Eliah Drinkwitz retains Ryan Walters as Mizzou’s defensive coordinator
Missouri Tigers coach Eliah Drinkwitz has his defensive coordinator. It’s the same guy who called the shots under the previous regime in Ryan Walters, Mizzou announced Wednesday.
Walters joins Brick Haley as the two staffers under former coach Barry Odom to stay onboard.
“I’m very excited for the opportunity to continue to build on what we’ve done defensively this past season,” Walters said in a release. “We’ve got a good group of guys coming back and they’re excited to get to work. Columbia has been very good to me and my family and we’re thrilled to be part of the community and Mizzou.
“I’m excited to work with Coach Drink, he’s one of the most respected bright minds in our profession, and I’ve been impressed with his energy, organization and vision in our short time together. I’m looking forward to competing under his leadership and getting us on top of the SEC East.”
Walters’ positional coaching duties will be assigned once Drinkwitz completes the rest of his staff. Drinkwitz still has four of 10 spots open. Alongside his defensive coordinator responsibilities, Walters was the safeties coach in 2019. He served as defensive coordinator the past two years at Mizzou. Walters arrived in Columbia before the 2015 season from Memphis, following Odom.
Drinkwitz has a $5.2 million pool for his 10 assistant coaches as part of his contract. Walters is set to make $800,000 for the next two seasons.
The Walters-led 2019 defense had a stellar year, allowing 19.4 points per game, 17th in the nation. The Tigers switched to a 4-2-5 base defense to combat spread offenses, which led to the second-best pass defense in the SEC, yielding 179.3 yards per game.