Missouri Western welcomes new athletes to football program

It was National Signing Day on Wednesday, as universities nationwide saw future athletes sign their names across the dotted line, signaling a new adventure for all those involved. It was no different for Missouri Western, who announced the addition of 29 freshmen and eight transfers for the 2025 season.

The Griffons are coming off a 4-7 record for the 2024-25 season, but four of those losses were one-score contests.

“It was probably higher than we probably planned on,” head coach Tyler Fenwick said. “There were some kids down there at the end that were still available that you just couldn't say no to. I think that's a little bit of a product of the transfer portal and how that's working.”

Out on the recruiting trail, the Griffons made sure size, length and athleticism were key components to what they wanted. Western also brought in eight midyear transfers at the positions where they felt we needed the most depth.

One of those positions was in the secondary, where the ’Griffs added four transfers at the safety and corner position, signing 10 freshmen as well four a total of 14 defensive backs.

“All those guys are different. I mean, they're all, you know, some are corners, some are safties, some are boundary safety, some are nickel, some outside linebacker type guys that have a frame that can grow into that,” Fenwick said. “In this league, you're going to play against teams that are, you know, up-tempo, spread them out, and so you got to be able to match that and you've got to be able to get the right personnel on the field.”

With only a handful of transfers, the Griffons went the traditional route, signing high school athletes that they could develop into their systems.

The Griffons signed 14 freshmen from the state of Missouri, five from Texas, four from Kansas, two from Iowa and Nebraska and one from Florida. Of the transfers, two come from Missouri and Texas, along with one from California, Virginia, Florida and Illinois.

“We've got a lot of returners coming back, you know, from last year, and so we didn't feel like we needed to go get a whole bunch of transfers,” Fenwick said. “We are about development, we're about trying to bring kids in from the high school level and kind of grow them through the program, and so we're able to do that right now, which has actually been refreshing.”

The other positions filled by the Griffons included seven offensive linemen, five receivers, five defensive linemen, two running backs, two quarterbacks, two linebackers and one kicker.

Western will kick the season off on Aug. 30 against Augustana on the road, with time still to be determined.