Drinkwitz’s first impression at Mizzou: good. Sterk’s role in his hire: not so much
Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk led the search that ultimately led to what appears to be a promising hire as football coach ... despite the search being led by Sterk.
Eliah Drinkwitz is the man, and aside from an unforgettable name he has both the background and presentation of a big-swing hire: 36 years old, offense- and quarterback-centric, a hot name after pushing Appalachian State to a Sun Belt championship and No. 20 ranking.
He looks a little like Ed Helms in “The Hangover” (before they get to Vegas) and presents a lot like Al Pacino in “Any Given Sunday.”
He often speaks in motivational metaphors, learned college offense as a quality control coach during Auburn’s 2010 national championship run and has since taken that system and created something new — the base offense is no-huddle and hurry-up, with much put on the quarterback’s ability to process before and after the snap.
He is innovative, energetic, and in his introductory news conference here Tuesday pulled off every good coach’s magic trick — come off as both confident enough to lift a program while humble enough to root for.
“This opportunity was an opportunity of a lifetime,” he said. “It wasn’t just another job. It was an opportunity of a lifetime.”
In other words, he is the actual embodiment of the profile a lot of us thought Missouri should pursue.
More specifically and to the point about Sterk: Drinkwitz is the embodiment of the profile Mizzou should’ve pursued from the beginning without the University of Missouri System Board of Curators turning into bumper lanes for the athletic director.
Sterk wanted his search to be direct and confidential and, as it turned out, he achieved neither. He presented three names to the board — including the perennially underwhelming candidate Skip Holtz — and was effectively told to try better. A few days later, he offered the job to someone he did not initially pursue.
Depending on how you look at it, the curators had higher standards than the athletic director, a better feel for what might be embraced by and succeed for Mizzou fans, or all of the above.
Hiring the right football coach is an AD’s single most important job. Sterk messed up the process, and if the result turns out well he should be eternally grateful to the board, chaired by former basketball star Jon Sundvold.
Sterk won what reporting by PowerMizzou described as a power struggle with Barry Odom. Sterk fired Odom, which is literally his right in his job, but by doing so without an apparent or acceptable plan to upgrade afterward he diminished his own standing in the eyes of some important people. Once that process starts it can be hard to reverse.
The best-case scenario for Sterk is that Drinkwitz is so successful that none of this matters, and you can see a path for that to happen.
Drinkwitz began coaching seventh-graders at Alma (Arkansas) Middle School in 2005 — “both the green and gold teams,” he noted — and said he thought he’d be a career high school coach until Gus Malzahn offered him an entry-level job at Auburn.
Drinkwitz and his wife had a two-month-old daughter but sold their house and moved into an apartment so he could begin pursuing a new dream with a new salary of $15,000 “and no benefits.”
His career has been something like a rocket ship ever since: He joined Bryan Harsin’s staff at Arkansas State for two years, followed him to Boise State for two, and was the offensive coordinator at North Carolina State for three before taking over App State.
On Tuesday, he promised fast offense “that will be fun to watch,” defense that will stop the run first and harass quarterbacks always, and special teams that will be “the heartbeat” of the program. He is deeply Christian.
He said he would recruit Missouri first, but also concentrate on Texas and “wherever there’s a direct flight from Kansas City or St. Louis.” He talked of looking for “low ego, high output.”
We live in a world where “winning the press conference” is somehow still a thing, even though the truth is that anyone incapable of winning a press conference is also incapable of getting a job that has one.
But it’s apparent how Drinkwitz has achieved success, aside from his ability to coach quarterbacks and develop offense. His presentation is direct and confident but never strays from the collective.
“I can’t do it alone,” he said. “I’m not the magic. We are the magic.”
You can see how that message would be effective in recruiting, in the locker room and with fans and donors. Drinkwitz spoke respectfully of Odom, while often talking of the need to “reignite our passion.”
It’s all a guess with Drinkwitz, both in how he’ll do and what Mizzou football will look like going forward. There is so much to fill in, starting with recruiting the guys already on the roster and prospects who’ve committed or considered Mizzou. Drinkwitz will need to hire a staff, and will have slightly more money than Odom had and full control over hires, according to Sterk.
The indications are positive, but a cynic could say the early indications are always positive. Drinkwitz is walking into a difficult job, open because the last guy was fired after winning enough games to be bowl eligible three years in a row.
In that way, Drinkwitz is dead right. He can’t do it alone. He’ll need help from some, full buy-in from others, and both from a select few.
The awkward part is Sterk’s role going forward. He is the boss-in-title of a man he didn’t want initially, and now that man will be the single-most important in determining the long-term health of Sterk’s program.
Drinkwitz’s job is to be so successful none of that matters, but at the moment it’s easy to wonder: If Drinkwitz earns a contract extension, will Sterk be the one to give it to him?
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 3:14 PM.