Oh, the duality of spring camp … where ancient philosophy and a popular game of chance are walking hand-in-hand for a quarterback competition in Columbia.
Sixth-year Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz is in no rush to name a new starting quarterback for the 2025 season. The contenders in spring camp, which began at Mizzou on Friday, to succeed Brady Cook are Penn State transfer Beau Pribula and returners Sam Horn and Drew Pyne .
Drinkwitz said he believes naming a starter at this point puts too much pressure on performance at a time he designates for development.
Instead, his timeline tracks with a Chinese proverb most commonly attributed to the philosopher Lao Tzu.
"You know, there's an old saying: 'When the student is ready, the teacher will appear,' right?" Drinkwitz said Saturday. "I think, the quarterback position — there is no timeline, no timetable. When the starting quarterback makes himself known to the rest of the team, we'll announce the starter."
In the meantime, the order of operation Saturday is being settled with a game of relative chance.
"You know how we decided who's going to be the first quarterback out there today?" Drinkwitz asked the scrum of reporters inside the Stephens Indoor Facility. "Old-fashioned paper, rock, scissors."
So, there's your answer to whether or not Mizzou is close to naming its next QB1.
This battle — the most influential of Missouri's offseason — won't have a conclusion until fall.
Over the next three weeks, the Tigers have a lot of evaluating to do as they look for a new starter under center for the first time since Cook took over at the Armed Forces Bowl in December 2021.
Pribula appears to be the frontrunner. After reports first swirled in December that Pribula had emerged as a target for the Tigers, it didn't take long for a commitment to land. On3 reported that the Penn State transfer signed an NIL deal worth $1.5 million after committing to Mizzou.
What Mizzou must begin to determine during spring camp, which concludes March 20, is whether Pribula is ready to lead an SEC offense. He was effective as a wrinkle in Penn State's offense for two seasons, mainly due to his ability to run the ball, but he has never started a game in college and has thrown just 56 passes.
"Beau is extremely diligent in his work," Drinkwitz said. "Does a lot of preparation, and (I'm) excited about what he'll be able to contribute."
And it's currently misguided to believe Pribula is simply a shoe-in for the job.
Mizzou has a prominent backup who is clamoring to get off the sideline.
Horn is returning for his fourth season as a Tiger, a majority of which spent as Cook's No. 2. Horn missed last season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery.
He looks healthy and is throwing again. The question for Horn is if his years behind Cook — and notably in third-year offensive coordinator Kirby Moore's scheme — have readied him for the job more than the Tigers' newcomer.
"Sam looks great, fully cleared, throwing the ball," Drinkwitz said. "So, no concerns with him at all. And it's been fun to watch him — see how much he can apply his growth from watching last year."
Pyne is the only player among the group to ever start a game in college, most recently doing so in MU's win over Oklahoma in November. But the former Notre Dame and Arizona State quarterback's spot starts while Cook battled multiple injuries last season were inconsistent.
Thrown into the fire of Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium, Pyne threw three picks as the Tigers were shut out. He responded to that with a spectacular second half against OU to help Mizzou come back and beat its former Big 12 rival on Faurot Field.
It's a lot to sort out, and the Tigers currently are in no hurry to get to the end of the line.
"This is about individual player development," Drinkwitz said. "It is about each player trying to get better and better every single day. … It's about player growth and not having pressure of performance right now. That'll come, but it's about these guys making plays."
It's Drinkwitz's first camp without Cook, but the quarterback who won 26 games at Mizzou still commanded some discussion Saturday. Part of the evaluation process will center on something Drinkwitz admired about his former QB.
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Cook, Drinkwitz said, "never made the same mistake twice."
And what the head coach didn't do was finish Lao Tzu's proverb, which goes on to say, "When the student is truly ready, the teacher disappears."
The Mizzou head coach is still grading based on his longtime QB.
Now, the Tigers are waiting for the same traits to reappear.
"We lost a lot of one-score games in (Cook's) first year. And then the last two years, we won a ton of them, because he learned from those situations," Drinkwitz said. "So, what we've got to force these quarterbacks to go into is, we've got to put you in the red zone and you've got to make a mistake and then not make it again. We've got to put you in a two-minute drill, and when you make a mistake, you (don't) make it again. And that'll be the growth that we're trying to see.
" … It's going to be about how they respond to the mistakes they make, and that'll put us on the right path."
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Why Missouri football won't name a starting QB for 2025 this spring
