Chuck Hicks made his fortune by betting on himself

Chuck Hicks was looking for a new home.

Entering the transfer portal after three years at Wyoming, the linebacker was looking not only for more opportunities but also for an environment in which he could settle in.

Hicks lived something of a nomad life in the seven years before he left for Missouri. He played at a different school for all four years of his high school career, bouncing around the San Diego area.

This time, Hicks had a clear vision of what he wanted in his new home.

“A place where I can really find inner peace,” Hicks told MissouriOnSI about what he was looking for when he entered the portal. “Mizzou was that place for me. All the coaches are really welcoming. The players are welcoming and I found a great home.”

The Tigers weren’t sure what to expect from their new linebacker when Hicks arrived in 2021. They just knew they needed more depth behind departing starter Blaze Alldredge and emerging Chad Bailey.

“We needed a linebacker at the time,” head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “Ultimately, we didn’t know where he would fit.”

It took Hicks a while to learn how to fit in not only on the roster, but in the locker room. Only six players on Missouri’s 2021 roster were from West Texas. He was a West Coast guy on a roster filled with players from the Midwest and Southeast.

“He was calm when I first met him,” defensive tackle Kristian Williams recalled.

It will take more time for Missouri to fully get to know its new linebacker, however.

Hicks made just five starts during his time at Wyoming. He’ll have to prove himself again at Missouri, appearing in seven games to finish the 2021 season, almost exclusively on special teams. Of his 123 snaps as a freshman at Missouri, only 14 came on defense.

He was willing to do the dirty work to make his way onto the roster. It was the only mindset he ever knew—always having to go the extra mile to prove himself. His transfer to an SEC school showed the bets Hicks was willing to place on himself.

“When it comes to proving something, I feel like that’s what’s stuck with me my whole life,” Hicks said. “I always felt like I was the underdog in a lot of areas. I was a two-star guy. I wasn’t very highly recruited. I always wanted to prove myself, in my own life.”

In that way, he fit perfectly into the culture that Missouri was building.

“I thought I was a lot better than some of the others, but that’s OK,” Hicks said. “I just came to work.”

However, much like the program itself, it will take some time before Hicks begins to see the fruits of his labor.

In 2022, Hicks should be battling for his role again. Missouri signed Ty’Ron Hopper through the Florida portal and Bailey established himself with eight starts in 2021.

Yet Hicks didn’t even get a chance to prove himself, suffering a torso injury during fall camp. He was used to focusing and working. Except this time, he was away from the team most of the time. He had to create his own support system.

“My wife, she’s the one that helped me get better, and my teammates,” Hicks said. “It was tough at first. Just being away from the facility or not even being at practice, just because you’re away and you’re in the training room.”

Heading into the 2023 season, uncertainty once again loomed over Hicks’ place. Yet he remained ready to seize every opportunity that came his way.

At this point in his career, Hicks was 23 years old, entering his sixth year of college football, but had only recorded 31 tackles and had only started five times. Any faith and confidence he possessed came from himself and his preparation.

“I was always ready, whenever I had the opportunity,” Hicks said. “I studied a lot and practiced a lot.”

His preparation paid off in the 2023 season. Missouri not only found his place, but really needed him.

Bailey, who was preparing for his third season as a starter, suffered an abdominal injury in the summer of 2023. Although Bailey was able to play in limited fashion in the first five games of the season, he re-aggravated it, causing him to miss the remainder of the 2023 season.

Enter Hicks, who took over the middle linebacker job in Bailey’s absence from Weeks 1-3 and every game after Week 6. He filled Bailey’s role beautifully, recording 53 tackles on the season, fourth-most on the team.

He ended up becoming a key part of a turnaround not just for the defense, but for the entire program. 2023 was the first winning season recorded by Missouri since Hicks began his college career in 2018.

He recorded four tackles in Missouri’s win over Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, where the defense allowed just three points, the fewest allowed in the Cotton Bowl since 2018.

While his stability at linebacker might have been surprising from the outside, Missouri’s coaching staff wasn’t surprised at all. Like Hicks himself, they had confidence in the preparation he had put in place.

“Chuck is exactly what we’re talking about when we talk about emotional consistency,” Drinkwitz said. “He’s the same guy every day. He doesn’t go too high or too low. He’s going to give you his best.”

Emotional stability is what has guided Hicks throughout his journey. He’s been able to keep a level head while not taking the opportunities he thought he deserved, finding his role at Missouri and focusing on his recovery from injury.

“I don’t like to be too high or too low,” Hicks said. “I like to stay in the middle. It’s something that helps you through your day. It helps you not get too upset, not get too happy about things and allows me to go about my daily life.”

Hicks’ production has also been consistent. He has recorded a tackle in every game since the start of the 2023 season, including at least three of 11. His consistent approach, production and personality have earned him the respect of his teammates, earning him the team’s captaincy for the 2024 season.

“He’s a veteran,” linebackers coach DJ Smith said. “Probably the oldest player in college football, but he proves it with his play. He’s a veteran leader for us.”

Heading into his seventh and final year of college, Hicks’ perseverance and patience have paid off. His story is the cultural identity Drinkwitz has built at Missouri — a team that plays against the clock and sticks together through it all.

Of a 2024 defense that added several new starters via the transfer portal who had to socialize into Missouri’s culture, Smith calls Hicks one of the leaders and exemplars of the standard of excellence the Tigers seek to maintain.

“They know and respect the standard,” Drinkwitz said of defensive leaders like Hicks. “They expect everybody to play at that level. They’re not willing to lower it for anybody. When you have transfers coming in, we don’t really adjust to you, you come to us and that’s the way we do it here.”

Three seasons ago, Hicks was among the new players adjusting to a changing culture at Missouri. Whether he knew it or not when he first entered the portal, Missouri needed players with his mindset as much as it needed Missouri.

“He’s stuck around,” Drinkwitz said. “He’s dealt with a lot of different injuries throughout his career, and he continues to show up every day and go to work.”

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