Eli Drinkwitz Comments on Job Speculation: 'I Love What We're Building'

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Eli Drinkwitz's name has been front and center on the coaching carousel. Whether it's been Happy Valley, Gainesville or Baton Rouge, a cloud of speculation has surrounded the Missouri head coach.

But as for Drinkwitz himself, he's focused on being where his feet are.

"I'm not going to comment on message board chatter, tweets, sources," Drinkwitz said in a press conference Tuesday. "I've maintained with you (the media) and our team that my complete focus is on the task at hand."

The speculation about Drinkwitz's future has been all over the place this season.

So has the narrative about the job he's doing in Columbia. Especially after Missouri lost to Texas A&M in Week 11, virtually eliminating the Tigers from the College Football Playoff and putting Missouri's record against ranked SEC teams at 0-6 over the last two season.

Missouri bounced back from that loss with a 49-point performance over Mississippi State in Week 12, the Tigers' highest-scoring SEC game since 2020.

"Last week, people were tired of me because I couldn't win the big game," Drinkwitz said, addressing the reaction to the loss to Texas A&M. "Now this week, it's a different story, because we scored the second-most points in the SEC this year at 49 so, all of this stuff is just a distraction."

Through the ebbs and flows of the season, Drinkwitz has tried to maintain consistency and not lose sight of what the program has still accomplished over the last three seasons.

"I would like to remind everybody, including our fans, we absolutely love Mizzou," Drinkwitz said. "We love what we're building. We've been to six-straight bowl games. We got the sell-out streak going. Our administration has been nothing but phenomenal to me."

There's still undeniably another step, or a few, for Missouri to take as a program. The expectation entering the last two seasons has been that the team would contend for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Instead, the team's chances at a playoff bid have ended by mid-November in both seasons.

Drinkwitz isn't oblivious to that bridge that still needs to be crossed.

"The next jump is going to be the hardest jump," Drinkwitz said. "But going from good to great is the hardest jump possible. And I got to lean into it as the leader of this organization to what it's going to take. And what it's going to take is pushing harder than I pushed to get to this point."

What's kept speculation about Drinkwitz's future with Missouri still running is the fact that he, unlike quite a few other top candidates, hasn't signed an extension this season.

Texas A&M's Mike Elko signed one over the weekend. Indiana's Curt Cignetti signed one earlier this season. So did Rhett Lashlee at SMU.

But there isn't any tension or disagreement between Drinkwitz and the athletic administration.

As Drinkwitz brought up, the administration has constantly invested in him over the last few seasons. That's included the construction of a $33 million dollar indoor practice facility, plus the ongoing $250-million renovations on Memorial Stadium.

Drinkwitz has also signed multiple extensions over recent years that have made him the 11th-highest paid coach in college football, making $9 million this season. That salary will raise to $9.25 million for 2026 and 2027, then to $9.5 million for 2028 and 2029.

An extension Drinkwitz signed this summer also included an increase in the salary pool for the assistant coaching staff.

"Since I've been here, I've signed multiple extensions," Drinkwitz said. "So all the speculation is really a tribute to them (Missouri's athletic program), and it's a tribute to our team's success and their commitment to our team, and that's where my focus is going to remain — our team and our current situation."

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