4 Missouri football staffers, including lead NIL exec, leave for WSU
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Four Missouri football staff members, including the lead executive of the Tigers’ NIL agency, are leaving MU to follow former offensive coordinator Kirby Moore to Washington State.
Brad Larrondo, who was the CEO and general manager of Every True Tiger Brands, is moving to take a role at WSU. He is a Boise State grad and still has significant connections to the region.
The Tigers also are set to lose tight ends coach Derham Cato to the same role with the Cougars, and Mizzou assistant offensive line coach Jack Abercrombie is set to become Moore’s lead O-line coach. Those staff changes were first reported by Matt Zenitz at CBS Sports.
Finally, Mizzou assistant director of football athletic performance Malcolm Hardmon will become Washington State’s strength and conditioning coach, per Bruce Feldman at The Athletic.
The most significant loss of the group, arguably, is Larrondo, who has been instrumental in the name, image and likeness space for Missouri.
Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz originally hired Larrondo, who like the MU coach had spent time working at Auburn and Boise State, to oversee recruiting and external relations. Larrondo ultimately became the lead executive at Every True Tiger, where he helped establish the core of Mizzou’s current NIL structure.
Every True Tiger and Larrondo are influential in negotiating both revenue-sharing and third-party NIL deals for Missouri athletes, as well as distributing money to athletes and making sure the football program remains within its spending cap. The agency also is a marketing arm and has helped facilitate deals for Mizzou student-athletes.
The college football transfer portal is approaching, which brings significant challenges for both roster retention and recruitment for teams — something Larrondo would have been closely involved with.
The portal officially opens Jan. 2 and remains open for new entries through Jan. 16.
Missouri football has not hired a general manager partly because, with Drinkwitz at the forefront, it has recreated that role in the aggregate through Larrondo and other staffers.
Drinkwitz responded to reports of Larrondo’s exit via his personal X/Twitter account.
“Good luck to Brad and thank you for all he did, but MIZZOU NIL was started way before Brad, and is a STRONG POSITION! Carry on!” Drinkwitz wrote Wednesday, Dec. 24.
Beyond Larrondo, the staff shakeup was seemingly expected. Drinkwitz indicated Dec. 16 that some assistants could end up following Moore to Pullman, Washington.
“Could lose a couple more people off of our staff from analyst roles as coach Moore finalizes and puts his staff together,” Drinkwitz said Dec. 16. “It shouldn’t change the dynamic of what we do at all.”
Missouri is only actively looking to replace one primary assistant on its staff in Cato, who had been with the team for three seasons. The Tigers will need a new tight ends coach.
As part of Drinkwitz’s recent contract extension, he was given an additional $4 million to spend on his assistant and staff salary pool.
Mizzou has recently made two notable hires.
Michigan’s Chip Lindsey was tabbed as the Tigers’ new offensive coordinator, and Jack Breske has joined the team from Tennessee as MU’s president of player personnel and recruiting.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: 4 Missouri football staffers, including lead NIL exec, follow Moore to WSU
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