Missouri is hiring Alex Atkins to be its next tight ends coach, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Atkins coached tight ends at LSU last season and served as the team’s interim offensive coordinator after the school fired head coach Brian Kelly.
Before coaching at LSU, Atkins spent five seasons on Florida State‘s staff. During his first two seasons with the Seminoles, Atkins coached the team’s offensive linemen.
However, ahead of the 2022 campaign, Atkins was promoted to offensive coordinator. He spent three seasons as the Seminoles’ play-caller.
He was instrumental in the Seminoles’ flawless regular-season record and ACC title in the 2023 season. The Seminoles averaged 34.6 points per game that season, the most in the ACC.
Florida State fired Atkins, along with multiple other members of its staff, after the team posted a disappointing 2-10 record in 2024. Atkins has served on coaching staffs at Charlotte, Tulane, Georgia Southern and Chattanooga.
Before entering the coaching realm, Alex Atkins was an offensive lineman at UT-Martin from 2003-06. He started each of his four years with the program and earned all-conference honors twice.
Now, Atkins will look to use his wealth of knowledge to help Missouri reach new heights. Missouri finished the 2025 campaign with an 8-5 overall record and a 4-4 mark in conference play.
It was a step backward for the Tigers, who’d recorded double-digit wins the previous two seasons. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz is determined to see his team bounce back in 2026.
“Nothing good comes easy,” Drinkwitz said after Missouri’s loss to Virginia in the Gator Bowl. “It will be a fight to the finish here, a fight to finish off re-signing our team, then we’ll go to work. That’s what we’ll do.
“I think, and I know, the fans are disappointed. I’m disappointed. I know that locker room’s disappointed. That’s a good thing. That’s a good thing when Missouri is disappointed after a season like this. That’s where we want to be. That’s what we got to be. That’s what we’re going to continue to fight to uphold.”