Eli Drinkwitz mocks Dabo Swinney-Brian Kelly grades, ‘final exam’ while evaluating DBs

Eli Drinkwitz rarely misses an opportunity to poke some fun at one of his SEC coaching colleagues. This week, the affable Missouri head football coach switched gears and needled a notable ACC coach to close out his weekly Tuesday press conference.

A week ago, LSU‘s Brian Kelly clapped back after Clemson‘s Dabo Swinney handed out rather harsh grades following their season-opener Aug. 30, in which then-No. 9 LSU dealt then-No. 4 Clemson a 17-10 home loss. Comparing the game to a “final exam on Day 1 of class,” Swinney gave LSU a 65, while outright failing his squad with a 58.

“It was a hell of a game. It was a hell of a game. Down to the last play, right out of the gate,” Swinney said at his Sept. 2 press conference. “It’s like getting a final exam, day one of class. They made a 65. We made a 58. Neither one of us were great.”

Kelly responded in kind by playfully questioning Swinney’s grading ability while praising his team’s second-half effort on the road: “I don’t know if he’s a hard grader or an easy grader, but I like the way we played in the second half.”

On Tuesday, when asked to evaluate Missouri’s cornerback play so far this season, Drinkwitz praised the team’s man coverage while also pointing out a miscommunication that led to an explosive play by Kansas in Saturday’s 42-31 victory in the revival of the Border War rivalry.

“I mean, in man-to-man coverage I thought we were pretty good. … We had an issue on third down in communication where we had two guys lined up over the tight end instead of one of them (moving) over to the other side which created the explosive play,” Drinkwitz said Tuesday. “So there’s still some communication (issues) and settling down and making sure that (we have) 11 acting as one on the defensive side of the ball, and on the offensive side of the ball.”

It’s here, after answering the question, Drinkwitz decided to close out his press conference by joking about the dangers of actually handing out grades, a direct reference to the back to the back-and-forth between Swinney and Kelly.

“You know, I don’t want to be that coach that gives out grades,” Drinkwitz deadpanned, “it (already) got one coach in trouble, so I’ll just say there’s stuff we’ve got to improve on before we get to that final exam.”

Whatever the grade, it’s clear Drinkwitz will take the side of his SEC colleagues in any war of words with the ACC.