When former Missouri football defensive coordinator Blake Baker left for the same position at LSU, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz took his time with his hire. After three weeks, he settled on his guy: South Alabama DC Corey Batoon.

It wasn’t a flashy hire, but Batoon isn’t a flashy coach.

Missouri linebacker Chuck Hicks and defensive lineman Kristian Williams both described Batoon’s demeanor as “chill” after Missouri's second spring practice Wednesday, but Batoon’s lack of flash isn’t concerning to the pair of senior leaders on his new defense.

“He just knows ball, he loves ball, (he’s) just really just trying to get around us and build relationships,” Williams said. “And then on top of that, I mean, when it comes down to inside the white lines, you know that he'll be about business.”

Knowing his new players is what Batoon has focused on early in his tenure in Columbia. On his first day, he made a point to meet with every defensive player.

“That’s what it's about,” Batoon said. “It’s about figuring people out, building that trust because from trust comes respect and with respect you can start building on that.”

In his short time trying to build these relationships, Batoon is already impressed.

“It's been just the people. I think that's been the biggest thing you know, buildings are buildings and facilities are facilities; everybody in this league has nice stuff,” he said. “When you get inside the building, that's what makes it different. You know, the locker room, the personalities, the type of mentality that's been established here in this program. I think that's been really refreshing.”

Batoon inherits a Missouri defense that was the No. 25 in scoring defense in the FBS in 2023 at 20.85 points per game, and he sees similarities to what he tried to do at South Alabama and what Missouri did last season.

“We've always been kind of a havoc style defense, tried to create those negative plays,” Batoon said. “We've tried to do a good job against the run, which they've done here traditionally. And then being situationally elite. Those are the things that we've kind of done, and I think there's been alignment with regards to how (Drinkwitz) sees that side of the ball playing.”

In 2023, South Alabama and Missouri both were in the top 30 of scoring defense and tackles for loss.

For Drinkwitz, it was important that whoever he hired came in ready to build upon what was already in place at Missouri, but was still going to bring a new dynamic.

“Corey is going to call the game the way stylistically he sees it and has always seen it,” Drinkwitz said Monday, the opening day of spring camp. “But you know, if we call bench front, which is a three technique to the boundary, bench front instead of whatever he called it in the past, we're gonna assimilate to what we've done here.

“... There's going to be some changes naturally … but there’s going to be a lot of carryover. I want them (Batoon and defensive ends coach Brian Early) to be uniquely them, but I want them to make sure that our players' learning is prioritized.”

The first way that Batoon is already “being uniquely him” is the creation of a new position on the defensive line.

Missouri will continue to run a 4-2-5 defense, but Batoon’s version features what he refers to as a “hybrid” role instead of a traditional defensive end with the “Joker” position.

“It lends to some multiplicity,” Batoon explained. “But again, you always play to your strengths, and so, of these opportunities in the spring try to figure out who can do what, and put them in those positions. And so I think that having that opportunity at that position gives you some flexibility.

“Maybe some guys that maybe aren't size parameters, which you want, but maybe athletically can do some things. And if you have enough guys that can do that, then it makes sense to go down that road.”

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football new defensive coordinator Corey Batoon learning quickly