COLUMBIA, Mo. — Blake Baker is circling back to the beginning.
Missouri’s defensive coordinator strikes an optimistic tone when he analyzes the progress his outfit has made since the spring. Since he took command of the playbook, the Tigers’ practices have involved a lot of learning to swim where their feet can’t touch the floor — learning “the what,†as Baker would call it, through repetitions.
The depth chart is beginning to look more impenetrable at some positions than others, and Baker said he is “inching†toward finalizing his top 22—or two best starting 11s. But before that is finalized, the Tigers will carry on battling to climb rungs.
Before that happens, Baker wants the defense to dive into the details.
“What we’ve really done those first couple weeks (of preseason camp), man, we’ve piled on the install,†Baker said. “We’ve put everything on a plate early and we’re repping it all at the same time, really until we got to the last scrimmage. After this last scrimmage, now we’ve almost gone back to our first install and kind of reinstalled everything, especially for the young guys.â€
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When the Tigers open their practice to the public at 7 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium, fans can expect to see the players fully engrossed in what Baker calls the “how,†or, more specifically, with increased focus on the intricacies of his play calls.
The first-year coordinator frontloaded the scheme-installation process. Education has mainly been guided by repetitions during camp. With the experience in hand, he’s putting the playbook back on the syllabus for a re-read with the hope of ironing out any creases.
There’s a method to the timetable.
Baker isn’t ignorant to the fact that this is a lot of MU players’ third different defensive scheme in three seasons, meaning another library’s worth of terminology. On the opposite end of experience, he recognizes that among Missouri’s extensive number of newcomers, the young hours of the acclimation process can be overwhelming.
By taking the squad back to Day 1, he reckons he can curtail any lingering confusion.
“(The players have) got so much going on in the first week, fall camp, that their heads (are) spinning. Who knows what’s going through their mind?†Baker said. “But they’ve heard it before. Then we bring it back 10, 12 days later and reinstall it, and it’s like, ‘Oh.’ You can see those young guys in the last three, four days really starting to pick up on what their job is.â€
There are two position groups that seem to be giving Baker comparably less agita. To little surprise, it’s the two rooms with the greatest strength in numbers: defensive ends and defensive backs.
In both cases, Missouri is led by a solid core of experienced returners with an intriguing mix of new faces.
That’s especially true in the cases of Trajan Jeffcoat and Isaiah McGuire, who appear to be the rightful heirs to the ends. Even more comforting to Baker is that the pair have a group of challengers — all with game experience — fighting for spots behind them. The most likely candidates there are Jacksonville State transfer DJ Coleman, North Carolina transfer Tyrone Hopper, redshirt freshman Arden Walker and frequent 2021 backup Johnny Walker Jr.
“Obviously it’s a huge luxury (to have Jeffcoat and McGuire), and then when you talk about the depth behind them, I think by far that’s our deepest room,†Baker said. … “There’s six guys that you don’t feel nervous about putting into a game.â€
If the defensive ends are Missouri’s deepest defensive unit, the DBs aren’t lagging far behind. And they recently received a boost.
Baker never got to see Kris Abrams-Draine and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. in the spring as they dealt with injuries.
It didn’t take him long to realize what he was missing, calling the pair “really, really impressive.â€
But once again, the numbers across the board behind two talented returning starters are drawing encouragement.
He said freshman Isaac Thompson (ºüÀêÊÓƵ U. High) has overcome his knee injury, and is one of the “smartest young guys I’ve been around.†Freshman wide-receiver-turned-free-safety Ja’Marion Wayne has impressed Baker with “flashes,†too, and the Parkway West grad figures to play a role in the fall. Baker added that Dreyden Norwood, DJ Jackson, LJ Hewitt and Caimin Hayes have all made “significant leaps†since the spring.
The value that Abrams-Draine and Rakestraw add could prove pivotal, especially since the biggest known change in Baker’s new system is a switch to a base package of three players at safety, but the strength in numbers also augurs well for his backfield.
“I didn’t know what we had going into this season and to see the guys that did improve, and then obviously the couple guys that weren’t (there) in the spring, I think they’ve really benefited that room as well,†Baker said.
But even as camp approaches the final straight, Missouri’s game plan for its opener against Louisiana Tech on Sept. 1 hasn’t come into Baker’s mind. Some initial scouting reports from the summer have remained on his desk. He won’t circle back to them until a week before the game.
That’s because there’s still work to do and details to nail down.
“Right now we’re just focused on our guys,†Baker said. … “I feel like I’d be cheating what we can become if I jump ahead.â€
Following Saturday’s one-hour open practice, fans will be treated to a free showing of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness†on the stadium’s videoboard starting at 8 p.m. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. Select concession stands will be open plus as MU hosts a carnival along the north concourse.