Mizzou football: Jim Sterk salvages near-disastrous coaching search by hiring Eliah Drinkwitz
When Mizzou fired Barry Odom, it was clear AD Jim Sterk needed to make a hire that would energize the fan base. There have been too many empty seats at Faurot Field and too much apathy from fans in recent years.
That’s the toll that repeated embarrassing and bad losses (Purdue in 2017, Kentucky and South Carolina in 2018 and Wyoming and Vanderbilt in 2019, just to name a few) take on fans, and Odom’s tenure saw too many for some to stomach.
So, needing to make a splashy hire that would reignite passion for Mizzou football, Sterk reportedly came to the Board of Curators with a 3-man list of … Arkansas State’s Blake Anderson, Army’s Jeff Monken and Louisiana Tech’s Skip Holtz. Uh … what?
Let it be known those are all solid coaches who do outstanding work, but they aren’t exactly the sort of guys who make you pump your fist and say “yeah!” Having Monken on the list was especially egregious, as he runs a triple-option offense. If you’re going to fire a .500 coach to bring in a guy who runs the triple-option, why even fire the original coach?
Again, Monken is a heck of a coach and his system has worked really well at Army, but Army doesn’t play in the SEC. If the rumors surrounding any of those 3 uninspiring candidates continued, and if the search itself stretched into Monday, I was going to write a column wondering if there was something Mizzou could learn from Tennessee’s 2017 search, during which then-Vol AD John Currie was replaced before making a hire.
Seriously, that’s how bad this search was trending.
Then, on Sunday … well, I’ll let Harry Dunne from “Dumb & Dumber” deliver my message to Sterk for me:
(For those of you who aren’t in a position to watch that video, Harry tells Lloyd, “Just when I think you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this … and totally redeem yourself!”)
That is the perfect quote to sum up my feelings about Sterk’s decision to hire Eliah Drinkwitz away from Appalachian State — a decision formally announced Tuesday morning. I’m in, Jim. I love this move and can’t wait to see what the Drinkwitz era brings to Columbia!
Going into the search, I said that the Tigers needed someone who can recruit, someone who could energize the fan base and his players, and someone who came from an offensive background. Drinkwitz checks the latter 2 boxes, and we’ll find out soon enough about the recruiting.
Drinkwitz is only 36, and his youth should be an advantage with today’s players. We’ve seen numerous coaches in their mid-30s have success, and Drinkwitz has already had a high level of success. Even as recently as Saturday, he led the Mountaineers to a 45-38 victory in the Sun Belt title game.
As for recruiting, there’s reason for optimism. Drinkwitz is an Oklahoma native who played at Arkansas Tech and got his start as a high school coach in Arkansas. He also has stints at Auburn, Boise State, Arkansas State, NC State and Appalachian State on his résumé. The significance of that is many of those places are places Mizzou needs to be able to recruit in.
The Carolinas are an area where a number of great high school players are developed. Even on this year’s Mizzou roster, star RB Larry Rountree III is from North Carolina.
At those stops mentioned above, Drinkwitz led some pretty potent offenses. Appalachian State ranked No. 9 in scoring offense at the FBS level this year, scoring 39.4 points per game. But perhaps the biggest credit to his offensive brilliance comes from comparing the 2018 NC State offense to the 2019 NC State offense. (Drinkwitz was the Wolfpack’s offensive coordinator from 2016-2018).
In 2018, NC State ranked No. 31 in scoring, averaging 33.8 points per game. This year, the Wolfpack were No. 106 in scoring, dropping to only 22.1 points per game. Yes, they also had to replace QB Ryan Finley, but that’s a drastic drop-off.
He’ll have to hit the ground running when he gets to Columbia, as the Early Signing Period is rapidly approaching. Can he recruit at a level better than Odom? Odom’s recruiting classes were ranked 13th in the SEC every year, which wasn’t cutting it.
If Drinkwitz can at least improve on that lackluster recruiting and reignite the Tigers’ stagnant offense, he’ll validate Sterk’s decision to hire him and become a very popular man in Columbia.
