Pat Ivey is laying the foundation of Mizzou Made

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Story by Marcus Wilkins
Photos courtesy Mizzou Athletics
Published Oct. 16, 2015

It’s Homecoming 2015 at the University of Missouri. In Faurot Field’s south end zone, smoke emanates from the tunnel’s maw as the stadium sound system rumbles the rafters. An undulating wall of rowdy Tigers, eager to run onto the gridiron, strains against the outstretched arms of Pat Ivey. The man who has helped so many student-athletes reach new heights in the weight room is now physically holding them back.

Suddenly, as if the 6-foot-5-inch mountain of a man can no longer contain his progeny’s energy, the wave of black and gold overwhelms him and Mizzou storms the field.

Ivey, BS ’96, M Ed ’00, PhD ’13, knows precisely when to provide resistance and when to relent. It’s an integral part of his job as MU’s associate athletic director for athletic performance.

“Today more than ever, student-athletes don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” says Ivey, a student of Rick McGuire, MU professor emeritus of psychology and founder of the Missouri Institute for Positive Coaching. “We have to see them as people first. A lot of the athletes who have the most pressure on them are the least prepared for it.”

Ivey can relate to pressure, having played football at Mizzou during some especially lean years. Detroit born and raised, the former defensive end chose MU along with his close friend A.J. Ofodile, BGS ’01, the current head football coach at Rock Bridge High School. Coached by Bob Stull and then the late Larry Smith, the Tigers were 12–31-2 during Ivey’s years competing at Mizzou.

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Mizzou Football’s Charles Harris Added to Bednarik Award Watch List

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RS Sophomore leads the SEC in tackles for loss

 COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Football’s Charles Harris has been added to the Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List, as announced by the Maxwell Football Club on Thursday. The original list was comprised of players based on their 2014 performance but Harris was one of 13 players identified by the Maxwell Club that warrant attention due to noteworthy play. The Bednarik Award is given to college football’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Harris joins teammate Kentrell Brothers as Brothers was on the original Bednarik Award Watch List, which was released in July. Harris ranks fifth nationally and leads the Southeastern Conference with 11.5 tackles for loss in 2015. Harris is also ranked seventh in the SEC and among the nation’s top 60 in quarterback sacks with 4.0. Harris recorded 2.0 sacks at Arkansas State, equaling his career total coming in. He also registered 4.5 tackles for loss (-24 yards) at A-State, which marked the first time a Mizzou defender recorded 4.5 or more tackles for loss in a game since Stryker Sulak had 5.0 TFLs vs. Illinois Aug. 30, 2008.

Harris is fourth on the team and leads Mizzou defensive linemen with has 29 tackles (18 solo) with 11.5 tackles for loss (-46 yards), 4.0 sacks (-23 yards), four QB hurries and a forced fumble through six games. Harris is a big reason why Mizzou leads the SEC while ranking third nationally with 57 total tackles for loss with at least seven in each game. Harris has had multiple tackles for loss in five of Mizzou’s six games this season and he is averaging -4 yards per TFL this season.

Semifinalists for the Bednarik Award will be announced on November 2nd and three finalists will be announced November 24th. The winner of the 2015 Bednarik Awards will be announced as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show which will be held on December 10th at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. The formal presentation of these awards will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Tropicana Hotel & Casino Atlantic City on March 11, 2016.

For all the latest on Mizzou Football, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Mizzou Football’s Corey Fatony Named Ray Guy Player of the Week

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Mizzou freshman averaged 47.8 yards per punt, including a career-long 61-yarder vs. Florida

 

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Football freshman punter Corey Fatony has been named Ray Guy Player of the Week following his tremendous performance against No. 11 Florida last Saturday, announced Tuesday (Oct. 13) by the Augusta Sports Council. The Ray Guy Player of the Week is given to the nation’s top punter each week by the Ray Guy Award committee. This is the first time that Fatony has been honored as the Ray Guy Player of the Week and it is the first time a Mizzou player has earned the distinction.

Fatony punted nine times against the Gators, averaging 47.8 yards per punt while resetting his career-long with a 61-yard punt in the second quarter. He pinned the Gators inside their 20 four times. On the year, Fatony, a true freshman, is averaging 43.7 yards per punt on 38 attempts. He has had 15 punts inside the 20 this season and 16 fair caught while just three have been touchbacks.

