Eli Drinkwitz shares what Kirby Moore has brought to Missouri

Missouri just had one of its best seasons in school history, winning 11 games including a Cotton Bowl tilt with Ohio State. It can largely thank offensive coordinator Kirby Moore.

Moore put together an absolute masterclass throughout the season, getting quarterback Brady Cook to play at a high level and helping Missouri rank No. 28 nationally in both scoring and total offense.

“I think Kirby came in and did exactly what we needed him to do,” head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “Fresh set of yes. Does an outstanding job with Brady, getting him dialed in. He’s always trying to present new ideas to us.”

Cook was panned early in the season by Missouri fans, who weren’t quite sure he could play at a high enough level to keep the team routinely competitive in SEC play.

But after Drinkwitz went to bat for his quarterback quite vocally following a win over Kansas State, it was all uphill for Cook and crew, with Kirby Moore calling all the right shots.

The junior quarterback threw for 3,317 yards and 21 touchdowns, while tossing only six interceptions. He also ran for 319 yards and eight scores.

That helped power the offense, which showed it could strike in key moments. Like in the Cotton Bowl, against Ohio State. Moore just had a knack for making the right call at the right time.

“Really when it came down to it in the fourth quarter he did a great job of calling what he knew our guys could execute,” Drinkwitz said. “We had that play dialed up for Marquis (Johnson) all week. We’ve actually run it several times, and it was the perfect look, the perfect call at the right time, and Brady executed it. And then that play-action pass to Luther (Burden) for the touchdown, another great design.”

It’d be easy enough for a head coach to take most of the credit for his squad’s success. After all, he hired the coordinators and put them in place.

That’s not Drinkwitz’s style, though. Instead, he was quick to praise not just Kirby Moore on the offensive side, but also Blake Baker on the defensive side.

“Kirby is, I can’t say just Kirby, Kirby and Blake have been just an incredible leaders on each side of the ball,” Drinkwitz said. “And I think it goes back to low ego, high output. They carry the mission or the message of the head coach to each side of the ball. There’s no ego involved. At halftime Blake was ripping the defense about why we don’t have a takeaway yet? I’m like, ‘OK, bud, y’all are playing pretty good, just hold on.’ But they’re both just tremendous leaders.”