It is strike three for Missouri quartreback Maty Mauk. Mauk has been dismissed by the Missouri Tigers football program by new head coach Barry Odom. The dismissal comes just days after the school indefinitely suspended Mauk after a video of the quarterback surfaced online in which he was believed to be doing drugs.
“I met with Maty Mauk this morning and informed him of my decision to permanently dismiss him from the football program,” a statement from Odom said. “When I met with Maty back in December, I wanted to give him an opportunity for a fresh start, but I also made it very clear what our expectations would be moving forward. After gathering information and speaking with a number of individuals this week, it is clear Maty has failed to live up to those expectations by violating team rules in recent weeks.”
Odom did reference the red flag video that went viral earlier in the week, but suggested he believes the footage captured on social media was from “a long time ago.” Odom said regardless of when the video was recorded, Mauk still managed to fall short of the bar set at Missouri moving forward.
“We believe it is in his best interest to focus on his personal life and his academic career at this time,” Odom said. “We remain committed to helping him work through the challenges and earn his degree. Our hope is that he will grow from this time and we wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”
Mauk had been suspended twice during the 2015 season, so this latest sequence of events could be best summarized as Mauk’s strike three with the program. Given Mauk’s previous violations of team rules under Gary Pinkel, it was clear Odom needed to stand firm with his decision here to establish order within the program under his guidance.
Mauk’s Missouri career now ends with 42 touchdown passes, 4,373 yards and four rushing touchdowns. Mauk can still land on his feet with another college football program in the fall and he still has a year of eligibility remaining. With Mauk no longer in the picture in Columbia though, it would appear Drew Lock will be the frontrunner to be Missouri’s quarterback in 2016. The freshman played in 12 games last season, completing just 49 percent of his passes for 1,332 yards and four touchdowns with eight interceptions. Marvin Zanders will also be in the running starting this spring following the recent news of Eddie Printz pursuing a graduate transfer out of Missouri this season.