The Ray Guy Award is recognized by the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game’s predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association’s official website, ncfaa.org.

For all the latest on Mizzou Football, follow the team on Twitter and like us on Instagram and Facebook. 

The Law of the Edge

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The Difference Between Two Equally Talented Teams Is Leadership

Observe

Teams are always looking for an edge. You’ve seen it. A football team recruits new talent or develops new plays to beat a tough opponent. Hoping to improve their productivity, businesses invest in new technology. and companies fire their ad agencies and hire new ones to launch campaigns, hoping to make gains on their competitors. The more competitive the field, the more relentless the search for an edge.

What is the key to success? Is it talent? Hard work? Technology? Efficiency? To be successful, a team needs all of those things, but it still needs something more. It needs leadership. Personnel determine the potential of a team. Vision determines the direction of a team. Work ethic determines the preparation of a team. Leadership determines the success of a team.

Everything rises and falls on leadership. If a team has great leadership, it can achieve at the highest level.

Look at any team that has achieved great success, and you will find that it has strong leadership. What empowered the Chicago Bulls to win six NBA championships? Most casual fans would say that Michael Jordan was simply more talented than everyone else. His talent certainly played a role, but those who followed the Bulls know it was more than just talent. The leadership edge of Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan pushed those teams to excel. The difference between two equally talented teams is leadership. That’s the Law of the Edge.

Learn

With good leadership, everything improves. Leaders are lifters. They push the thinking of their teammates beyond what was thought to be possible. They elevate others’ performances, making them better than they’ve ever been before. And they raise the expectations of everyone on the team. Although managers are able to maintain a team at its current level, leaders are able to lift it to a higher level than it has ever reached before.

1.    Leaders create an environment where each team member wants to be responsible. Good leaders know how to read people and encourage them to take responsibility for their part on the team. But they also remember that they are responsible to be their teammates.

2.    Leaders push their teammates to fulfill the promises of their potential. The team can only reach its potential if each of the individuals on the team reach their potential.

3.    Leaders learn quickly and encourage others to learn quickly also. Leaders lift themselves to a higher level first, and then they lift the others around them. Modeling comes first, then leadership. If everyone is improving, then the team is improving.

Four Tigers Named All-SEC by League’s Coaches

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Brothers, Mauk earn spot on second team while Boehm and Hansbrough named third team

 

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Football had four standouts named All-SEC by the league’s 14 coaches, as announced by the Southeastern Conference office on Tuesday. Earning a spot on the All-SEC Second Team was LB Kentrell Brothers (Guthrie, Texas) and QB Maty Mauk (Kenton, Ohio) while C Evan Boehm (Lee’s Summit, Mo.) and RB Russell Hansbrough (Arlington, Texas) were named All-SEC Third Team.

The All-SEC honorees were voted on by the league’s 14 coaches with coaches not being able to vote for their own players. For Boehm and Brothers, this marks the second time that they have been named All-SEC this summer after each earned third team honors from the media back in July.

Brothers, the SEC’s top returning tackler from a season ago, accounted for 122 total tackles in 2015 (62 solo) while totaling 5.0 tackles for loss, four pass breakups and a team-leading three forced fumbles. He started all 14 games a season ago and was an All-SEC Second Team pick by the Associated Press.  He has been named to the Bednarik, Nagurski and Butkus Award Watch Lists this summer.

A veteran QB, Mauk is 14-4 in 18 career games as a starter and helped guide Mizzou to a second consecutive SEC East Division Championship in 2014. Mauk threw for 25 touchdowns last season and rushed for two more, accounting for 2,648 total passing yards and 3,021 yards of total offense. Mauk’s 2,648 passing yards a season ago are the third-most of any returning SEC quarterback. He was named to the Maxwell and Manning Award Watch Lists earlier this summer as well.

