The time has never been better for Missouri football to make a move.
In this ravaged state of college football, we as fans find ourselves on islands of uncertainty. The winds of conference change have met a storm of national scorn, leaving universities scrambling for their football lives.
Like dominos, historic mammoths such as Michigan, Ohio State and USC have fallen on hard times. Programs like Nebraska, TCU and (almost) Texas A&M have bolted for better conferences.
Like many schools, Missouri doesn’t want to be left behind. Like few schools, Missouri is in a prime position to make a move on all fronts.
The future of Missouri’s recruiting base hinges on what the program can accomplish right now. With many battles remaining, Missouri currently boasts a 2012 class ranked 16th and 21st nationally by Scout and Rivals, the two predominant scouting services. Those rankings would stand as the best class Missouri has had in the Gary Pinkel era, but we all know the battle is far from over.
In the southwest Missouri town of Springfield, on a team known as the Hillcrest Hornets, a 17-year-old by the name of Dorial Green-Beckham enters his final high school season as the state’s all-time leading receiver. His hometown Tigers are one of several teams realistically bidding for his highlight-reel services. As scouts have etched his name onto the top slot of their recruiting boards, they have likened his prospective status to that of recent NFL icons Calvin Johnson and Randy Moss.
Green-Beckham’s mere consideration of Missouri illustrates that the program may finally be turning the corner as an in-state recruiter, an NFL factory and a college football program. The time to make a move in the recruiting world has never been more imminent, and the motivation goes well beyond one freak talent in Springfield.
Missouri has 40 wins in the past four seasons. The last three NFL Drafts have featured five Tigers in the first round. Although impressive, Missouri seems to have all along been missing something, perhaps the final piece to becoming a major player.
Beneath the wins and the draft picks and the postseason awards, the Tigers are without a Big 12 championship from the current regime. For years, a program playing over its head was shown its place in the world when conference heavyweights Oklahoma and Texas would smash it back down to reality.
Last year’s golden rush following the primetime upset of No. 1 Oklahoma stood as the image of the season for the entire country. As memorable as the post-game trip to Harpo’s was, we all know it will take more than one Homecoming to alter the program’s national image.
A year ago at this time, Missouri was passed up for Nebraska in the Big Ten expansion sweepstakes for the sole reason that its football prowess wasn’t quite a match. Missouri hadn’t proven it could beat a top dog and it didn’t have the history, conference championships or national recruiting base to indicate it was a program in for the long haul.
Missouri football will not be able to define its history overnight. But the time has never been better for the program to show it finally has a pulse.