Mizzou Football Adds Four Assistant Coaches for 2026
1/28/2026 3:01:00 PM | Football
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou head football coach Eli Drinkwitz announced the hiring of four new assistant coaches for the 2026 season on Wednesday with John Papuchis, Alex Atkins, Lavorn "Chop" Harbin and Garrett Riley joining the Tigers staff.
Papuchis will coordinate Mizzou's special teams and serve as a defensive assistant, Atkins will coach tight ends, Harbin will oversee the defensive line and Garrett Riley will tutor the quarterbacks.
Several returning members of Drinkwitz's staff will also take on additional roles in 2026: Derek Nicholson adds the title of co-defensive coordinator, Brian Early will be the Tigers' pass-rush specialist along with coaching edges and Jacob Yoro will take on the pass-game coordinator duties in addition to his role coaching safeties.
"We're thrilled to add Alex, Chop, John and Garrett to our coaching staff," Drinkwitz said. "All four bring a tremendous work ethic, are fantastic recruiters, have a deep understanding of the game and a strong ability to connect with our players. We're excited to welcome them and their families to Columbia, and we are all ready to get to work."
The Tigers also hired Luke Meadows to serve as the assistant offensive line coach and Brendan Bognar to be the assistant quarterbacks coach.
Papuchis arrives in Columbia after six seasons at Florida State where he coordinated the Seminoles special teams' units along with coaching both defensive ends and linebackers. Papuchis' players have earned 55 all-conference recognitions, four conference Player of the Year awards and one Rookie of the Year. He has coached 16 NFL Draft picks and seven All-Americans.
Papuchis' time in Tallahassee saw his special teams' units excel with multiple first team All-America honors while his defensive ends produced at a rate few others could match. Punter Alex Mastromanno (2021-24) and placekicker Ryan Fitzgerald (2021-24) proved to be two of the best in the nation with the Seminoles. The pair both earned AFCA first team All-America honors in 2024 to become the first punter and kicker duo from the same school to accomplish the feat. Florida State also blocked 14 total kicks, the seventh-highest total in the country, during Papuchis' time at FSU.
Defensively, Papuchis developed a litany of NFL-caliber defensive ends during his tenure at FSU, including All-Americans Jared Verse (2022 & 2023), Patrick Payton (2022), Jermaine Johnson II (2021). Verse and Johnson II were first-round picks in the NFL Draft, while Janarius Robinson and Joshua Kaindoh were both selected in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Papuchis came to Tallahassee after coordinating Maryland's special teams and coaching inside linebackers in 2019. He previously was the defensive coordinator at North Carolina and Nebraska while also serving as special teams coordinator at Nebraska.
Atkins spent the 2025 season at LSU as the Tigers tight ends coach and run game coordinator. He tutored tight end Trey'Dez Green who finished fourth on the team with 33 receptions for 433 yards and a team-high seven receiving touchdowns.
Atkins arrived at LSU after nearly five years at Florida State where he helped the Seminoles to a 13-1 mark as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in 2023. Florida State finished the 2023 season ranked No. 5 in the final CFP Poll and earned a berth in the Orange Bowl.
He joined the Seminoles in 2020 as offensive line coach for two years. He added offensive coordinator duties in 2022 and in his first season directing the FSU offense, the Seminoles won 10 games and ranked No. 10 nationally in total offense with 484 YPG. During his time at Florida State, Atkins produced three first-team All-ACC selections on the offensive line along with the 2023 ACC Player of the Year in quarterback Jordan Travis.
Prior to joining the Seminoles, Atkins spent the 2019 season as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Charlotte where he helped the 49ers to the first bowl game in program history. The 49ers won seven games in 2019 and featured only the third NFL Draft pick in program history.
From 2016-18, Atkins was Tulane's assistant head coach and offensive line coach. He added running game coordinator responsibilities in his final season in New Orleans. Atkins also had previous coaching stops at Georgia Southern and Tennessee-Chattanooga.
Harbin comes to Columbia after five seasons at Tennessee. Nicknamed "Chop," he joined the UT staff in 2021 as a defensive analyst before being promoted to senior defensive analyst in 2022. Harbin served in the analyst role for four seasons and was promoted again in February 2025 to outside linebackers coach. He has been a fixture with the defensive line and LEO position during his Rocky Top tenure.
An elite recruiter, Harbin played a significant role in the development of the edge rushers during the Volunteers' 2024 College Football Playoff season. The disruptive group paved the way for a Tennessee defense that ranked in the FBS top 10 in six different categories.
The edge rushers made their presence known in meaningful victories over rivals Florida and Alabama as the Vols racked up a combined six sacks, 21 tackles for loss and three interceptions in those contests. Edge rushers James Pearce Jr. and Joshua Josephs led the team in tackles for loss with 13 and nine, respectively. Pearce Jr. capped his three-year UT career with 19.5 sacks, which tied for the 10th most in school history.
Harbin came to Rocky Top after serving as the Director of Recruiting at Auburn for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He previously spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Louisiana, coaching the defensive line from 2015-16 and the defensive tackles in 2017.
Riley, the former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Clemson, TCU and SMU, will coach the Tigers quarterbacks. At Clemson, he oversaw the development of QB Cade Klubnik. In 2025, Clemson ranked 22nd nationally throwing for 267.8 YPG, while Klubnik threw for 2,943 yards and 16 scores to finish his career with 9,426 passing yards and 71 touchdowns.
Riley's offense helped propel Clemson to the ACC title in 2024 and a berth in the CFP after producing a 3,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher and four 500-yard pass catchers in a season for the fourth time in school history. Klubnik threw for 3,639 yards and 36 touchdowns against only six interceptions.
In 2022 at TCU, Riley helped the Horned Frogs to a 13-2 record, a Fiesta Bowl title and a berth in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. He was honored with the 2022 Broyles Award, presented annually to the nation's top assistant coach. He guided TCU quarterback Max Duggan to the Davey O'Brien Award, a runner-up finish in Heisman Trophy voting, All-America honors and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.
At SMU (2020-21), his offenses with the Mustangs finished in the top 15 in the nation in both scoring offense and total offense in both seasons and helped garner postseason accolades for quarterbacks Shane Buechele and Tanner Mordecai. Riley was on Coach Drinkwitz's staff at Appalachian State in 2019 as the running backs coach. He spent three years on staff at Kansas (2016-18) and East Carolina from (2013-15).
