Mizzou Central

Mizzou's Drinkwitz Named to Coach of the Year Watchlist: The Buzz

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Amber Winkler|
Sep 20, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz participates in Tiger Walk at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium.
Sep 20, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz participates in Tiger Walk at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. | Sam Simon/MissouriOnSI

With a 5-1 start to the season and their only loss being to Alabama, the Missouri Tigers have proved to be one of the best teams in the country. Atop the reasons behind their success is head coach Eli Drinkwiz.

Many are starting to take notice of this, with Drinkwitz recently being named to the Paul 'Bear' Bryant Coach of the Year watch list. This is given to coaches "demonstrating grit, integrity and a winning approach to coaching and life – both on and off the field." There are 27 other names on that watch list.

This is Drinkwitz's sixth year with the Tigers. During that time, he has amassed a record of 43-25 and 26-6 record in the last three season. Missouri currently has both a top-ranking offense and defense in the conference for the 2025 campaign.

His success of late has resulted in Drinkwitz hearing his name floated around as candidates for open head coach positions, most recently with the Penn State heach coach position after the firing of James Franklin. But Drinkwitz has a stark response to all that.

"There's just wild, outlandish reporting," Drinkwitz said is press conference previewing Auburn. "I'll bet every sitting head coach has been listed as a candidate for some job so far, and as a team, as a coach, we got to ignore the noise and focus on the things that we can control, which is winning and losing football games."

Wednesday's Mizzou Results

Nothing was scheduled.

Thursday's Mizzou Schedule

Soccer will take on Texas A&M in College Station at 7:30 p.m. — stats, watch

Did you notice?

  • The Tigers have been without offensive lineman Logan Reichert since the season began due to an injury, but there is a chance he could play against Auburn on Saturday. Find out more about the players' availability here.
  • Mizzou Football has extended an offer to class of 2027 defensive end Myles Smith.
  • Mizzou basketball head coach Dennis Gates and women's basketball head coach Kellie Harper participated in SEC Tipoff on Wednesday. Find out what Gates had to say here and what Harper had to say here.

Mizzou Quote of the Day:

“None of my family had played [collegiate sports], so we didn’t know how it worked. You just did what you had to do. You put your head down and worked hard.”

Brad Smith

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Amber Winkler
AMBER WINKLER

Amber Winkler is a sports journalist and photographer from St. Charles, Mo., and has been the primary baseball writer for Missouri Tigers On SI since 2024. She’s also covered football and basketball as an intern.

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