Mizzou football zeroing in on defensive coordinator hire | reports

Eli Drinkwitz and Missouri football reportedly have their new defensive coordinator, according to ESPN. A deal has yet to be finalized but it appears to be moving in a positive direction.

Corey Batoon, who previously held the same title at South Alabama, will take over the defensive coordinator duties. He replaced Blake Baker, who left to take the defensive coordinator job at LSU under Brian Kelly.

More: Missouri basketball records its second-lowest point total in loss to Texas A&M

Batoon has been the defensive coordinator at South Alabama since 2021. In terms of points allowed, the Jaguars' defense ranked 66th in the nation in 2021, 26th in 2022 and 29th in 2023, where the team allowed just 21 points per game.

Before arriving in Mobile, Alabama, Batoon spent the 2020 season on Hugh Freeze's staff as an assistant at Liberty, where the Flames went 10-1, and was also Hawaii's defensive coordinator from 2018-19. Batoon has also made stops at Arkansas State, Florida Atlantic, Mississippi, Montana, Northern Arizona, Pierce Junior College, and St. Mary's. In 1996 he was an assistant coach at Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Mo.

Batoon, 55, played collegiately at San Diego Junior College (1986-87) and Long Beach State (1988-89).

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Mizzou football zeroing in on defensive coordinator hire | reports