Missouri is building a long-term SEC contender with recruiting success

Don't look now, but the Missouri Tigers are quickly becoming relevant in the SEC.

Head coach Eliah Drinkwitz led the Tigers to their first 11-win season in a decade in 2023. It was a huge step forward for a team that had gone 17-19 over his first three seasons as head coach.

Now, Drinkwitz is using that momentum to lure some top recruits to the program. The 2025 recruiting class got a huge boost over the holiday weekend when top-100 offensive lineman Lamont Rogers committed to the school .

Rodgers is an imposing 6-foot-7 offensive tackle. A 4-star recruit , other top schools recruiting him included a pair of new SEC programs in the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners. However, it was the Tigers that ended up coming out on top for the Mesquite, Texas native.

The Tigers have now secured three 2025 recruits ranked in the top 100 nationally. The class is headlined by 5-star quarterback Matt Zollers , who will likely be the team's starting QB in the not-too-distant future. Missouri's other top-100 recruit is 4-star wide receiver Donovan Olugbode out of IMG Academy.

These three recruits have helped give Missouri the 16th-best recruiting class in the country for 2025. It's the first time the Tigers have had a top-20 class since 2022 , when the Tigers were able to land college football superstar wide receiver Luther Burden III.

There was a time not too long ago where it looked like Missouri would move on from Drinkwitz in favor of someone capable of getting the team over the hump. That doesn't look like the case anymore, as the Tigers head coach is quickly building up a legitimate contender in the SEC.