Eli Drinkwitz inks long-term extension with Mizzou entering 2025
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Eli Drinkwitz has signed a new, long-term extension at Mizzou, the program officially announced on Thursday morning.
According to the details of the new deal, Drinkwitz is now under contract through the 2029 season. The head coach is entering his 6th season leading the Tigers, and he has presided over one of the most consistent stretches in program history.
Drinkwitz is 38-24 overall in his tenure, breaking the program record for most wins in a head coach’s first 5 seasons at Mizzou. He also holds the best home winning percentage (minimum 4 seasons) in program history.
“I’m incredibly grateful for the continued belief in our vision for Mizzou Football,” Eli Drinkwitz said via press release. “The Board of Curators, President Choi, Laird Veatch and our donors and fans have shown a deep commitment to building a championship-caliber program. That means investing in the people throughout our building who work tirelessly for our student-athletes. I’m proud of the staff we’ve assembled and excited to keep pushing forward together.”
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According to Eli Hoff with The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, it does not appear that there is a raise attached to Drinkwitz’s salary, which is still set to be $9 million this fall before escalators to $9.25 million and eventually to $9.5 million in the final seasons of the deal. However, the deal includes a raise to the assistant coaches’ salary pool.
The other area of interest is Drinkwitz’s buyout, but it’s unclear if that remains unchanged. During the spring, one anonymous SEC coach singled out Drinkwitz and described the head coach and his staff as “underrated” and said that Drinkwitz “should be on everyone’s shortlist” for future head coaching openings.
If a significant job opens up this year, Mizzou may find itself needing to throw another raise at Drinkwitz before long.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