Boehm started all 14 games a season ago, anchoring an offensive line that was a key cog in an 11-3 season and a second consecutive SEC East Championship. He has started 40 consecutive games across the Mizzou offensive line, dating back to the 2012 season before shifting to the center spot full time in 2013. Boehm was a First Team Freshman All-American by College Football News at left guard in 2012. Boehm has been named to the Rimington and Outland Award Watch Lists this summer.

A veteran tailback who has rushed for nearly 2,000 yards in his Mizzou career, Hansbrough is on the Maxwell Award Watch List for the first time in his career. He led Mizzou with his first 1,000-yard season in 2014, totaling 1,084 yards, a mark that ranked sixth in the SEC despite starting just three games – he was also seventh in the SEC in rush yards per game. He was SEC Offensive Player of the Week and National Tailback of the Week following a 199-yard outburst at Texas A&M, the 10th-best single-game rush total in program history. Hansbrough has landed on three major award watch lists this summer as well: the Doak Walker Award, the Maxwell Award and the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award.

Mizzou returns to the practice field on Tuesday, August 25 with classes beginning. For all the latest on Mizzou Football,  follow the team on Twitter (@MizzouFootball). Be sure to like the team on Facebook (Mizzou Football) and Instagram (@MizzouFootball) as well.

Mizzou Rookie Report: Chase Abbington

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Mizzou Football Rookie Running Back Chase Abbington talks with his “big brother” Russell Hansbrough about his favorite animal, weekend activities and more after the last fall practice in the Dan Devine Indoor Facilities on Saturday, August 22, 2015 in Columbia, Mo. Follow #MIZCamp on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for all the inside access during 2015 Fall Camp.

Mizzou Rookie Report: Nate Howard

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Mizzou Football Rookie Defensive Lineman Nate Howard shares his thoughts on fall classes, DLineZOU, and being Mizzou Made with his “big brother” Charles Harris after the second fall camp scrimmage in The ZOU on Thursday, August 20, 2015 in Columbia, Mo.

Mizzou Rookie Report: T.J. Warren

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Mizzou Football Cornerback Kenya Dennis finds out more about his “little brother” T.J. Warren after fall camp practice at Kadlec Athletic Fields on Thursday, August 13, 2015 in Columbia, Mo.  Follow #MIZCamp on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for all the inside access during 2015 Fall Camp.

Mizzou Football Practice #7 Report

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COLUMBIA, Mo. – During #MIZCamp on Wednesday morning at the Mizzou Athletics Training Complex (MATC), the defense led by new coordinator Barry Odom stood out, making numerous big plays and holding strong in various situations. The offense also showed big-play ability and was able to move the ball while simulating the final two minutes of a half. Below are some highlights from the seventh practice of fall camp:

  • During 11-on-11, LB Donavin Newsomforced a fumble along the sideline that was recovered by DB Anthony Sherrils, who hustled to keep the ball from going out of bounds to secure the turnover.
  • LB Terez Hall jumped a route and intercepted a pass during the WR/TE vs. LB/DB drills.
  • QB Marvin Zanders found WR Johnathon Johnson on a long pass along the sideline for a 35-yard gain in 11-on-11.
  • The defensive line consistently closed up running lanes during the 11-on-11 portion.
  • LB Kentrell Brothers delivered a big hit along the sideline, preventing a reception.
  • TB Russell Hansbrough made an instinctive move to get upfield on a swing pass to gain 12 yards and move the chains.
  • DL Nate Howard recorded a sack during 11-on-11 after reading a designed rollout.
  • K Andrew Baggett converted a 47-yard field goal with plenty of leg as the ball soared through the uprights.
  • DB Tavon Ross delivered a strong hit during the receivers vs. secondary period.
  • K Nick Coffman closed practice with a 53-yard field goal after the second-team offense drove down the field to put the special teams unit in position to score.
  • TB Morgan Steward showed a burst on running plays to go along with impressive speed in the open field.

Follow #MIZCamp on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for all the inside access during 2015 Fall Camp.

Mizzou Rookie Report: Drew Lock

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Mizzou Football Quarterback Eddie Printz interviews his “little brother”  Drew Lock to find out more about the rookie quarterback after fall camp practice in The ZOU on Monday, August 10, 2015 in Columbia, Mo. Follow #MIZCamp on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for all the inside access during 2015 Fall Camp.