SPRINGFIELD — Missouri State football head coach Ryan Beard has added five incoming freshmen to his 2025 signing class, he announced Wednesday (Dec. 4). The Bears have reached financial aid agreements with the following:
- Deuce Bailey (QB, 6-0, 170, Fr., Bowling Green, Ky., Bowling Green High)
- Jackson Kohl (TE, 6-6, 245, Fr., St. Louis, Mo., CBC High)
- Stephen Meitz (OL, 6-6, 295, Fr., Eureka, Mo., Eureka High)
- Jayden McGee (DE, 6-4, 220, St. Louis, Mo., Cardinal Ritter Prep)
- Gionni McBride (CB, 6-3, 175, Fr., North Kansas City, Mo., North Kansas City High)
“We are excited about the young men joining our football family today,” said Missouri State head coach Ryan Bears. “They are dynamic and fully capable of playing at the highest level of college football. This is a great start to our 2025 MoState signing class. Congratulations to the signees and their families.”
Deuce Bailey (QB, 6-0, 170, Fr., Bowling Green, Ky., Bowling Green High
Bailey leads the Bowling Green (Ky.) High Purples into this weekend’s Kentucky 5A title game after a tremendous senior season. He has completed 224-of-323 passes for 3,316 yards and 40 touchdowns this season with just 4 interceptions. He is also a ground threat, rushing 57 times for 343 yards and a pair of scores. Coach Mark Spader’s squad is 12-2 this season. Bailey led Bowling Green to a 28-14 win over Cooper to with the 5A state title a year ago and was named the championship game MVP. He had FBS offers from Miami (Ohio) and others.
Jackson Kohl (TE, 6-6, 245, Fr., St. Louis, Mo., CBC High)
The standout tight end from St. Louis CBC High is a three-star recruit by 247 Sports. He led the Cadets to a 10-2 record this year. Kohl logged 9 receptions for 113 yards and was a prominent blocker on the CBC offensive front, helping coach Josiah Stanfield’s team log 235.0 ground yards per game. He had no fewer than a dozen FBS scholarship offers from the likes of Indiana, Louisville, Duke, Army, Michigan State and Nebraska.
Stephen Meitz (OL, 6-6, 295, Fr., Eureka, Mo., Eureka High)
Meitz was an instrumental part of Eureka (Mo.) High School’s sensational offensive line that led coach Jacob Sumner’s Wildcats to 520 total yards per game, 248 rushing yards per contest and 6.2 yards per carry. The Wildcats were undefeated in the regular season in 2024. Meitz had scholarship offers from Kent State and Air Force, among others.
Jayden McGee (DE, 6-4, 220, St. Louis, Mo., Cardinal Ritter Prep)
McGee helped lead coach Brennan Spain’s Lions to a 9-2 record and state semifinal push in 2024. He anchored a solid Ritter defensive line by posting 62 total tackles, 35 solo stops, 9.0 sacks and 4 quarterback hurries his senior season. He played his first three seasons at O’Fallon (Ill.) Township High.
Gionni McBride (CB, 6-3, 175, Fr., North Kansas City, Mo., North Kansas City High)
McBride was a first-team all-conference pick for coach Daniel Joiner’s North Kansas City (Mo.) High Hornets and has a three-star rating from 247Sports and two-star status from Rivals. In conference play, he tallied 16 tackles, 10 solos, 1.0 tackles for loss and a forced fumble while not allowing a single pass reception. He held offers from Kansas, Iowa State, Kansas State, Nebraska and Minnesota, among others.
Coach Beard’s Bears finished the 2024 season with an 8-4 overall record and a 6-2 ledger in MVFC play to finish one game behind the league’s tri-champions. The Bears won eight straight games from Sept. 14 to Nov. 9 and eclipsed 5,000 total yards, 400 points and 3,600 passing yards in their final season in the Missouri Valley and the FCS ranks.
The Bears, who were charter members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (formerly Gateway Conference) since its inception in 1985, will officially join Conference USA on July 1, 2025 and become members of the Division I Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for the first time.
