Eli Drinkwitz Rules Himself Out at Florida State Before Saturday’s Texas Game

• Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz opened his Tuesday news conference by saying “I’m not a candidate at Florida State,” per CBS Sports.
• Drinkwitz signed a new six-year contract worth $10.75 million annually less than a year ago and is 52-31 in his seventh season at Missouri.
• The Tigers are 6-2 and ranked 19th in the latest AP poll, with No. 10 Texas on Saturday, then No. 2 Georgia, No. 8 Kentucky and Oklahoma.

A Missouri Coach Clears the Air Before a Brutal November

Eli Drinkwitz did not wait for a question. Missouri’s head coach opened his Tuesday news conference with a statement nobody had asked him to make. “I’m not a candidate at Florida State,” Drinkwitz told reporters. “I want to clear that up.” He then turned to the matter at hand, the Tigers’ game against Texas on Saturday, and said he wanted the distractions gone for his team and for everybody following it. Florida State parted with coach Mike Norvell on Sunday, and Drinkwitz’s name has appeared on the lists of possible replacements.

Why He Spoke Up Before Anyone Asked

Norvell left Florida State with a 41-39 record. Multiple media outlets listed Drinkwitz among the top candidates to replace him. One initial list put him next to Duke’s Manny Diaz and Wake Forest’s Jake Dickert, among others. Those lists came from the media. Nothing in the coverage says Florida State approached him.

Drinkwitz had already shown how he felt about the speculation. On Monday he appeared on the “Brandon Walker College Football Show” and took issue with his name cropping up again and again on coaching candidate lists. “It’s recognition for the job that we’ve done,” he said. He added that you have to take it all with a grain of salt, and that people can “get on Twitter and throw out names.”

What bothers him most, he said, is the message underneath. In his view, the people compiling the lists are trying to “take a shot at Mizzou.” His words: “You’re really just saying that you think that job is better than the job I currently have at Mizzou.”

What He Would Be Leaving Behind

Start with the contract. Drinkwitz signed a new six-year deal worth $10.75 million annually less than a year ago. That extension arrived last November, with Penn State in the middle of a coaching search, and a coaches salary database now ranks him as the 11th-highest paid coach in college football. His name has surfaced for other openings over the years as he built Missouri into a steady SEC program, and the list of schools that could realistically raise his pay is short.

The results back up that standing. Drinkwitz is in his seventh season with the Tigers and holds an overall record of 52-31 at Missouri, including 35-12 over the past four seasons. Missouri is 6-2 this year, 3-2 in the SEC, fifth in the conference and 19th in the latest AP poll as of Tuesday.

The schedule leaves little room for anything else. No. 10 Texas arrives on Saturday, Nov. 7. After that Missouri plays at No. 2 Georgia, hosts No. 8 Kentucky and closes the regular season against Oklahoma. Those rankings are from the AP poll released Nov. 1, the latest as of Nov. 3.

The Noise Around Florida State

Florida State’s fan base was restless before the Norvell decision. Florida State president Richard McCullough wrote to frustrated fans last week and made no mention of the coach’s future. Now the Seminoles have a vacancy, and Drinkwitz has answered the question about his name on his own schedule.

Another SEC coach made news at a midweek news conference last week, when Lane Kiffin joked about LSU’s 2:30 kickoff against Alabama. Drinkwitz’s statement was shorter. He said his piece on Florida State, and his stated focus is Texas.

WRITTEN BY

Jarrod

Jarrod Partridge is the Founder of Futbol Chronicle and an accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following international football. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered matches at stadiums around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every match report, player profile, and tactical analysis he writes.

More articles by Jarrod →