COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥 You know Nick Bolton? The former All-American linebacker at Missouri who has won the Super Bowl twice with the Kansas City Chiefs?
Well, Nick Bolton has inspired a drill at his alma mater. It鈥檚 named after him. Mizzou talks about the Bolton Drill sometimes, mentioning it in an offhand way that makes the name sound like a 鈥渂oltin鈥 drill鈥 鈥 which, in a way, it kind of is.
In a nutshell, it鈥檚 a scoop-and-score exercise. It鈥檚 named for Bolton because he picked up a fumble from Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and took it 36 yards to the house to help the Chiefs win Super Bowl LVII.
MU coach Eli Drinkwitz said the Tigers run the Bolton Drill every Monday and Tuesday. It鈥檚 common enough that outside linebacker Triston Newson called it an 鈥渆veryday thing.鈥
鈥淲e go over the bags, and they want us to make a firm, firm grip on the ball, make sure you get the ball, scoop and score,鈥 Newson explained.
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In the drill, players quick-step over and around a couple of tackling dummies, field a loose ball like a bunt on the infield grass and bolt with it.
You know how football coaches have their sayings that they lean on? Their one-liners that are rhythmic enough to slip into everyday speech, general enough to be broadly applicable to the sport and its philosophies yet punchy enough to be memorable?
Drinkwitz and Mizzou have been kicking one around the team facility for a while now: 鈥淧ractice execution equals game-day reality.鈥
It鈥檚 a shorter, sharper version of the ol鈥 鈥淵ou play how you practice and you practice how you play鈥 line, but the meaning is obvious. It鈥檚 to encourage players to take practice reps seriously with the knowledge that there鈥檚 a direct correlation between those drills and plays in real games.
And man, oh man, did it come true in the game-winning play of Missouri鈥檚 30-23 victory over Oklahoma on Saturday night.
In the final minute of action, with the Tigers and Sooners knotted at 23 points and OU controlling the ball, Newson sacked quarterback Jackson Arnold. The ball popped out, not far in front of defensive end Zion Young. He cleared a couple of obstacles, secured the ball and charged for the end zone.
Seems like the Bolton Drill, no?
鈥淚t鈥檚 about the same thing,鈥 Young said, still holding his game ball as he entered his postgame news conference. 鈥淲e jump through a couple of dummies, scoop and score. Same thing.鈥
Drinkwitz was plenty happy with the sequence 鈥 as any coach would be with a game-winning play. But now, he鈥檚 got proof of concept he can use when putting future players through Bolton Drills over and over again.
鈥淲e talk about all the time 鈥 I鈥檝e said it to y鈥檃ll: Practice execution equals game-day reality,鈥 Drinkwitz said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 exactly what happened with Zion Young. I mean, it鈥檚 teach tape. It鈥檚 awesome.鈥
