COLUMBIA, Mo. — A day after the first spring football practice of 2023, Missouri’s defensive coaches and select defensive players met with reporters on Wednesday in the team’s south end zone complex. Some quick takeaways from those interviews…

1.Mizzou coaches and players were genuinely surprised so many defensive players returned to the team rather than enter the NFL draft or explore the transfer portal.

“Thank you, God, right?” defensive tackles coach Al Davis said. “I think it was a little bit of a miracle … because that's a lot, eight, nine players that you got to come back. That's pretty tough nowadays.” The Tigers return eight regular starters from the defense that climbed to fourth in the SEC last year, all but two defensive ends and a safety. Another way to look at the returning depth: Of the 16 players who played the most defensive snaps in 2022, 12 are back this year. That means more experience, more continuity, more leadership and … more expectations.

“We’ve got to play really good ball,” said defensive lineman Darius Robinson, one of those players who put off the NFL for another year at Mizzou. “The mistakes we made last year just can't happen anymore.”

Left unsaid is the perfectly legal NIL incentives that surely played a role in several players’ decisions to return for 2023, notably the players who have signed with the school's preferred NIL collective, Every True Tiger Foundation.

2. The staff is not stifling the players’ lofty goals, including this doozy: “I think they want to be the best (Mizzou) defense ever,” second-year coordinator Blake Baker said. “I mean, that's the battle cry. I hear them talk. They want to be the best defense that’s ever played at Mizzou — and there’s been some really good defenses. So that's quite the quite the goal for them to shoot for.”

(For the record, since the 1960s, the fewest points allowed by a Mizzou defense is 5.2 per game in 1962. The fewest yards ever allowed came in 1967: 175.2 per game.)

That bravado extends to the individual position groups, too, notably at cornerback with the return of Ennis Rakestraw Jr. and Kris Abrams-Draine. Cornerbacks coach Al Pogue called them “arguably the best cornerback duo in the SEC.”

3. Darius Robinson will split time on the edge and inside this spring. He posted All-SEC production numbers last year with 19 pressures and 10 hurries from his interior position but one reason he returned for another season was to enhance his NFL stock by dabbling at defensive end. Robinson listed six different positions along the front he could play this year:

9 technique: D-end outside of the tight end

6 technique: D-end directly across from the tight end

3 technique: D-tackle on  the outside shoulder of the offensive guard

4i technique: D-tackle on the inside shoulder of the offensive tackle

2i technique: D-tackle on the inside shoulder of the offensive guard

0 technique: Nose tackle directly over the center

Robinson was told days after the Gasparilla Bowl that he was invited to the NFL Combine — coincidentally he would have been doing media interviews at the Combine on Wednesday in Indianapolis — but he elected to return and polish parts of his game.

“I just didn't feel comfortable enough going to that next step if I wasn't where I felt like could be,” he said. “Also I thought about this upcoming year, having a good year behind me (as) one year, but if I put two years of good tape together, the sky's the limit this season.”

4. Here’s a scary thought for SEC offenses: Ty’Ron Hopper wasn’t comfortable last year. That was the case, according to his position coach. Hopper ranked among the SEC leaders with 14 tackles for loss in his debut season. He also tied for the team lead with 16 missed tackles, per Pro Football Focus.

“The great year that he had I don't think he was really comfortable,” linebackers coach and co-coordinator D.J. Smith said. “Getting those calls that we have in practice he looks a little bit more comfortable, is able to pick things up a step faster and able to communicate better.”

After passing on the NFL draft Hopper, has added 10 pounds to his frame to hit 235 this spring, but Baker’s been more impressed with Hopper's grasp of the defense and his assignments.

“He’s got a different demeanor about himself this spring,” Baker said. “Much more business-like. I'll put it that way.”

5. It might be a lighter spring for some of the defense’s most seasoned players. Baker said players who have logged 1,000 or more career snaps on defense will get more rest in favor of young backups. Per PFF, here are the team’s 1,000 Club: safety J.C. Carlies, 1,792; Rakestraw, 1,485; safety Joseph Charleston, 1,336; Abrams-Draine, 1,334; Hopper, 1,312; linebacker Chad Bailey, 1,153; tackle Jayden Jernigan, 1,052. Robinson is close (994) along with tackle Kristian Williams (986).

But just because you’ve got experience doesn’t mean you’re immune to competition.

“We're an equal opportunity employer,” Baker said. “I tell them all the time, ‘Man, I love you guys, but I I gotta love my family more.’ And at the end of the day, we're gonna play guys that produce. There's no sacred cows. We're going to take care of the guys that have over 1,000 reps. It's kind of a philosophy, especially in the front seven. The human body can only take so many hits. So we're going to be smart with those guys. We're going to keep them sharp, but at the same time, it allows these other guys to play catch up to prove that they are able to play on that stage. It's a good balance to have.”

With so many starters back, newcomers will have to stand out to earn roles, but the transfers have caught the staff’s eyes early, notably defensive ends Joe Moore and Austin Firestone, safety Sidney Williams and linebacker Triston Newson.

Baker is also high on freshman safety Marvin Burks Jr. from St. Louis and Cardinal Ritter. “He’s got a chance, man, to be a very productive player,” Baker said. “His role is still yet to be determined, but just watching his movement skills — and I was blessed to be able to see him a couple of times in high school — so I anticipated this. But he really stood out to me in terms of an athleticism standpoint.”

Moore, a transfer from Arizona State and St. Louis, has made a quick impression on defensive ends coach Kevin Peoples. “He's got good speed. He's eager to learn, eager to prove that he wants to be a starter for this team,” Peoples said. “Pleased with the first day and I think he can provide us definitely some pass rush and the ability to make plays in space.”