Missouri 5-star QB commit Matt Zollers reflects on decision, recruiting for the Tigers

Entering the month of April, Missouri was without a commitment in its 2025 recruiting class. That changed in a big way on April 4, as Royersford (Pa.) Spring-Ford five-star quarterback Matt Zollers pledged to the Tigers over Georgia, Pitt and Penn State.

Since then, 16 other prospects — nine of whom are four-stars — have joined the class. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz and his staff now have the No. 15 class in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings and are looking to ink one of, if not their best group of prospects in program history. It all began with hauling in Zollers.

Building a top-notch class is a much easier task when you have one of the top signal-callers in the nation leading the way. Now over three months removed from his commitment, Zollers is feeling as confident as ever about his future in Columbia. He joined On3’s Phillip Dukes on ‘The Five Star Flex’ to reflect on his decision, how he fits in at Mizzou and his new role as recruiter for the 2025 class.

Zollers ‘clicked’ with the Mizzou staff and players

Zollers remembers his first meeting with Drinkwitz and offensive coordinator Kirby Moore back in January. He chopped it up alongside his father at Spring-Ford High for around 45 minutes. That first interaction provided a level of comfort that eventually helped the five-star come to his decision.

“After that (conversation), I kinda knew this is definitely a spot where I could see myself. But that was in like January, so I wasn’t really thinking about where I was gonna go, but it was definitely in my mind,” Zollers said.

There was no shortage of competition for the Tigers, either. Both Penn State and Pitt were able to play the in-state angle and appeal to Zollers, while Georgia’s history and dominance spoke for itself. Alabama was also emerging with interest for the 6-foot-3.5, 203-pounder down the stretch.

Despite all of that, Zollers trusted his gut feeling. He knew things felt different with Mizzou, Drinkwitz and the players on campus. He found the fit he was looking for in Columbia, trumping everything else.

“It all came down to Coach Drinkwitz and the coaching staff and all the players up there. I just feel like I clicked best with them, faster and better than everywhere else. That was ultimately the main reason,” Zollers said of his decision.

“I didn’t let the history get to my head,” he added. “I just fell back on what I wanted in college and what I wanted through the coaching staff, so ultimately I felt like the best decision was to go to Missouri.”

Zollers continues to recruit hard for the Tigers

Recruiting is often a game of dominoes. Mizzou witnessed that first-hand after Zollers announced his decision. Six additional commitments came the way of the Tigers in April, fleshing out the base of the class along the way.

Four-star offensive tackle Jack Lange and four-star EDGE Daeden Hopkins were among the other big April additions. Another flurry of impressive recruiting wins have come this month, as top-100 prospects Lamont Rogers and Donovan Olugbode now flank Zollers atop the class.

The QB has been vocal in his recruiting efforts and certainly helps the Tigers lock down other top talent in the 2025 cycle. Zollers knew he was going to have to play recruiter to help get things to the next level, but he also has continued trust in the Mizzou coaching staff to make things happen, too.

“I was their first commit, so I had trust in the coaching staff. They were telling me this has the chance to be the best class in Mizzou history and we’re definitely on the way to that,” he said. “I believed in them, I started things off and then helped them recruit, get the best players in the country. I feel like I’ve been doing a pretty good job recruiting, too.”

The on-field appeal at Mizzou is easy for Zollers to see

The plan for Zollers is to make at least a couple trips to Columbia for games this upcoming season, including the new SEC clash against Oklahoma on Nov. 9. He’s ready to take another in-person look at the offense that he’s excited to play with in due time.

“They like to use the quarterback in a bunch of different ways. All types of passes: deep, middle, short. Designed quarterback runs, options, stuff like that,” Zollers said. “And they like to get the playmakers the ball, they’ve done a really good job of getting Luther (Burden) the ball, obviously. He’s the best player on the field so why not get him the ball. I feel like they’ve done a good job of doing that stuff.”

Last season for Spring-Ford, Zollers completed 182 passes for 2,917 yards and 37 touchdowns while throwing just two interceptions. Across three seasons, he’s hurled for over 5,500 yards and 67 scores while also rushing for 750 yards and 13 TDs.