$28.8 million head coach named top candidate for next college football coaching cycle

The 2025-2026 college football coaching carousel was among the most chaotic on record. Beginning with DeShaun Foster's firing at UCLA and ending with Kyle Whittingham's hiring at Michigan, nearly 20 different Power Four programs made head coaching changes between September and December of 2025.

The turmoil from the last head coaching carousel should give way to a quieter cycle in the next offseason. However, multiple Power Four programs are still experiencing discontent with their current head coaches.

Brad Crawford of CBS Sports compiled a list of 25 names to watch in the 2026-2027 coaching carousel. One of the first names in Crawford's list is Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz, who Crawford believes may be hired away by another program.

Eli Drinkwitz during Missouri's 2025 game against Texas A&M. — Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz talks with officials during the first half against the Texas A&M Aggies | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

"Drinkwitz added six new assistants in January and has shown a penchant for finding undervalued talent in the portal," Crawford wrote. "Despite the staff changes and roster fluctuation annually, Drinkwitz's set of skills leading to SEC wins could be coveted elsewhere."

Drinkwitz worked his way up the college football coaching ladder as an offensive assistant for nine seasons, making stops at Auburn, Arkansas State, Boise State and NC State. Some notable quarterbacks he worked alongside at those stops include Cam Newton (Auburn), Brett Rypien (Boise State) and Ryan Finley (NC State).

Appalachian State hired Drinkwitz to replace the Louisville-bound Scott Satterfield in the 2019 offseason. Drinkwitz immediately guided the Mountaineers to an 11-win regular season and a victory over Louisiana (45-38) in the Sun Belt Championship game. Missouri hired Drinkwitz away prior to Appalachian State's trip to the New Orleans Bowl.

The first three seasons of Drinkwitz's Missouri tenure were nothing extraordinary. The Tigers were 17-19 overall, posting an 11-15 mark in SEC play and failing to win bowl games against Army (24-22) in the 2021 Armed Forces Bowl and Wake Forest (27-17) in the 2022 Gasparilla Bowl.

However, the mood around Drinkwitz at Missouri changed in 2023. A dynamic offense highlighted by quarterback Brady Cook, Burlsworth Trophy-winning running back Cody Schrader, and two-time All-SEC First Team wide receiver Luther Burden III led the Tigers to an 11-2 overall record, their best mark since 2014.

The only losses were to Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and LSU (49-39) and SEC East division champion Georgia (30-21).

The Tigers did not reach the same heights in 2024 and 2025 as they did in 2023, but the steps back were not pronounced. Missouri finished 2024 at 10-3 overall, a season in which Cook was injured for a handful of games. The Tigers were 8-5 in 2025, a season in which starting quarterback Beau Pribula was sidelined a handful of games with injuries.

Drinkwitz's name was considered in a handful of major coaching searches in the offseason, most notably the Florida and Michigan searches. Another successful season at Missouri could attract other major programs in Drinkwitz's direction next offseason.