Contract extension for Missouri Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz will pay him $6 million in 2023
The contract extension for Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz will pay him $6 million in 2023 and $7 million annually by the last year of the deal, 2027.
The university announced Drinkwitz’s extension last Saturday before the Tigers’ fell to Kentucky 21-17. The deal includes an additional $1.1 million pool the program can use for on field assistant coaches and $1.2 million more for others on the football staff.
Under his previous contract, Drinkwitz made $4 million per season in total compensation. For his deal, the $450,000 base remains the same. The increases come in supplemental income.
Contract details were reported by Gabe DeArmond of PowerMizzou.com.
Drinkwitz’s new deal will make him the eighth-highest-paid coach in the SEC.
HIred following the 2019 season after making his head coach debut at Appalachian State, Drinkwitz is 15-17 overall at Missouri and 10-14 in SEC games. The Tigers are 4-5 this season (2-4 SEC) entering Saturday’s game at Tennessee. Mizzou concludes its regular-season with home games against New Mexico State and Arkansas.
After Saturday’s game, Drinkwitz thanks MIssouri preisdent Mun Choi and athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois
“I’m incredibly grateful,” Drinkwitz said. “It’s the belief in how we’re doing it and the direction we’re going, and I really appreciate that belief. ... I talked about it a couple of weeks ago: I really feel like we’ve improved in a lot of ways. The results will come.”
Also last week, defensive coordinator Blake Baker received a contract extension through the 2025 season. The Tigers’ defense has experienced massive improvement this season. Missouri ranks 14th nationally in average yards allowed. Last year, the Tigers ranked 113th.
“I do believe in what we are doing here,” Baker said. “I believe in Coach Drink’s vision, I believe in the players that we currently have and I believe in the ability to recruit here.”
Baker will make $1.1 million in 2023, a $500,000 raise from this year’s salary. This is his first year with the program. He came to Mizzou from LSU to coach the Tigers’ safeties and was elevated to the coordinator’s role when Steve Wilks left after last season to join the Carolina Panthers’ NFL staff.
Baker and Drinkwitz had served on the same staff once before, as assistant coaches at Arkansas State in 2013.
This story was originally published November 9, 2022 at 1:21 PM.