitched together by our ideals, marked by original sins, but redeemed by the courage and sacrifice that saved us from fascism and unleashed freedom and prosperity — the envy of the world. That is the true story we all need to tell, the promise we made to each other that we work every day to keep.”

The reading was followed by an ice cream social, co-hosted by the Greene County Democratic and Republican women’s clubs.

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UPDATE: Suspect wanted in Kansas captured near Columbia; Missouri State Highway Patrol aircraft plays key role | 93.9 The Eagle

Published

1 day ago

July 8, 2026

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UPDATE: Suspect wanted in Kansas captured near Columbia; Missouri State Highway Patrol aircraft plays key role | 93.9 The Eagle

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says one of its planes played a key role in Tuesday morning’s capture on I-70 near Columbia of a Kansas suspect wanted for child endangerment.

Missouri state troopers say they were on patrol near a rest area on eastbound I-70 in Cooper County, when they located a Dodge Durango wanted for an alleged incident in Topeka. Troopers say the suspect drove off after seeing troopers and that the Patrol plane was used to avoid a pursuit.

Troopers say they were able to get in position after the plane’s pilot located the vehicle and that the Patrol deployed stop sticks and safely deflated the suspect’s tires.

hmqqi61wwaa0bs7 — A Missouri State Highway Patrol aircraft played a key role in Tuesday morning’s capture in mid-Missouri (July 2026 graphic courtesy of Highway Patrol Twitter)

The Highway Patrol says the suspect was captured without incident and that the two-year-old child, who was unharmed, has been reunited with their mother.

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