Missouri announces contract extension for Eli Drinkwitz through 2029 season

Missouri has announced a contract extension for head coach Eli Drinkwitz through the 2029 season. The school made the news public in a release on Thursday morning.

Drinkwitz has led the Tigers to a 38-24 (22-20) record over five seasons with back-to-back 10-plus win campaigns in 2023 and 2024. Missouri has finished the season ranked inside the final AP Poll in two consecutive seasons for the first time since 2013-2014.

Contract extended 🤝 @CoachDrinkwitz

🔗: https://t.co/j3zuvtotw1 pic.twitter.com/rkzXzrj2He

— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) July 24, 2025

The Norman native was brought on ahead of the 2020 season following five consecutive sub-10-win seasons for Missouri. Drinkwitz’s first three seasons were a bit rough, as the Tigers went just 17-19 with losses in both bowl games. The past two seasons have been incredible, however, as Missouri has gone 21-5 with wins in the Cotton Bowl (Ohio State) and Music City Bowl (Iowa).

“I’m incredibly grateful for the continued belief in our vision for Mizzou Football,” Drinkwitz said via a press release. “The Board of Curators, President Choi, Laird Veatch and our donors and fans have shown a deep commitment to building a championship-caliber program. That means investing in the people throughout our building who work tirelessly for our student-athletes. I’m proud of the staff we’ve assembled and excited to keep pushing forward together.”

This past season, Drinkwitz joined former head coach Gary Pinkel in rarefied air. They are the lone Missouri head coaches to boast multiple 10-win seasons.

“Coach Drinkwitz is a transformational leader with a proven record of success in the SEC. He has brought Mizzou Pride back to our program,” University of Missouri President Mun Choi said. “We are proud to support his commitment to excellence and his drive to bring even more championships home to our state.”

Drinkwitz advocated for 30-team Playoff at SEC Media Days

Drinkwitz was asked for his thoughts on CFP expansion while at SEC Media Days in Atlanta. He added it up and, with auto-bids from play-in games, 30 teams would be involved in his playoff model, which he thinks is what’s best for college football.

“My math could be wrong here, but if we did the 12, okay, and you had four automatic qualifiers? Everybody thinks that’s limiting. It’s not limiting if you think about it from, you take those four automatic qualifiers and you divide that into eight opportunities, of eight play-in games,” Drinkwitz explained. “Now you’re thinking, the SEC is playing in for eight, the Big Ten is playing in for eight. Since we’ve expanded the bubble to 16, give three to the Big 12, three to the ACC, one, one.”

“Now you’ve got 30 teams, 30 teams. Now you’re talking about an opportunity for 30 teams, 30 fan bases to be excited and engaged, engaged in giving revenue. You’ve got 30 teams with players who have access to compete for a championship,” Drinkwitz said. “So, for me, I think that makes a lot more sense.”

Drinkwitz would go on to compare their postseason to what the pros have in their playoff format. He doesn’t feel the current discussions about expansion are expansive enough based on how few teams, at least percentage-wise, are actually making the field at a dozen. However, with play-in games, it would make collegiate football play out a little bit more like how the playoff race unfolds in the NFL.

The Missouri head coach believes in NFL model

“When you think about it, whether it’s 12, 14, or 16? You know, to me, if we’ve decided to go into this expansion of playoffs and we’re trying to follow an NFL model? Well, the NFL takes 44% of their teams in order to get into the playoffs, to increase or the passion or to keep the fanbase engaged,” noted Drinkwitz. “If we’re talking about 12? That’s 9%. If we’re talking about 14? That’s 11%. If we’re talking about 16? That’s 12%. That’s really not changing the math for the fanbase. So, I really don’t understand what the big fight is about.”

“Again, when you’re talking about the NFL playoff system? Not only is it 14 teams but you only have to be the best out of your four-team division, so you’ve got to compete against four teams to make the playoffs. You know, again, if you’re at the University of Missouri, you say, hey, you just have to finish in the top eight to have a chance to play in the playoffs? That’s a win every day and I’m all for that. I think that’s awesome.”

In the end, Drinkwitz thinks this is what’s best for the most important people in the sport being the players for and the fans of the teams across the game. He thinks this would allow more of them to believe in their chances to compete for or win a national title at their respective program.

“When I think about college football right now and I think about what we need to do, I think it really comes down to two things – what’s best for our players and what’s best for our fans,” Drinkwitz stated. “The rest of us are only really important because of the players and the fans.”

“In my viewpoint of it, I think we should go back and try to find more ways to include teams,” Drinkwitz said. “How do we get more people involved? Because that’s better for the players. That’s better for the player experience to have more people involved in the potential to play for a championship. And it’s better for the fanbases.”