Mizzou football and Eliah Drinkwitz assign assistants with positional duties
Missouri Tigers coach Eliah Drinkwitz put his finishing touches on his assistant coaching staff as he assigned them with specific positional duties.
As Drinkwitz said in his introductory news conference, the 36-year-old will assume offensive coordinator and playcalling duties. Drinkwitz also said he will work closely with his quarterbacks individually, though Bush Hamdan will serve as quarterbacks and wide receivers coach.
The three holdovers from former Mizzou coach Barry Odom’s staff will keep their roles. Ryan Walters will continue as defensive coordinator and safeties coach. Brick Haley is still the defensive line coach. David Gibbs will again coach the secondary.
The three assistants who followed Drinkwitz from Appalachian State are also in similar roles at Mizzou. Erik Link is special teams coordinator, Charlie Harbison will coach defensive backs and DJ Smith is in charge of the linebackers.
Mizzou finalized a majority of contracts for Drinkwitz’s assistants last week. Gibbs and Walters are still looking to renew their contracts, while Marcus Johnson has yet to formally sign. As part of Drinkwitz’s contract, he had a $5.2 million pool to pay 10 assistant coaches.
Assistant coaching duties
Previous school and role in parentheses
Bush Hamdan, quarterbacks and wide receivers coach (Washington offensive coordinator)
Curtis Luper, running backs coach (TCU co-offensive coordinator)
Marcus Johnson, offensive line coach (Mississippi State offensive line coach)
Casey Woods, tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator (UAB tight ends coach)
Erik Link, special teams coordinator (Appalachian State special teams coordinator)
Ryan Walters*, defensive coordinator and safeties coach
Brick Haley*, defensive line coach
DJ Smith, linebackers coach (Appalachian State linebackers coach)
Charlie Harbison, defensive backs coach (Appalachian State cornerbacks coach)
David Gibbs*, secondaries coach
*retained from Odom’s staff