Names to know on Missouri football next offensive coordinator hot board

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Columbia Daily Tribune

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Columbia Daily Tribune
Names to know on Missouri football next offensive coordinator hot board

Calum McAndrew, Columbia Daily Tribune · Columbia Daily Tribune

Sat, Dec 13, 2025 ·

6 min read

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Need a new OC?

Sure seems like a good time to have an extra $4 million laying around.

Missouri football offensive coordinator Kirby Moore has left the Tigers after three years calling the plays, after he was announced Friday evening as the new head coach at Washington State.

Wazzu had an opening after Jimmy Rogers left after one season to become the coach at Iowa State. Moore will step into his first head coaching position to be Rogers' replacement. The former Mizzou playcaller is a Prosser, Washington, native, which is about 170 miles from the WSU campus.

So, Mizzou needs a new offensive coordinator.

The good news for Missouri fans: In Eli Drinkwitz's new contract, the coach has been given an additional $4 million to use of his assistant coaches and staff. That should free the Tigers up as they look to make the second OC hire of his coaching tenure.

Here are five candidates we think could replace Moore, and five more we think you should rule out:

Chip Lindsey, Michigan OC

The timing and connections make sense here.

Michigan is … well, you know. Going through it.

And, Lindsey is a former offensive coordinator under Gus Malzahn at Auburn and UCF. Drinkwitz also came from the Malzahn coaching tree.

And Lindsey has some success calling offenses. In Lindsey's first season as the Wolverines' playcaller, the offense went from the No. 129-ranked offense in 2024 with 286.2 yards per game to the top 60 this season with 398.9 yards per game.

Now, it helps having one of the nation's best young quarterbacks in Bryce Underwood (no, we don't expect he would follow his OC) but that's also quite a significant turnaround.

Michigan offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey watches warmup ahead of the Ohio State game at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025.

Landon Keopple, Texas State OC

This is not necessarily a flashy name, but — and don't hold the press for this — it's generally a good idea to find an offensive coordinator whose offense scores a boatload of points.

Texas State averaged 476 yards and 36.1 points per game this season in Keopple's first season as the offensive coordinator. Keopple is a Fayetteville, Arkansas, native.

Mizzou has gone to the Group of Six level for its past two coordinator hires in Moore (Fresno State) and Corey Batoon (South Alabama), and Keopple would be an intriguing option this go around.

Casey Woods, SMU OC

Woods was in Columbia as the Tigers' tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator from 2020-21 before being hired by SMU to run the offense.

Woods and Drinkwitz were on the staff at Auburn together for the 2010 national championship team and at Arkansas State as position coaches in 2012.

SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee was just extended and the scene in Dallas is seemingly going well, so there's a chance Woods isn't looking to make a change. But the Mustangs have had a top-30 offense in each of the past couple seasons, and it's worth calling to see if Woods would come back.

Jimmie Dougherty, Washington OC

The former Missouri quarterback is currently the offensive coordinator at Washington, which makes this somewhat of a longshot. It's worth watching this space for a while, as Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch is a candidate for the open role at Michigan.

But … Dougherty has regional ties as a Peoria, Illinois, native and went to Edwardsville High in the greater St. Louis area, of course, has familiarity with Columbia. He played 14 total games for the Tigers between 1998-2001, throwing for 1,344 yards and four touchdowns.

Almost his entire coaching career has essentially been spent out west, with stints over the past 20 years at San Diego, San Jose State, UCLA, Arizona and now Washington. But, if he's looking for a move back to the Midwest … there's an opening.

Washington Huskies offensive coordinator Jimmie Dougherty holds a press conference during the team's media day.

Des Kitchings, Virginia OC

Not to stir up a little Gator Bowl drama …

Kitchings was the running backs coach at NC State when Drinkwitz was the offensive coordinator in Raleigh. The Mizzou head coach, in a Gator Bowl press conference with UVA head coach Tony Elliott, spoke about how Kitchings helped with some of the foundational run concepts in Drinkwitz's offense.

Again: Sitting Power-conference coordinators can be tough to sway. But the connection here does seem to make some sense.

Internal options include Jacob Peeler, Curtis Luper

The clearest internal options are wide receivers coach Jacob Peeler and running backs coach Curtis Luper.

Peeler has been one of Mizzou's top recruiters since arriving in Columbia in 2022. He has play-calling experience as the former offensive coordinator at Texas State. If Mizzou wanted to promote from within, Peeler is the most likely candidate.

If Ahmad Hardy runs for 68 or more yards in the bowl game, Luper will have helped develop and coach three players in the past five seasons who have broken Missouri's all-time single-season rushing record. Tyler Badie , Cody Schrader and Hardy are each.

Luper was the co-OC at TCU before arriving at Missouri. But, he has spent the majority of his career as a running backs coach — and he's been exceptionally good in that role.

This is not what we expect to happen. Both coaches are succeeding in their roles. And Mizzou has money to spend.

Does Eli Drinkwitz want to take on play-calling role again? We're doubtful

Before Moore, Drinkwitz called the offensive shots in CoMo.

Does he want to take on that role again?

We doubt it. Mizzou immediately improved when Drinkwitz stopped splitting his time and focused on the day-to-day operations of being an SEC head coach in the modern era. He's spoken multiple times about that being the right decision for the program.

Drinkwitz may very well call the plays in the bowl game. Beyond that? That is highly unlikely — and not a cost-cutting decision Mizzou needs to make.

More: Everything you need to know about Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz's contract extension

How about the recent SEC head coaches, interim?

Two offensive coaches recently left SEC head coaching (or interim head coaching) positions in Hugh Freeze at Auburn and Bobby Petrino at Arkansas. Does Mizzou target either of them?

Drinkwitz is seemingly close with Freeze. Both head coaches have mentioned in-season contact with one another, and Freeze has called Drinkwitz a friend. The AU offense struggled under Freeze, as those Tigers failed to properly evaluate or develop a quarterback in his time on the Plains.

Could a change of scenery, and a strictly offensive play-calling role, help him get back in the game? It seems unlikely. He's been a head coach for a long time, and we could see him landing in a Group of Six position.

The Arkansas offense under Petrino for the past couple seasons was seldom the issue in Fayetteville. But, like Freeze, there's baggage that comes with hiring Petrino, which is usually best avoided. He also appears to be candidate to be the next head coach at Missouri State.

We don't see either of these as real targets. That could of course change.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Hot board for Missouri football's next offensive coordinator

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