Mizzou Safeties Coach Previews Talent, Experience of Position

Second-year coach and first year safeties coach Jacob Yoro is excited about who he has in his position group.

Aug 6, 2025; Columbia, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers safeties Mose Phillips III (3), Marvin Burks Jr. (1) and Caleb Flagg (4) prepare for a defensive drill at a fall camp practice at Mizzou Athletic Training Complex. | Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSi

The safety position saw an interesting overhaul during the transfer portal process for the Missouri Tigers. They added three new players, all of whom bring interesting traits to the room.

They also bring back a few returners in senior Daylan Carnell, junior Marvin Burks Jr. and sophomore Trajen Greco. Missouri's transfer haul of Jalen Catalon, Mose Phillips III and Santana Banner is also an important piece to that puzzle.

Together, a combination of talent and experience has been added to the room. It's a room that lost players like Joseph Charleston, Tre'Vez Johnson and Sidney Williams, who also brought those exact traits to the table. There shouldn't be much fall off at this position, given the previous years of the returning players and transfers.

"[We have] a lot of guys with a lot of experience and a lot of talent and to be able to survive an SEC schedule, you need that in the back end of the room," safeties coach Jacob Yoro said to MissouriOnSI. "We feel we're tooled that way this year, and, we're gonna look for that and take advantage of that."

For the safeties specifically, there hasn't been any drop-off in culture after guys like Charleston and Johnson left. They were veterans in Missouri's safety room and managed to carry that culture on to everyone in the room, a concept that's trickled down to the new guys this season.

"The guys that have come into the room, whether it be in our position room or other position rooms, you really see them and their ability to acclimate to the culture that's already been here," Yoro said.

Of the three transfers, none of them have as much college football experience as UNLV transfer Jalen Catalon. He has seven years of football under his belt, along with stops at three other teams.

The experience he brings to the table is invaluable, but Catalon is also quite a skilled player. He's great in coverage and can even get downhill to the quarterback in blitz packages.

"He's a playmaker. He's a ball hawk," Yoro said. "He's a guy who has eleven interceptions in his career. [He] can really affect the game."

READ: Jalen Catalon is Leading By Example in Mizzou Locker Room

Phillips, a transfer from Virginia Tech, is another interesting talent who may not be getting the attention he deserves. He's big and physical and is ready to contribute to the Tigers this season.

"His ability to cover a man, his ability to get into the box, into the run fit are things that he does really well and we're excited that he's here," Yoro said.

All of these players, along with Banner, have a pathway to being impactful players for the Tigers this season. If that ends up being the case, this would be another example of head coach Eli Drinkwitz and his staff bringing in successful transfers in the offseason.

"[It] has been tremendous and it's really been a testament to what we've done in the transfer portal market," Yoro said.

The most important player in this position group is Carnell. He's returning for his final season with the Tigers and has all the experience needed to lead an SEC defense. At this point, there really isn't much he hasn't experienced on a college football field.

"He's gone into hostile stadiums, and from that experience, especially on game days, really gonna be able to help some of the guys that have transferred in," Yoro said.

Carnell's reliability and the talent levels of the incoming transfers should make for a worry-free position group. They have all the skill in the world to be one of the best in the SEC.