Eli Drinkwitz credits Sam Horn for not getting ‘bitter’ amid QB competition
Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz credited quarterback Sam Horn for not getting bitter amid the team’s competition for QB1. Horn and former Penn State quarterback Beau Pribula are battling it out for the starting job following the graduation of Brady Cook.
Horn’s been with the team for a couple of years, so naturally, one could feel like it’s finally his chance. Pribula entered the transfer portal during the College Football Playoff and landed at Missouri.
As Drinkwitz pointed out, Horn can embrace his role as a backup, should it come to that, or let it affect the entire team. Either way, being a quarterback at the top or middle of the depth chart holds its own weight.
“When you say you’re a quarterback, you’re represented by the guy who’s actually on the field, right,” Drinkwitz said. “So if (you sayI play quarterback at the University of Missouri, well, they all view you through the lens of the quarterback that’s on the field. And so your job, if you’re not the starter, is to support the starter and give him your positive energy, give him what he needs if he gives you, ‘hey, tell me what they do on third downs.’
“Or ‘watch this look and tell me what they do in two minute.’ I think Sam really embraced that. And you can either get disenfranchised and bitter, or you can embrace your role as a teammate. And I think Sam really did that for the last two years.”
There is one less quarterback for Horn and Pribula to deal with. Former Notre Dame QB Drew Pyne who came in, ended up transferring and committing to Bowling Green.
“We traveled Sam the last six weeks of the season, just so he could continue to be around the team and know what it looks like to be on the road as a quarterback,” Drinkwitz said of acclimating Horn to a potential starting role. “And, you know, Sam’s always been a guy that the guys get along with and been a great teammate. Now it’s just his opportunity to compete for the job and adopt some of those things that Brady did really well from a leadership standpoint, but also just be him, you know, be uniquely him. And he knows what that looks like.
“You know, we’re talking about a guy who led his team to the state championship in the state of Georgia. Was on a team, you know, when I went and watched him play his high school game, he was the best player on the field, and Travis was on the field too, but Sam Horn was the best player on the field. So he knows what it looks like, and has that leadership and confidence.”
Horn is going to compete his tail off. And by the looks of it, the Missouri quarterback competition won’t be solved anytime soon.
“He’s a competitor, and he knows that Beau is here to be the starting quarterback too,” Drinkwitz said. “And those two guys have had a really good competition in the right kind of way. I told both of them, you know, our team is going to either thrive because of this competition or to be divided because of this competition.
“And that’s going to be reflective on how you two handle it. And I think both of them have done a really good job of cheering for each other, challenging each other but also connecting with each other as teammates.”
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