In a wild season of coach swaps, only a few have hit the “I’m safe” button. Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz is looking for no drama at the moment. So, the Mizzou boss just slammed the brakes on the rumor mill. For him, it’s all about the squad and the now. The big dreams he’s chasing after hitting a $31.7 million milestone are all tied to the Mizzou fam.

On November 18, Drinkwitz looked poised and confident while facing the media. “Two things I want to address real quick just before we get going: No. 1, job rumors. I’m not going to comment on message board chatters, tweets, sources,” said the head coach, “I’ve maintained with you (the media) and our team that my complete focus is on the task at hand.” 

LSU, Florida, and even Penn State have tossed their hats into the rumor ring. However, Drinkwitz stopped the coaching swap talk from rolling too far. Speculation about Drinkwitz has been circulating throughout the season. After the Week 11 flop against Texas A&M, the Tigers were knocked out of the Playoff picture and pushed to a rough 0-6 mark against ranked SEC teams in the last two years. But again, it’s Drinkwitz. You’ve got to be ready for the surprise. The Tigers roared right back in Week 12, torching Mississippi State for 49 points, their loudest SEC offensive showing in four years.

Amid the season’s twists and turns, Drinkwitz has worked to stay grounded, always pointing back to the progress the Tigers have built over the last three years. “I would like to remind everybody, including our fans, we absolutely love Mizzou. We love what we’re building…my focus is going to remain, on our team, our current situation,” the head coach kept it sharp and bold. 

These rumors couldn’t come at a hotter moment for Drinkwitz. With a 56-28 overall record and a 45-27 record in the past six seasons, Missouri head coach has become an attention magnet. That kind of glow-up is exactly why the blue bloods are sniffing around. What fueled the fire was a tweet. Message Board Geniuses- an X account with 141,000 followers tweeted, a “BREAKING!” report that “inside sources tell MBA that Eli Drinkwitz has informed his team that he will be leaving #Missouri to take the #PennState job.”

The buzz only grows because he’s one of the few standout candidates without a fresh extension. Mike Elko just re-upped with Texas A&M, and Curt Cignetti already got his Indiana upgrade earlier in the season. However, looks like Drinkwitz is not just here to lock in a fatter check. He has huge things to achieve after hitting a milestone in the NIL. 

Eli Drinkwitz’s strategy signals a new era of aggression

According to fresh financial data, Mizzou poured over $31.7 million into NIL compensation in 2024. Football took home the biggest chunk, men’s basketball grabbed close to a fourth, and the leftovers were divided among baseball, women’s basketball, and the lower-profile teams. And return on investment has been quite high for Drinkwitz’s squad.

The $31.7 million haul reflects a year where Mizzou football posted a 10-3 record and men’s basketball returned to the NCAA Tournament, along with the investment in transfer talent aimed at powering next season’s rosters. However, Drinkwitz is not yet ready to settle when it comes to the NIL landscape. 

As the head coach said, “I’m just asking, if you’re a Mizzou grad in that company and you’re in charge of marketing, we would love to join in with some NIL opportunities for our student athletes, because that’s the forefront. The No. 1 way to get through NIL Go is a Fortune 500 company.”

Eli Drinkwitz explained that when a Fortune 500 company signs an NIL deal with a student-athlete, it’s automatically approved because those companies are accountable to their shareholders. Missouri needs to lean into those kinds of partnerships to open more doors for its athletes. Looks like Ole Miss can stop circling Eli Drinkwitz as a Lane Kiffin backup plan. That ship has sailed.