Mizzou extends Eli Drinkwitz’s contract, silencing questions about his future
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Over the course of the 2025 football season, the national media has been running rampant with questions about the future of Mizzou head coach Eli Drinkwitz. Will he stay in Columbia or take one of the many open jobs, elsewhere?
On Thursday morning, MU Athletics silenced those questions by extending Coach Drinkwitz’s contract to a six-year deal, through the 2031 season.
It is the fourth extension that Drinkwitz has gotten in his six years as the leader of the Tigers, with the last one coming in July, when he was extended through 2029.
In this latest contract, Drinkwitz will make an average of $10.75 million per year. The deal, which is worth a total of $64.5 million, was approved unanimously by the Board of Curators, on Wednesday.
"My family and I believe deeply in the vision and leadership from our administration and are incredibly happy to continue calling Columbia our home," Drinkwitz said in a press release. "I'm grateful for the unwavering support of President Mun Choi, the Board of Curators, led by Chair Todd Graves and incoming Vice Chair Bob Blitz, along with our athletics director Laird Veatch. We're also incredibly thankful for the support of our generous donors and NIL partners. I'm committed to continuing our work to build Mizzou into a championship program."
Throughout the ongoing 2025 season, Coach Eli’s name has been floated into several job rumors across the nation, including Penn State, Auburn, LSU and Florida. Despite those rumors, Drinkwitz has made it clear that his focus is solely on what he is doing in Missouri, even addressing it in a couple of press conferences.
Drinkwitz and the Tigers are set the wrap up the 2025 regular-season with a road trip to Arkansas, on Saturday. After that, the team will prepare for a bowl game. Sitting at 7-4 on the year, it hasn’t necessarily been the year that the program and fans would’ve predicted. Mizzou had aspirations of playing in an SEC Championship and making the first College Football Playoff in program history. However, the goals had to change, after recording their first four-loss season since 2022.
Despite the ups and downs of the 2025 campaign, Coach Drinkwitz has been on quite a run over the last few years. In 2023 and 2024, he posted back-to-back 10-win seasons, leading his group to a Cotton Bowl win and Music City Bowl championship. He joined College Football Hall of Famer Gary PInkel as the only two MU coaches with multiple 10-win seasons under their belt. In those two 10-win seasons, Drinkwitz and company finished the year ranked in the Top-25 and compiled a 21-5 overall recording, including an 11-5 mark in the Southeastern Conference, which is tied for the best two-year stretch in program history.
The Tigers have also been dominant inside the walls of Faurot Field since Coach Drinkwitz took the helm of the program, as he’s guided the Tigers to a 33-9 overall record at Memorial Stadium. The ongoing 20-game sellout streak at Faurot Field has, undoubtedly, made it a difficult place to play for opposing teams and it’s only set to get more difficult with the construction MU’s new north end zone facility.
"Under his vision and leadership, Coach Drinkwitz has transformed the standard for Mizzou Football and united our entire program and fan base behind a clear pursuit of excellence," Mizzou Athletic Director Veatch said in a press release. "We're thrilled he will continue leading our team into the future. This is an incredible time for our program: Our unprecedented 20-game home sellout streak speaks to our fans' tremendous passion and commitment, while the Memorial Stadium Centennial Project reflects our growing and sustained investment in Mizzou football...It's also critically important that we continue providing Coach Drinkwitz with the resources necessary to build and develop championship rosters in the Southeastern Conference. This new contract reflects our commitment to further strengthening and enhancing those resources. Our 'Will to Win' is clear — we're fully aligned behind Coach Drinkwitz and eager to keep building with him as he leads this program forward in the pursuit of championships."
Drinkwitz rebuilt the program and has changed the expectations over six years, however, this season he said that the next step they need to take will be the most difficult one yet: going from good to great.
