Mizzou Tigers set to hire Appalachian State’s Eli Drinkwitz as next football coach
The Missouri Tigers and Mizzou athletic director Jim Sterk apparently have their guy: Appalachian State coach Eli Drinkwitz.
ESPN’s Chris Low was the first to confirm that it will be official, pending the Missouri System Board of Curators’ approval. Nothing has been signed yet, a source told The Star.
The next step would be for the curators to approve a seven-figure contract. The board must post a one-day notice before meeting publicly to ratify a hire. No notice of a meeting was posted as of about 8 p.m. Sunday evening.
Drinkwitz, 36, was in his first year coaching the Mountaineers, leading them to a 12-1 record and a Sun Belt Conference championship Saturday. Appalachian State finished No. 20 in the final College Football Playoff rankings and is headed to the New Orleans Bowl.
Drinkwitz would succeed former Mizzou coach Barry Odom, who was fired on Nov. 30 following four seasons and a 25-25 record.
While Drinkwitz would be fairly young as an SEC head coach, he has plenty of coaching experience, a strength Sterk said he was seeking since the onset of the search. Before his lone season with the Mountaineers, Drinkwitz spent three years at North Carolina State as offensive coordinator. He served stints at Arkansas State and Boise State in the same role.
In his first year, Drinkwitz will inherit a program subjected to a four scholarship reductions and recruiting restrictions. On Nov. 26, the NCAA denied Mizzou’s infractions appeal, concluding its investigatory and review process after a rogue tutor admitted to completing schoolwork for 12 Mizzou student-athletes.
Other penalties imposed by the NCAA on Mizzou’s football program include fees, probation and a postseason ban, which is why the Tigers were not selected to a postseason game Sunday despite being bowl-eligible with six wins — the Tigers endured a five-game losing streak and finished 6-6 this season after being ranked nationally at one point in The Associated Press Top 25.
Drinkwitz would inherit a roster missing three players who’ve recently declared their intent to enter the 2020 NFL Draft — defensive lineman Jordan Elliott, tight end Albert Okwuegbunam and center Trystan Colon-Castillo. Also, freshman quarterback Connor Bazelak tore his ACL in the last game of the season, a win against Arkansas.
But there are key pieces to build on in Columbia, too, including linebacker Nick Bolton and quarterback Shawn Robinson.
After a 45-38 victory over Louisiana Saturday in Boone, N.C., a victory that clinched Appalachian State’s second straight Sun Belt title and a date in New Orleans against Alabama-Birmingham on Dec. 21, Drinkwitz was asked during his postgame news conference about his future, including the Arkansas coaching vacancy — which he’d reportedly also been tied to.
He deflected reporters’ questions, saying he was unsure about what lie ahead.
“I owe it to my family to see if that’s something we’re interested in,” Drinkwitz told reporters in . “It’s going to be a crazy time, but the most important thing for me is just to enjoy the moment right now. Then we’ll figure it all out. The best answer I’ve got for you is ‘I don’t know.’”
On Sunday, Drinkwitz tweeted out #FamilyFirst as he was watching his daughter at a dance recital.
Like the four candidates previously reported to be on Sterk’s candidate short-list, Drinkwitz is considered an offense-first coach. He’s said to have a bright football mind and would no doubt breathe fresh air into a Mizzou offense that had stagnated in 2019.
His hire by MU would represent a fundamental shift from Odom, a defensive coach and former Missouri linebacker before taking over the Tigers’ top job — including under former coach Gary Pinkel, Mizzou’s all-time winningest coach. Sterk cited declining attendance figures, this season’s collapse and other factors as reasons for firing Odom.
According to USA Today’s coaching salary database, Drinkwitz makes $750,000 annually. Odom made $3.05 million — a raise was given to him last year via a contract extension, but he was still the lowest-paid head coach in the SEC — meaning Mizzou would almost certainly offer Drinkwitz a significant pay raise.
One of Drinkwitz’s first priorities in Columbia would be recruiting. Sterk said last week that he wanted the coaching search done within two weeks due to the NCAA’s early signing period, which runs from Dec. 18-20. Interim head coach Brick Haley has been on the recruiting trail since Odom’s dismissal.
Drinkwitz’s hiring would wrap up an eight-day search led by Sterk. His initial list of candidates included Arkansas State’s Blake Anderson, Louisiana Tech’s Skip Holtz, Army’s Jeff Monken and Nevada’s Jay Norvell.
This story was originally published December 8, 2019 at 6:45 PM.