Lane Kiffin endorses Eli Drinkwitz speech criticizing conference realignment
Missouri Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz was asked about the most recent conference realignment news surrounding college football, as starting in 2024 the Pac-12 Conference will only have four members following a mass exodus from the former west coast powerhouse.
Drinkwitz spoke at length about the decision, discussing and asking if the right decision was made and if the mental health of student-athletes was considered outside of the sport of football based on the lack of geographic boundaries that will be present across collegiate athletics. And on Monday morning, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin echoed his sentiments.
Kiffin tweeted out an article written by Yahoo Sports’ Jack Baer about Drinkwitz’s comments surrounding Big Ten conference realignment and mental health. Also captioning the tweet saying, “It’s all just really sad!! So much tradition and rivalries all gone. How are fans and players families in ALL of the sports going to get to these games?? This is good for these student athletes and their mental health?? Anyone ask them?? I hear you Drink.”
Kiffin has never shied away from being outspoken about numerous topics surrounding the collegiate athletics landscape from name, image, and likeness to the transfer portal, and the latest wave of conference realignment is no different.
At SEC Media Days Drinkwitz mentioned trying to refrain from any bulletin board material, even saying, “I was really hoping nobody would ask me that question,” after being asked about the latest conference changes on Saturday. But he couldn’t help himself, delivering a heartfelt speech about the potential negatives that could come to the detriment of student-athletes as a result of the eminent changes set for 2024.
“All right, I’m gonna say it,” Drinkwitz said. “I thought the portal was closed. Oh, that’s just for the student-athletes. The adults in the room get to do whatever they want, apparently. My question is: did we count the cost? I’m not talking about a financial cost, I’m talking about did we count the cost for the student-athletes involved in this decision? What cost is it to those student-athletes?”
Drinkwitz continued, speaking about the potential negative impact on student-athlete mental health as a result of traveling across various time zones for competitions along with balancing sleep and academics.
Across all sports, west coast programs like Oregon, USC, and others will have to travel to states like New Jersey and Maryland to compete within the Big Ten in 2024. Drinkwitz made it clear he isn’t worried about football in these circumstances, but other sports that travel commercially and generate less revenue.
“You’re talking about volleyball, baseball, softball, track. All those other sports. They’re not fortunate to travel the way that we do. Football will be fine. It’s did we count the cost of the collateral damage of everybody else? I don’t know. Only time will tell. But that is my biggest thing looking at it after 24 hours saying, ‘Did we really think about that?’ I don’t think we did,” Drinkwitz concluded.