One year in, Mizzou’s Drinkwitz without much time to reflect amid hectic schedule
One year ago, Eliah Drinkwitz was fresh off a Sun Belt title with Appalachian State, leading the Mountaineers to a 12-1 record. He was in the thick of interviewing with multiple schools for their head coaching position.
But first, his wife, Lindsey, made him watch his daughter’s performance of “The Nutcracker” before any interviews.
Tuesday was one year ago to the day Drinkwitz was set to become Mizzou’s top guy. The University of Missouri Board of Curators still had to ratify and approve the contract — which was a few days later — but Drinkwitz was on his way to his first Power Five gig.
Drinkwitz, 37, hasn’t had much time to relax since, what between a pandemic, a racial reckoning of this country over the summer, the football season, recruiting and whatever else.
These next few weeks aren’t going to ease up on him either between the season and the early signing period.
“Boy, it’s been a year,” Drinkwitz said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. “It’s been a wild ride. It’s actually for me been a wild two years. Haven’t had really much time to take a breath on any of it. I think, for me, one of the main things for this year was to lay a foundation.”
Mizzou’s primary focus this week is its 11 a.m. Saturday game against No. 12 Georgia at Memorial Stadium. MU will once again be handicapped as Drinkwitz said the Tigers are at 59 scholarship players available because of COVID-19, injuries and opt outs. Two players are also in quarantine because of contact tracing, Drinkwitz said.
The game was originally rescheduled from Nov. 14, when it was initially postponed because the Tigers had fallen below the positional threshold at defensive line by one player.
MU is now 5-3, having won five of its last six games. Drinkwitz’s team has exceeded nearly every preseason expectation, locked in, at worst, as third in the SEC East.
“The past is the past,” Drinkwitz said. “The future is ours to take. We know what the foundation is, we have an opportunity in front of us to play Georgia this week to measure ourselves. To see where we’re at in comparison to them.”
In normal years, the Tigers would have finished their regular season and learned their bowl game fate by now. That leaves coaches time to prepare for the relatively new addition of the early signing period, which is Dec. 16 this year. There’s also the normal signing period for the 2021 recruiting class, which is still the first Wednesday in February.
One problem: the Tigers are still in the middle of the 2020 season. That means Drinkwitz is double-dipping these next few weeks between recruiting for that early signing period and game-planning for their next opponent.
That’s just another item to Drinkwitz’s list. But it’s one that’s been a major success for the first-year coach. He’s garnered momentum for his 2021 recruiting class and has already picked up the first few pieces for the following class, including four-star St. Louis safety Isaac Thompson’s commitment.
“The (2022) class is, in my opinion, as talented a group as any single state that I’ve been in,” Drinkwitz said. “I’ve been in a ton of different states but it’s really, really good. We’ve got to do a great job building relationships and connections.”
Roster update
The Tigers saw their team shaken up a bit within the past few days. Drinkwitz said defensive lineman Tre Williams is “exploring opportunities outside of Mizzou football.” Williams went through Senior Day ceremonies in the Arkansas win. However, because of the NCAA granting an additional year of eligibility, Williams can play elsewhere if he chooses that path.
Cornerback Jarvis Ware also suffered a “significant” injury, Drinkwitz said. He’ll be out for Saturday’s game at least as Drinkwitz said Ware will get a second opinion.
Defensive tackle Kobie Whiteside and wide receiver Tauskie Dove are also questionable with injuries, Drinkwitz said. Both will wear non-contact jerseys during practice and will be re-evaluated later in the week.
On the bright side, quarterback Shawn Robinson is back in practice. He had been unavailable for the past two games because of COVID-19 considerations. True freshman quarterback Brady Cook had served as Connor Bazelak’s backup in the meantime.
Cook played in the past two games, though for varying reasons. He threw his first career touchdown pass against Vanderbilt late in the 41-0 win. Cook was pushed into action early against Arkansas after Bazelak had to be taken out of the game because of injury. Cook fumbled the snap on his lone play and lost yards, though a defensive penalty meant there was no harm. Bazelak was back in the game for the very next play.
Top assistant
The 56 nominees for the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant coach, were announced Tuesday. Mizzou offensive line coach Marcus Johnson was the lone MU assistant on the list. Drinkwitz hired Johnson after he coached the same position at Mississippi State from 2018-19.
Former MU coach Barry Odom was also on the list. The Tigers just defeated Odom, now Arkansas’ defensive coordinator, 50-48 last Saturday on Senior Day.