Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz and Mark Stoops have been SEC competitors since 2020. In their shared time, they’ve split 4 regular season matchups. They appear to have a solid friendship, one that was evident at SEC Media Days back in July.
Unfortunately, when Kentucky fired Stoops on Monday, their SEC battles came to a screeching halt. Drinkwitz knows Stoops’ final years — and last 2 games — in Lexington weren’t what Big Blue Nation hoped for, but he’s perfectly aware of his impact on the Wildcats’ program. Early Tuesday morning, he took to X (formerly Twitter) to share an appreciation for Stoops’ accomplishments.
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“Mark Stoops is a great man and a terrific football coach and leader. He is well respected by his peers, players, and colleagues!” the Mizzou coach wrote. “He left Ky Football better than he found it! All the best as you begin a new chapter!”
Stoops finished his Kentucky career with an 82-80 record. He went 80-70 in his final 12 seasons, the middle 8 of which he took the Wildcats to a bowl game. He won 10 games twice (2018 & 2021), matching Kentucky’s total amount of double-digit win campaigns prior to his arrival.
Like Stoops in Lexington, Drinkwitz is making his own mark at Mizzou. He has orchestrated 2 of the Tigers’ 8 10-win campaigns in 6 years at the helm in Columbia. If Drinkwitz can lead Missouri to victory in its bowl game, he’ll become the first head coach in program history to win 9 or more games in 3 consecutive seasons. The Tigers will learn which bowl game they’re headed to — and who their opponent is — on Sunday, Dec. 7.
