One loss, one major decision, and an entirely new coaching search for Florida State. Clemson’s 36-24 victory over the Seminoles was followed by Mike Norvell’s departure, leaving the university searching for its next head coach. Among the names floating around is Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, who has now offered some much-needed clarity on the situation.
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“I’m not a candidate at Florida State,” Drinkwitz told the reporters during Tuesday’s news conference. “I want to clear that up. Let’s focus on the main thing, which is Texas. And let’s eliminate all the distractions and clear the clutter from that standpoint for my team and for everybody out there.”
Drinkwitz’s name has come up in connection with Florida State’s coaching search, but the Missouri coach appears to be going nowhere.
Last offseason’s coaching carousel linked him to several openings, and the Tigers responded by locking him in again. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported in October 2025 that Drinkwitz signed a new six-year deal worth $64.2 million, with an annual salary of $10.7 million. Along with it, he also got a larger budget for his coaching and support staff.
That made it the second new agreement in about five months, after one reached in July. The final extension, signed in November, runs through 2031 at roughly $10.75 million annually. It came after a year in which he earned $9 million, which put him 11th among coaches nationally in 2025.
On Monday, during an interview with the Brandon Walker College Football Show, Drinkwitz responded to reports linking him to the coaching vacancies at five FBS programs. He said he has become immune to the talk and that his commitment to Missouri is clear from what he has done there. In his view, the attention is partly a sign of the program’s success, but it should be taken with a grain of salt.
“At the end of the day, anybody can get on Twitter and throw out names,” he added. “In all honesty, what they’re trying to do is take a shot at Mizzou, and that’s the thing that bothers me the most. You’re really just saying that that job is better than the job I currently have at Mizzou.”
And the fancy money isn’t the only thing keeping Drinkwitz in Columbia. Missouri had an impressive recent turnaround, after bouncing back with a 35-12 record and two bowl victories over the last four seasons.
This year, Missouri is 6-2 overall and 3-2 in SEC play. The Tigers are ranked No. 19 in the latest AP Top 25 and are bowl eligible for the seventh straight season.
Missouri has also put real money behind the program, including a new $250 million North End Zone project. Drinkwitz told Walker that he chose the job because it offered a chance to build something new, and that the North End Zone and the indoor facility are projects he will be proud of when he is done coaching.
With him out of the race, several other names could emerge as potential successors to lead FSU out of its current slump. However, before that happens, the university must first settle the $50 million buyout owed to Norvell following his dismissal. Once that hurdle is cleared, the search for a new head coach can move forward.