Mizzou to Hire Florida State Special Teams Coordinator as Assistant Coach

Papuchis has deep experience as both a defensive and special teams coordinator.

Florida State football players take part in drills during an FSU spring football practice of the 2023 season on Thursday, April 13, 2023. John Papuchis | Ehsan Kassim/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK

Missouri will hire Florida State special teams coordinator and linebackers coach, John Papuchis, as an assistant coach, per a report from Pete Thamel. As of Wednesday morning, no report has been made of Papuchis official title with Missouri. The program has currently retained both its linebackers coach and special teams coordinator.

Papachuis has spent the past six seasons on staff with Mike Norvell at Florida State. He's been the special teams coordinator for all six of those years. In the first five, he also coached the defensive ends, working with All-Americans Jared Verse and Jermaine Johnson. For 2025, he moved to linebackers.

In addition to Florida State, Papuchis has had two other stints as a special teams coordinator. He held the role at Maryland in 2019 and at Nebraska from 2009-11.

He coached in the ACC at the same time as Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz, with Drinkwitz being the offensive coordinator at NC State from 2016-18 at the same time Papuchis was the defensive coordinator at North Carolina from 2017-18.

Drinkwitz's offenses won both of the two battles against Papuchis' defenses, with NC State winning 33-21 over North Carolina in 2017, and 34-28 in 2018.

Missouri could use some help on special teams. The unit has had several costly gaffes througout the last two seasons.

Those issues were amplified in 2025 when starting kicker Blake Craig suffered a torn ACL in the first week of the season, thrusting a true freshman into the role. In 2024, Missouri allowed fake punts for gains of 39 and 43 yards. In 2025, the unit allowed another one for a 48 yard gain. The Tigers' punting unit also put the team in unfavorable position several time, with Missouri averaging 41.8 yards per punt, the worst mark in the SEC.

Papuchis' special teams units have featured elite players, but have also had some issues of their own.

He worked with two All-American specialists — punter Alex Mastromanno and kicker Ryan Fitzgerald. In 2023, Keon Coleman earned first-team All-ACC honors as a returner after finishing third in the country in total punt return yards, taking 25 returns for 300 yards, including one for 72 yards.

The two biggest gaffes of his units were perhaps two of the most memorable moments from Florida State's season. In a game agains NC State, Florida State fumbled two punt returns in the fourth quarter, a significant factor that led to the Seminoles losing the game 21-11. Kicker Jake Weinberg also missed two field goals in the game. In 2025, Florida State finished last in the ACC in field-goal percentage (63.2%).

However, in 2024, Florida State ranked second in the ACC in field-goal percentage (93.3) and first in punt yard average (48.6).

Papuchis does also have a deep background defensively. He coached under NIck Saban as a graduate assistant at LSU from 2004-07. While he was at Nebraska, he coached the teams defensive ends for two years and the defensive line for one before holding the defensive coordinator spot from 2012-14. He was the linebackers coach at North Carolina from 2015-16 before taking over as the defensive coordinator for the following two seasons.

Papuchis is the second hire Drinkwitz has made to his staff this offseason, joining offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey. Drinkwitz signed a contract extension in November that included an increase of $4 million for the salary pool for his assistant staff.

This story will be updated with more information when it is released.