Mizzou football coach Eli Drinkwitz makes prestigious list for 2nd straight year
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- Eli Drinkwitz joins 2025 Dodd Trophy watch list recognizing coaching excellence.
- Missouri holds 21-5 record over two years under Drinkwitz's leadership.
- SEC leads with eight coaches on the Dodd Trophy preseason nominee list.
Missouri Tigers football coach Eli Drinkwitz is in a prestigious class with some of the most acclaimed leaders in college football.
Drinkwitz on Monday was named to the 2025 Dodd Trophy preseason watch list. The Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Peach Bowl, Inc. announced the 26 nominees to open the week.
The Southeastern Conference leads all conferences with eight on the list, including Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Texas’ Steve Sarkisian and Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer.
Named after the 22-year Georgia Tech head coach Bobby Dodd — who led the Yellow Jackets to a national title in 1952 — the Dodd Trophy is one of the most coveted coaching awards in college football. It honors the three pillars of Dodd’s coaching philosophy: “scholarship, leadership and integrity.”
“As we enter our 50th anniversary season, we’re looking for exceptional candidates to join the storied fraternity of coaching greats who have previously won The Dodd Trophy,” chairman of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation Jim Terry said in a news release. “Over the last half century, this award has always stood for more than just wins on the field, but also focuses on how coaches should embody leadership with their student-athletes in the classroom and throughout their communities.
“Keeping this in mind, we only consider coaches whose programs have earned the highest (Academic Progress Rates) and require coaches to have at least two years of experience leading their current programs, so that they have had time to establish a precedent at their universities, both on and off the field.”
Drinkwitz cracked the preseason watch list last year, too. He was a finalist in 2023 despite not making the watch list, though he fell short to Florida State coach Mike Norvell.
Both Drinkwitz and the Tigers have taken a leap forward since he last missed the preseason watch list. Under his tutelage the program has a 21-5 record over the last two seasons and the Tigers are 11-5 in SEC play, which is tied for the third best two-year stretch in program history.
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