Pinkel on Hoch and Brantley

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel says defensive tackle is a concern this season, because after all, you can’t really replace a surefire first-round NFL Draft pick in Sheldon Richardson.
But Pinkel speaks highly of returning starter Matt Hoch, a 6-foot-5, 295-pounder who finished 2012 with 36 tackles and two sacks and will be counted on to be more of a playmaker this year.
“Matt Hoch is a different player right now, an entirely different player than he was last year,” Pinkel said. “He’s playing at a whole different level, and losing a guy like Sheldon, that’s certainly a plus for us.”
Pinkel is also high on the potential of redshirt freshman Harold Brantley, who Pinkel says could have played last year but redshirted because of the Tigers’ depth.
“I think everybody can see he’s got a lot of ability,” Pinkel said. “He’s got great speed and quickness for a defensive lineman.”
While initially stunned by the staff’s decision to redshirt him last season, Brantley said he eventually embraced his role on the scout team and used it to improve as a player.
“It hurt me at first, especially because I come from a little town (where) I play three sports and I’m good at all of them … and then I come here and they tell me I’m not good enough to play, I have to be on scout team,” Brantley said. “But I talked to some people, some of the older guys, and they helped me. It’s all in how you look at it. It was just a year I could get better, a year for me to work and get stronger and I think I did it.”
Brantley said he has improved his bench press from around 340 pounds to 420 since he arrived at Missouri, and is ready for the challenge of filling Richardson’s shoes.
“Everybody wants to be the next big guy, the next big name to fill Sheldon’s spot,” Brantley said. “I don’t think anybody can fill his spot right away — I think it’s going to take us working together on the D-line. But it definitely makes it more fun, more competitive.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/11...#storylink=cpy

If they start the year well, things might start changing in October or so...

But falling flat in year 1 and keeping the same crappy recruiting coaching staff largely intact have made things ugly.

Also have heard some things that indicate the staff is being, perhaps, too honest with potential recruits about the staff's long-term prospects in Columbia, and that this has scared some guys off.

I'm still at a loss for how one pisses away every drop of momentum gained from the move into the SEC and the DGB recruiting coup.

It's just inconceivable to me that you can get zero bump from that a mere 14 months later.

This staff is just awful.

I've read some of that but I'm not sure I believe it. Other coaching staffs using it, no question. But it's counter-intuitive to think kids are getting it from our guys. I would imagine they're all roses, sunshine, and pixie dust about how things are

What I heard was from a family friend of a fairly prominent recruit. Wasn't something I read.

:hmmm:

That doesn't make sense to me why someone on our staff would say that

In fact if what you were told is true it's idiotic

Thanks for sharing

Agreed. This was worthy of instantly firing the coach, in my opinion.

Uhhh....ya. Absolutely. Might as well be trying to talk him out of committing to play for your employer. A defeatist attitude breads defeat when the battle has hardly begun.

Wait a minute....this is secretly brilliant.

It's just crazy enough to work...

Seriously - isn't that how you would recruit a top guy if he had a car break down and was just sitting in your living room?

"Look, Andy Bauer, I know Pinkel and crew are ****wits. But seriously - just stick it out for one more year. You'll have a red-shirt year and in 2014 the whole staff will be new, competent and ready to mold you into an NFL superstar...."

Given the 'strengths' of this coaching staff and how impossible it would be to sell them on these lame-duck idiots over the actual competent, qualified staffs in the SEC, they might as well recruit against themselves in the hopes that the talent they bring in serves to drag them to an 8 win season despite themselves.

Methinks the coach in question might have been attempting to better situate himself for life after Mizzou. He's one of the few that other coaches actually want on staff.

Well...until they find out that he negatively recruits his own employers, anyway.

Wait, nevermind. This is the SEC. Saban and the ol' ball coach will give him an attaboy and a pay raise.

But for the record, I still think my idea has merit.

Pinkel needs to go yesterday. I have no hope for the future with this stubborn drunkin' mule in charge. Watching his spread offense against an SEC defense is cringing.

All of these roaches scurrying from the light are dragging down the entire program because Alden knows that if he unloads a can of Raid on their ass he's doing it to himself as well.

The board should be intelligent enough to see this.

Although he needs to be (yesterday), I don't believe Alden's getting fired regardless of Pinkel's fate 7-8 months from now.