Washington State to Hire 2 Mizzou Offensive Assistants, One Executive

Kirby Moore is expected to bring three people with him to the West Coast.

Sep 6, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz watches from the sideline in the second half of the Border War against the Kansas Jayhawks at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. | Matt Guzman/MissouriOnSI

Former Missouri offensive coordinator Kirby Moore is expected to bring two of his former assistants from the Tigers with him to Washington State. Moore is expected to add Missouri tight ends coach Derham Cato and assistant offensive line coach Jack Abrecrombie, according to reports from Matt Zenitz.

Additionally, Washington State will hire Brad Larrondo in a head front office role, Zenitz reported. He had been Missouri's assistant director of athletics and the director football external relations and recruiting. He was vital to Missouri's NIL efforts as the CEO of the Every True Tiger brand. He was previously with Moore at Boise State, serving as the program's associate athletic director for football when Moore was a player there.

Moore was hired as Washington State's head coach on Dec. 12 after three seasons as Missouri's offensive coordinator. Cato had been on staff at Missouri for all the three seasons that Moore was, including the last two as the tight ends coach.

In that time, Cato help recruit two three-star tight ends out of high school — Dakotah Terrell in the class of 2025 and Isaac Jensen in the class of 2026. He also helped recruit Gavin Hoffman and Vince Brown II through the transfer portal ahead of the 2025 season.

Abrecrombie had spent one season with Missouri. Prior to that, he was the run game coordinator at VMI.

Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz expected to lose some members of the staff to Moore in Washington State.

"Could lose a couple more people off our staff, from analyst roles, as coach Moore finalizes and puts his staff together," Drinkwitz said in a press conference on Dec. 16. "Shouldn't change the dynamic of anything we do it all."

Missouri didn't take too long to find Moore's replacement, hiring former Michigan offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey to fill the same role on Sunday. He's worked with elite quarterbacks like Drake Maye at UNC and Nick Mullens at Southern Miss.

One decision Missouri is yet to announce in the wake of Moore's departure is who will be the offensive play-caller in the bowl game, with the Tigers set to take on No. 19 Virginia in the Gator Bowl on Dec. 27.

"Honestly, staff collaboration is probably one of the best things we do here, and how we design and operate the game plan, and so we put it together, and then somebody's got to call it and call it the way that they do," Drinkwitz said.

To keep up with all of the coaching staff and roster movement for Missouri, follow our offseason tracker.