From the Desk of AD Laird Veatch: 2025 Year in Review
12/31/2025 10:45:00 AM | General
Dear Mizzou Fans,
As we charge into 2026, I'm filled with gratitude and pride for all that we accomplished together in 2025 here at Mizzou and for the crucial role you played in all the memorable moments this past year delivered.
Your support continues to help elevate standards at Mizzou. This past football season we asked for your cooperation and patience as our stadium construction process unfolded, and you showed up in force every week, setting a program record with now 20 consecutive sellouts at Memorial Stadium. That's a powerful statement about the passion and loyalty that defines our fan base. As we carry the sellout streak into 2026, please know we never take that commitment for granted. Your support fuels everything we do.
This past year gave us incredible moments across Mizzou Athletics:
- Our football program qualified for a sixth consecutive bowl game under Coach Drinkwitz and scored victories in all three of our rivalry trophy games against Kansas, South Carolina and Arkansas.
- For the first time in university history, we crowned three individual national champions in the same calendar year: gymnastics' Helen Hu and track and field's Jonathan Seremes and Valentina Barrios.
- Under National Coach of the Year Shannon Welker, our gymnastics team finished third in the nation at the NCAA Championships, the highest finish for a women's program in Mizzou history.
- We welcomed women's basketball coach Kellie Harper to Columbia, adding a proven leader who shares our competitive vision and values.
- Coach Gates' men's basketball program returned to the NCAA Tournament, reclaiming its place on the national stage.
- And for the first time in our city's history, we hosted an NCAA championship event in Columbia, showcasing the incredible Gans Creek Cross Country Course as the host site for the 2025 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Those achievements are not isolated moments. They are the product of a department-wide commitment to our Will to Win — a mindset that guides how we plan, how we invest and how we compete for championships. College athletics continues to evolve rapidly, and here at Mizzou, we're navigating this new landscape by making critical investments in people, facilities and maximizing resources to attract the most talented student-athletes who will help us compete for and win championships now and into the future. We know we've asked a lot from you, and we will continue to ask for your support. Getting Mizzou where it belongs takes all of us pulling in the same direction.
Together, we'll get there.
Looking ahead to 2026, the completion of the Memorial Stadium Centennial Project represents a vital step in Mizzou's championship vision. We're excited to pack all our venues with Black & Gold to celebrate the moments that become lifelong memories. There's nothing like the shared pride of watching Mizzou compete for championships. That's the future we're building together.
And none of this happens without you. Your presence, your belief and your continued support are essential as we push forward together.
Thank you for standing with us in 2025. As we move into 2026, remember, our best Mizzou memories are still ahead of us.
M-I-Z,
Laird Veatch
Director of Athletics
University of Missouri
