Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz revokes football staffer's access due to brother playing for upcoming opponent
Undefeated Missouri will travel to Kyle Field this weekend for what is expected to be a tough road test when they take on No. 25 Texas A&M.
As Missouri continues to prepare for the Southeastern Conference tilt, coach Eli Drinkwitz made a somewhat unexpected move this week by informing one of the team's staffers that they would be barred from attending practice.
Drinkwitz said Briah Reed, Missouri's assistant director of on-campus recruiting, is "not allowed at practice this week." The coach cited the presence of Briah's brother, Marcel Reed, on the Aggies' roster.
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Reed, a freshman quarterback, could start for Texas A&M on Oct. 6.
Aggies coach Mike Elko said Conner Weigman is considered a "game-time decision." Weigman was the starting quarterback in the Aggies season opening loss to Notre Dame, but exited a Week 2 game due to a shoulder injury.
Reed has thrown a pass in four of the Aggies' five games this season, starting in each of the past three contests. Drinkwitz said the coaching staff is gearing its gameplan around Reed this week, regardless of Weigman's status.
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"At this point, I know on their depth chart, it says the other kid is the starting quarterback," Drinkwitz said.
"But that's just semantics in my opinion. [Reed] is 3-0 as the starter. Whether he's listed as questionable or whatever, I don't see them going back. They're 3-0, they clearly have a different offensive identity with [Reed] as quarterback, and they've developed an offense that fits around his system. It's a lot different than the first game of the year. If they go with the other one, they go with the other one. But they've kind of already built the offense towards Marcel."
On Wednesday, Drinkwitz doubled down on his stance on Briah's week-long practice ban, saying he "wasn't joking." Drinkwitz made the comments during an SEC coaches teleconference.
Drinkwitz also acknowledged that the brother-sister relationship created an "interesting dynamic."
"It's created an interesting dynamic," Drinkwitz said. "At the end of the day, that's her brother and that's her blood, and we know that she's doing her job here. But family is always so important, and so we don't want her to be in any type of conflict of interest. In fact, I just saw her in the hallway just a second ago. But I'm not letting her in the copy room and she's sure not going to have her eyes on the scouting report."
Drinkwitz also said that prior to Week 3, he was unaware that Briah had a family member who played for Texas A&M. Marcel threw two touchdowns during the Aggies 33-20 victory over the Florida Gators that week.
Drinkwitz is in the midst of his fifth season as the head coach at Missouri. The Tigers landed in the ninth spot in the latest AP Top 25 rankings.
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