Top Takeaways from Eli Drinkwitz at SEC Media Days

Eli Drinkwitz's appearance in Atlanta for SEC Media Days was filled with everything people have come to expect of the head coach of the Missouri Tigers — dry humor, candid thoughts on the state of college football, all mixed in with some insight on where things stand for the team entering 2025.

Here's the top things we learned from his multiple interviews.

LISTEN: Podcast - Mizzou SEC Media Days Reaction

The Quarterback Battle is Legit

At this point, it would be a waste of everyone’s time, including Eli Drinkwitz’s, to go through this whole charade of saying there’s a competition if Sam Horn wasn’t being seriously considered for the starting quarterback job. The common opinion is that Penn State transfer Beau Pribula would be the starter, but maybe that isn’t the case.

Drinkwitz said it best — there’s no reason to hide what’s going on right now, both for his team and Missouri’s opponents. Texas A&M smoke-screened their quarterback battle last season against the Tigers and it did give them a competitive advantage, so it can happen, but it truly seems like Drinkwitz doesn’t know who’s at the top of the list right now.

“Our quarterback competition, it would be easier for me and for all of our team if we could stand up and tell you who the starting quarterback was, and we're not trying to hide behind it,” Drinkwitz said on SEC Now on Thursday. “There's no competitive advantage. It's literally an unsettled position right now.”

If this really is the case, maybe the media and outside voices were wrong. It could be possible that Pribula hasn’t separated himself yet, or that Horn is playing some really good football. Nobody knows what’s going on behind the scenes in the competition and nobody has seen the two compete or play substantial minutes on a football field since high school.

We won’t know where things stand until Week 1 against Central Arkansas, and it may take longer than that for one of the two to truly solidify himself as the No. 1 guy. Until then, all anyone can do is speculate.

Drink “Doesn’t Care” What People Think

Even if you never heard Drinkwitz speak before, it wouldn’t take too long of listening to his opening remarks in Atlanta that he has little filter. That’s been true for Drinkwitz’s entire time at MU.

Thursday though, he was especially inspired by the late Mike Leach, one of Drinkwitz’s mentors.

“When I was thinking about it this morning on the elliptical,” Drinkwitz said of planning his comments, “I recalled, like Mike Leach would say whatever he wanted to say.”

Drinkwitz embodied that when talking about his idea for the College Football Playoff expansion, starting his comments with “This won’t do me any favors with our commissioner.”

READ: Could Eli Drinkwitz's Proposed Playoff Model Work?

Beyond that, Drinkwitz has more reason to be confident in himself and his team than ever before.

“Somebody asked me what the difference was in my five years being here,” Drinkwitz said. “In the first couple years, I cared what y'all thought about me. Now I don't.”

There’s still doubters to deal with — Missouri was selected by media members to finish 12th in the conference.

But, this season more than ever will be a test of the coaching of Drinkwitz and his staff. Another successful season would be as pure of a reflection of his ability as possible, having to rebuild the roster.

Because of this, outside noise doesn’t need to be a motivator for Drinkwitz and the Tigers this season. In the last two years, even when Drinkwitz would constantly repeat the ‘Something to Prove’ mantra not being about proving doubters wrong, he would still sporadically mention his thoughts on Missouri’s placement in polls.

But with two years of proof to show for it, Drinkwitz shouldn’t need the court of public opinion to validate his ability.

“I think it's rat poison either way,” Drinkwitz said. “Praise and blame are both the same. You can't care about it either way.”

Double Down on SEC Schedule Debate

Outside of the possible expansions to the College Football Playoff field, the other big debate on hand in Atlanta all week was the SEC debating whether or not to move from eight to nine conference games.

Drinkwitz has long been in favor of nine games. Not only for the entertainment value of fans who aren’t interested in watching 40-point blowouts against non-conference opponents, but for the resume boost another conference game would provide for teams looking to make the Playoff.

“I think if it was about players and about fans, I think it's a nine-game schedule for the SEC,” Drinkwitz said. “But if we're going to go to 11 humans deciding on a committee which are the 11 best teams, and we stay at eight, we ain't getting in.”

Ready for Road Stretch

Last year, Missouri’s season was derailed by three losses on the road. Two of them were blowouts, at Alabama and Texas A&M, while also dropping a close one at South Carolina. Now, there is a new sense of preparation for those games, including a new routine.

“We were a step slow in just about everything we did, starting with me in the decision-making processes in our players,” Drinkwitz said. “We're going to have to do a good job in fall camp of making sure we're ready when the opportunity does to go on the road, make sure our players understand what that routine is going to look like.”

Drinkwitz really said it best. When they got to College Station and Tuscaloosa, they were punched in the gut right away and never recovered. The Tigers lost 41-10 to the Aggies and 34-0 to the Crimson Tide, practically ending their playoff hopes. It wasn’t the teams they lost to or the field they lost on, but the way in which they lost it.

Drinkwitz alluded to the fact that they were unprepared last season and did it again recently. He now has a new plan for his team during practices to simulate road-game experiences, a simulation that will last two days.

“We've built something into our fall camp training plans to replicate and simulate a road game for 48 hours,” Drinkwitz said. “We're going to do a really good job of embracing playing at home for the first six, but also making sure we're prepared for that opportunity when we go to Jordan-Hare."

Missouri’s road schedule is much easier this season, so being more prepared will only benefit them more. Losing on the road was a major critique of the Tigers last season and being able to win some of those could change that narrative.

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