How Missouri Tigers came up with ‘Death Row Defense’ nickname: ‘Whole room went nuts’
Defensive coordinator Blake Baker gave his unit four days.
The unit, which has become one of the better defenses in the SEC, had to decide on its identity before Baker’s first season in Columbia.
Four days to come up with how the rest of the college football world will know the MU defense.
“Y’all come up with some names, turn them into your coaches and we’ll present them to the defense,” Baker recalled saying. “I forgot how many they came up with.”
A number of names went by. The room voiced its displeasure.
“Everybody’s booing them,” Baker said. “Like, y’all came up with these names, not me.”
After the unit couldn’t come up with common ground, one of MU’s coaches nudged the players in a direction.
With one casual suggestion, Missouri had found its identity.
The history of ‘Death Row Defense’
The “Death Row Defense” identity is something that means more than just a fun hashtag or a social media aspect. The players have bought into the meaning behind it ahead of Thursday’s season opener against South Dakota.
“It’s a trademark,” said defensive tackle Kristian Williams. “It’s not like a brand or anything, it’s a lifestyle for us. (We’re) just one big unit, a very aggressive unit, just trying to display our skills and talent.”
Missouri wasn’t the first, however.
Throughout the course of football on all levels, the moniker “Death Row Defense” isn’t exactly original. Just a quick search can speak to the history of the nickname.
The 1995 Miami Dolphins called themselves the Death Row Defense, which was a defense that featured Missouri alum and former NFL Pro Bowler Jeff Cross. In 2021, the linebacker room at the University of Wisconsin, led by then-senior Jack Sanborn and then-junior Leo Chenal (now with the Chiefs), called themselves Death Row, too. The University of Washington also used the nickname when Chris Petersen coached the Huskies.
Even Ramsay High School in Birmingham, Alabama, used the nickname in 2018.
It goes without saying, Baker’s defense at Missouri will be the latest iteration in a long line of Death Row Defenses.
But, that doesn’t make it any less significant to this defense.
Missouri has something plenty of defenses in America wish they had: continuity. Sure, the entire defense didn’t carry over from last year to 2023, but a projected 10 of the 11 defensive starters played meaningful minutes last season for Missouri.
The lone newcomer is expected to be Joe Moore III, who transferred in from Arizona State but also boasts experience himself.
The defense’s nickname doesn’t exist to strike fear in the hearts of opposing defenses. Rather, it serves as a way to unify a team that aims to elevate from good to great this season.
“It’s been great for kids,” cornerbacks coach Al Pogue said before camp began. “They love something that they can hang their hats on.
Pogue would know. It was his idea.
Death Row Defense at Mizzou
After the players couldn’t decide on a name for their defensive unit, Baker recalled Pogue stepping in himself. From the back row of the defensive meeting room, Pogue chimed in: “Hey, what about death row?”
“The whole room went nuts,” Baker said. “That’s kind of how it stuck.”
The identity was born that day. More importantly, so the high standard Missouri’s defense plays with.
“Death Row Defense is a standard,” Pogue said. “We’re working every day to reach and maintain that standard.”
The standard includes the usual line of: Be a great defense. It’s what the Tigers have aspired to be, especially as they transformed the unit from a struggling group in 2021 to a productive one in 2022.
But on a deeper level, that standard includes the idea of ownership, Baker said.
“That’s why I think they really enjoy playing in this scheme: ... They have a lot of ownership,” Baker said. “You’ll hear guys say it’s fun to play in (this defense) because you don’t ever feel like you can make a mistake. And that’s how we want them to play. We want them to play fast. We want them to have ownership.”
When Baker took over as MU’s defensive coordinator in January of 2022, he inherited a unit that had plenty of pride. But that pride lay in proving MU’s defense was better than what it showed in 2021, when the run defense struggled but the unit recovered in the second half of the season.
“We just pride ourselves on defense,” Missouri safety Daylan Carnell said. “And not letting the other team score.”
By calling themselves the Death Row Defense, MU’s defense can now funnel that pride into something bigger than just the defensive itself.
“It’s a brotherhood,” Williams said. “Just coming up with that, it’s amazing and truly just a blessing to be a part of.”
The Star has partnered with the Columbia Daily Tribune for coverage of Missouri Tigers athletics.
