How Zion Young's 'Contagious Energy' Affects Mizzou's Defense

When Zion Young yelled "It's time to go" to the Auburn players standing across from him at the coin toss ahead of overtime, Young might as well have been talking to himself.

For as thunderous as Young was in that moment, the Auburn players had no reaction.

Missouri's locker room has also gotten used to sometimes ignoring the defensive end. His trash talk to the Auburn players at midfield was nothing new.

"He just talks 24/7," linebacker Josiah Trotter said of Young. "If someone's talking, it's definitely Zion. If it's in the locker room, if it's 8 in the morning, someone's talking, it's Zion."

Sometimes, Trotter said, Young is just talking to himself.

But most times, his words have a purpose. Whether that's by leading the defense with motivation, or just by lightening the mood with a joke.

"It's great sometimes to just hear his voice," Trotter said. "We love it though, it brings a great energy to the team, the locker room."

In that moment where Young was yelling over at Auburn's players, he certainly brought energy to Missouri's sideline. His yelling was in reaction to Missouri winning the toss and electing to play on defense first. His yell of "Let's go" might as well have been a threat.

"This game is about people being ready to play, and he was obviously ready to play, and our guys fed off of it," head coach Eli Drinkwitz said of the moment.

On the second play of Auburn's first possession, Young sacked quarterback Jackson Arnold for a loss of 9 yards, which eventually led to Auburn having to unsuccessfully attempt a 50-yard field goal. On the next drive, Young tackled a running back for a loss of 3 yards. Three plays later, Missouri ended the game by stopping Auburn on a fourth-and-8.

"I was just doing my thing," Young said of his performance in overtime. "That's me. Y'all will see a lot more of that."

Sept 20, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers defensive end Zion Young celebrates a sack of South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers in the third quarter at Faurot Field. | Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSI

Since transferring to Missouri ahead of the 2024 season, Young's 'thing' has not just become affecting the quarterback, but also using his voice. Despite being a newcomer last season, he emerged as a top leader early on.

"Zion Young, he's a real vocal leader," safety Daylan Carnell said at SEC Media Days. "He's probably the most vocal leader on the whole entire team."

Trotter joked that there's times where he just wants to tell Zion to "be quiet."

Sometimes his playfulness can be ridiculous — at SEC Media Days, Young said "You wouldn't want to date a cat. You would want to date another Tiger" to explain how Missouri's edge rusher room is full of "alpha males."

That silliness is all part of Young "doing his thing."

"Just messing with people just talking with people, just Zion being Zion," Trotter said. "That's just his personality, we love Zion being who he is."

That authenticity and lightness have made a clear impact on the locker room.

“Great, positive, contagious energy," Drinkwitz said. "Love who Zion is as a competitor, love who he is as a teammate."

When Young first joined the team from Michigan State, Drinkwitz quickly knew that Young would be a fit for Missouri's culture. Not only with his personality, but also the intensity he played with.

"He's always just been really positive," Drinkwitz said. "I mean, he's a great young man and he's got a side to him, that's the way he plays.”

Missouri's coaching staff knew Young had that "side to him" on the first day he was with the program.

His position group was beginning workouts immediately after Young had finished up physical tests. Young showed his persistence in that very first workout.

"So he got changed, went in there, puked three times during the workout," Drinkwitz recalled. "And every time he puked, he just came back and kept working, and we just knew he was going to be the right fit for our culture."

Young has proved to be a great fit for Missouri's culture built on connection, but he's also added to it with his intensity that, as it did in the coin toss at Auburn, can turn into speech.

“Bill Parcells said it best," Drinkwitz said, "‘If you’re gonna play with an edge, you're probably going to live with an edge.’ He's got an edge. "

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