COLUMBIA - Two Missouri football players have quit the team.
Senior offensive lineman Malik Cuellar and redshirt junior Chase Abbington both left the program, head coach Barry Odom said Tuesday. Neither player intends to continue his football career elsewhere, Odom said.
Abbington met with Odom a few days before Missouri met Tuesday for its seventh spring practice.
"I support him on trying to finish this semester academically the correct way, which he needs to do," Odom said. "It's unfortunate, but he decided this was not something he wanted to continue to pursue."
Cuellar spoke with Odom on Tuesday.
"(Cuellar) decided football was not going to be in his future," Odom said, "and he decided to quit the football team as well."
Both players transferred from junior colleges for the 2015 season.
Abbington, a 6-foot-2 215-pounder, spent two seasons at Hutchington (Kan.) Community College after committing to Missouri out of Fort Zumwalt South. He played in 10 games last season, rushing six times for 39 yards and catching one pass for five. Despite little depth at tailback and an injury to senior starter Russell Hansbrough, Abbington was never able to establish himself as a regular contributor.
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Cuellar transferred from City College of San Francisco, where he played two seasons. ESPN named him the 13th-best offensive tackle among JUCO transfers that class. At Missouri in 2015, he played in eight games, mostly at right tackle. Similar to Abbington, Cuellar was not able to take advantage of a position group that lacked for reliable personnel.
Cuellar was suspended with roommate Maty Mauk before Missouri's game against South Carolina last October for misconduct. Cuellar returned the following week. Mauk's suspension lasted a month and he was suspended twice more before being dismissed from the team.
"I'd like to keep every one of them out here," Odom said, "but also this is an unbelievable, great place to be. We're going to check classes. We're going to work extremely hard in the weight room, and we're going to get as good as we can get on the football field. And then socially, we're going to do everything we can to be positive in society, and if you do all those things, it's an unbelievable place to be."
Numbers are starting to dwindle for a Missouri offense that struggled mightily last season and graduated five linemen and Hansbrough.
"I don't want to lose anybody, because I'd like an opportunity to be able to mentor every guy that we've got on the roster," Odom said, "and when that is cut short for whatever reason, that's frustrating. But our guys that are out here are working extremely hard. We'll be creative enough to find a way to run the ball."