After countless times going to Mizzou, Mizzou came to Mexico fans and alumni last week.

The University of Missouri athletic department began the June stretch of its ZOU to YOU bus tours on June 2 with an “ambush stop” at The Oaks in Mexico. Mizzou athletic administration officials and coaches appeared before fans and alumni on the first day of a three-day tour. 

Longtime Mizzou radio broadcaster Mike Kelly emceed the afternoon after guests were treated to a meal while adorned in their black and gold. He expressed the department’s desire to visit fans across the state after those fans have visited the institution multiple times to show their support, such as through a current 20-game sellout streak for football. Athletic director Laird Veatch said something similar.

GALLERY: Mizzou in Mexico

“We do ask you to make the trip many times to Columbia,” Veatch said before a full room of guests. “We ask you to invest in tickets, which we recognize are more expensive and more challenging to get. It is really good for us to come and say, ‘thank you,’ and I do want to do that in person and shake your hands.”

Veatch made the rounds to all the tables to personally chat with people and fielded questions while he stood at the front of the room before everybody. He said he understands fans have their opinions and thoughts on what should be done and he loves hearing different perspectives.

It had already been a busy week for Veatch as the Southeastern Missouri Conference meetings happened the previous week in Destin, Florida, so Veatch addressed concerns and further questions on issues that have come in this Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) era of college sports. He also provided an update on future developments at the university like the Memorial Stadium Centennial Project, which is a $250 million renovation of the north end zone portion of the football stadium, that is “very much on target and it’s going to be done on time and done well.”

“The No. 1 thing is really how it impacts the experience inside that venue,” Veatch said. “You started to get a sense of it last year in terms of how much louder it’s going to be and how much it feels more Colosseum-esque when you’re inside it now looking straight up and down, particularly when you’re in that north end. It is a huge statement in the midst of all this craziness that we’re going through in college athletics. We’re in a position as an institution and as supporters to invest in something like that that’s going to have that kind of impact.”

Veatch said in an interview with the Ledger that a football camp was done in Mexico for several years under former coach Gary Pinkel. It was during the latter part of his 1997-2006 tenure with Mizzou as part of the Tiger Scholarship Fund — now Mizzou Athletics Fund — office before becoming the regional vice president for Learfield Sports in Missouri. He has also served in athletics administrative positions at Texas, Iowa State, Kansas State and Florida.

Veatch said the bus tour has 20 “ambush stops” along with its planned main stops over three days. Mexico was ambushed because its region of the state is “a central point,” Veatch said, after last year’s tour covered the south half of the state. He said the tour likes to roll through smaller towns so Mizzou can show its appreciation by committing its time to fans and through gifts to local businesses, like it did in downtown Mexico before going to the next stop.

“I love these kinds of events and tours because it reminds you what our people are all about,” Veatch told the Ledger. “We are the University of Missouri, so we represent this entire state. Those relationships are really important. It’s important for us not only to see a name on a ticket roll but also to make a connection with a person.”

Veatch, who grew up in the Midwest, said he has always loved the “college-town kind of experience” and called Mizzou the “quintessential college town.” He said the people have always been caring and “down-to-earth.”

In Veatch’s first season as Mizzou athletic director in 2024-25, football had its second straight 10-win season, men’s basketball returned to the NCAA tournament, gymnastics finished third in the nation and volleyball advanced to the Sweet 16. Two of those sports were represented at The Oaks.

Director of Volleyball Operations Emily Garrett expressed excitement about developments in the program, which has three straight winning seasons, and how it will play Nebraska at Wrigley Field on Sept. 6. Gymnastics head coach Shannon Welker spoke about the importance of making the program consistently competitive over his 12 years, including its best ever finish with that aforementioned third-place ranking.

“Things at Mizzou are really good,” Veatch said. “We have really good leadership. The president and board of curators are really supportive of athletics. We’ve got really good coaches and a lot of momentum going.”