Eliah Drinkwitz gets salary increase, becomes highest-paid Mizzou coach ever: Report
Missouri approved a two-year contract extension for football coach Eliah Drinkwitz, the school announced Saturday. Drinkwitz’s salary increases from $4 million to $6 million next year, with incremental raises each year through the 2027 season, according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Here’s what you need to know:
- Drinkwitz is in his third season at Mizzou after joining the program in 2019, and originally signed an agreement through the 2025 season.
- Drinkwitz, 39, led the Tigers to bowl appearances in each of his first two seasons, becoming the second head coach in the program’s history to achieve that feat after Warren Powers in 1978 and 1979.
- With the latest contract, Drinkwitz becomes the highest-paid coach in the school’s history in any sport, per The Post-Dispatch.
Backstory
His Tigers went 5-5 in conference-only play in 2020 and earned an invite to a Music City Bowl that was canceled. In 2021, Missouri went 6-7 with a last-second loss to Army in the Armed Forces Bowl under Drinkwitz. His staff has also brought in Mizzou’s highest-ranked recruiting classes ever: No. 19 in 2022 and No. 20 in 2021.
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Other SEC schools have also reached contract extensions with their football coaches this fall, including Tennessee and coach Josh Heupel, who agreed to a one-year contract extension in September that will keep him in Knoxville through 2028.
What they’re saying
Drinkwitz expressed gratitude and optimism for the Tigers’ program in a statement on Saturday.
“My family and I want to thank the Board of Curators, President Choi, and AD (Desireé) Reed-Francois for their faith in me as a coach and leader,” Drinkwitz said. “You can’t do this alone, and our players, coaches and staff have worked their tails off and stuck with the process as we’ve built this program. We feel strongly about our trajectory and are proud to represent our state’s flagship institution. We are grateful for the investment in our program from the administration and excited about the future of Mizzou Football!”
University of Missouri president Mun Choi backed Drinkwitz in a statement.
“Coach Drinkwitz and his staff have created great momentum in our football program,” Choi said. “You can feel the excitement and you see it in the fans as they have turned out in great numbers at Faurot Field. Coach Drinkwitz’s program is a key part of the results-driven, championship culture that AD Reed-Francois is building to help support our student-athletes. Like so many of our fans, I am excited to see what the future holds for Mizzou Football.”
Required reading
(Photo: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
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