Missouri makes it official with two defensive line coaching hires

When it comes to the defensive line in 2022, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz will have two faces in charge of the unit, one old and one new.

Al Davis joined the Tigers as a defensive analyst this season and was promoted in October to defensive line coach after the firing of Jethro Franklin. He will stay on and work specifically with the interior defensemen on the line.

The new blood comes in the form of former Indiana defensive line coach Kevin Peoples. Peoples will be tasked with perfecting the edge rushers at Missouri.

“Al Davis and Kevin Peoples are strong coaches and leaders to work with our defensive line,” Drinkwitz said in a release from the school. “They’re experienced individually but also together with their relationship. We made good progress at the line as the season progressed. Out defensive linemen will learn a lot from Al and Kevin.”

Davis joined the Missouri staff after coaching the Illinois defensive tackles in 2020. Under his guidance, the line improved significantly in the second half of the season. When he took over, Missouri was 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the SEC. They finished the season 6-7, and while a 3-5 conference record is worse than they’d like, they notched a few good wins over Florida and South Carolina.

“I’m proud of the progress we made as a defensive line in 2021,” Davis said. “I’m grateful for this opportunity to continue as a member of Coach Drinkwitz’s staff. To work with Coach Peoples, a man I know well and played for myself, brings excitement and experience to our group.”

Davis played college football at Arkansas from 2009-2012.

Peoples, on the other hand, has decades of college coaching experience. While at Indiana for the last two years, he had immense success, particularly in 2020. Indiana led the Big Ten in sacks for the first time in school history.

“I’m excited to be part of the culture that Coach Drinkwitz is building here at the University of Missouri,” Peoples said. “Being back in the SEC and working with this group of coaches and staff, including one of my former players, is a strong motivation. I look forward to meeting and working with our student-athletes.”

Prior to his tenure at Indiana, Peoples was the defensive line coach at Tulane where he helped lead the team to back-to-back bowl victories in 2018 and 2019 for the first time in school history. His other aforementioned SEC stint came as the Arkansas defensive line coach from 2012-2012. He was also the Razorbacks’ director of high school relations in 2010.