Personally I like the hire. Solid resume, a very obvious up-and-comer that would have been snagged away by somebody like Michigan in a few years when they decide they’ve had enough of Harbaugh. Make no mistake, he’s got his work cut out for him, but it seems he got the fire to make something happen. Looking forward to Mizzou football in the fall.
Fingers crossed for Drinkwitz, but I still feel that the Odom era ended prematurely.
Injuries and lack of depth ran this season into the ground. Losing JJ and AO only exacerbated the issues with the receiving corps, and the legs of KB gave out.
I’m warming to this hire. He seems like a solid guy and he has had great success at all his stops. Problem is he really only has one year of head coaching experience, so we’ll see.
I think it will be crucial to see who he picks as his DC. If somehow we can have a solid D, and get back to D-Line U status, then that combined with his high octane offense would be a fun team to watch and one that is capable of winning a lot of games.
This hire was worth the risk. Odom had way too many head scratching losses and needed to go.
Seems like a good hire. The fascinating thing to watch will be Mizzou’s defense with Odom’s departure.
Will Drinkwitz retain the services of Dooley and Walters?
I believe this morning he mentioned he would act as both HC and AC. Nothing official, but I think Dooley is gone
He said he will be doing the play calling so bye dooley
He better not keep on those two, if he did keep either of them we instantly know he’s not the guy for the job.
95% of the citizens in the state of Missouri demonstrate a Schizoid Personality Disorder, so forget about “firing up” the fan base.
Lol, you went from asking a legitimate football question 15 minutes ago to pulling something out of left field 6 minutes later. You represent the 95% well!
Everyone always has initial reactions based on what they were expecting or candidates they personally preferred. Whether you’re pumped up and inspired or underwhelmed, the realization stage soon sets in that this is the guy leading your team. Good hire/bad hire debates become old fast and you’re ready get behind it because, well, that’s just what most fans do.
I’d suggest equally important on your list of check boxes is hiring assistants, something previous coaches at Mizzou struggled mightily with. He appears to know what he’s doing but now he’s at the next level and doing it hear will be different. Certainly better than Monken but almost equally obscure as Campbell and Holtz. Sterk has now rolled the dice on “his guy” and will now go into cheerleader mode promoting him. His career at Mizzou is now riding on what Drinkwitz does.
If Drinkwitz cleans up problems with execution/tackling, penalties/attitude, stops playing giveaway in opening games and road games he’ll eclipse Odom.
Those are typically things your assistants get done, while the HC takes on other duties besides making sure those get done as well.
Monken runs a triple-option because he is at Army, he didn’t run it before that. Drinkwitz is an exciting hire, but Monken is a really good coach who is made Army respectable after years of bad football.
yes, and both the Navy and Air Force coach would be even better hires
Great hire they will definitely win the Sun Belt conference by year 2.
hahhahahahhaa
Maybe your Hogs will win the SEC West in Year 20.
Adam, this is the hire I was hoping for, one that would surprise me but also make me happy at the same time. While a Kiffin might “check all the boxes” Eli D is an up and comer that could be a special find. As you said he would clearly be snatched up by a Power 5 team in the next few years had Mizzou not gotten him first.
Now we see if he can become a top SEC coach and demand the pay check that goes with it, it’s not that Mizzou can’t pay top dollar for a coach, so far we just haven’t had a chance.
At least Drinkz will be the best program in Missouri, while your howgs slide backward and get passed up by little brother at State… lol
Well, to my way of thinking…this is a last-grasp hire. Drinkwitz was a 1st year coach at Appy(wher the program was built by Scott Satterfield now at Louisville). fact: He inherited a well-oiled machine and ran it for one(1) year(not enough time to see if he is a Good HC or not). Obviously Mizzou has problems=hence the coaching change. Drinkwitz made $750 K last year in Boone and now $3 Million, so it’s a great move for him financially(irregardless of his future success or failure at Mizzou). I know that all Mizzou fans are hungry for the W’s and in three(3) years, they will know ‘IF” this was a good hire. Lots of Luck.