Missouri football: Why Eliah Drinkwitz has the SEC’s hottest coaching seat

On the surface, it might not seem like Missouri head football coach Eliah Drinkwitz should feel any hot breath on the back of his neck.

After all, he’s only entering his third season in charge in Columbia, Mo. after a successful run with Appalachian State in the Sun Belt. Missouri football has to compete in the SEC annually against the likes of Florida and Georgia on the gridiron.

But the pressure is mounting in the “Show Me” State on Drinkwitz to deliver results for Missouri, and a poor campaign in the fall of 2022 might result in Tigers brass showing the 38-year-old the door.

Missouri football head coach Eliah Drinkwitz now has the SEC’s hottest coaching seat due to his lackluster results after two seasons with the Tigers

Sure, Auburn’s Bryan Harsin had a bizarre spring vacation saga where the university’s boosters apparently wanted to stage a coup after a lackluster first season on the Plains. Harsin has an expensive buyout, however, and the team is still rebuilding post-Gus Malzahn. Clark Lea finished with a 2-10 record in his first year with Vanderbilt, but what do the Commodores really expect?

No SEC coach should be feeling the heat quite like Drinkwitz in 2022, and here’s why:

1. Missouri hasn’t finished with a winning record since 2018.

Use the SEC-only schedule in 2020 as an excuse, but the Tigers finished 2021 with a 6-7 record after losses to Army, Boston College, and Kentucky — hardly the stuff of a big-time college football program.

Missouri has lost back-to-back games against Tennessee under Drinkwitz by scores of 35-12 and 62-24. Missouri has a 1-6 record against ranked opponents in the past two seasons, with the only win coming against LSU at the start of 2020 — in other words, before the Bayou Bengals self-imploded after their 2019 national championship run.

Within the past decade, Tigers fans experienced 11- and 12-win seasons under former coach Gary Pinkel during the team’s first three seasons in the SEC. Those are distant memories, today, however, as the team has struggled to compete in the nation’s toughest conference.

2. Regional rivals have eclipsed Missouri

The newly attempted “Battle Line” scrum with Arkansas has swung in the favor of the Razorbacks, who snapped a five-game skid against Missouri last season with a 34-17 victory. It also appears that Sam Pittman has Arkansas trending in the right direction, which is especially notable given that Drinkwitz grew up in Alma, Arkansas.

Former Big Eight/Big 12 rival Oklahoma State has reached double-digit wins in four of the past seven seasons, including last year’s 12-2 finish and Fiesta Bowl win against Notre Dame.

Even SEC East rivals Kentucky have shown the ability to piece together 10-win seasons under head coach Mark Stoops, who has sent 10 Wildcats as NFL Draft selections in the past two springs. That kind of success has eluded Missouri in recent years.

Former Big 12 members Oklahoma and Texas are set to officially join the SEC soon, with the potential of playing Missouri frequently (if not in a newly revamped SEC West, they would likely be regular sparring partners with the Tigers).

3. The recruits are coming, but where are the big wins?

Missouri actually ranked at No. 15 in the nation in the Class of 2022 recruiting cycle after finishing in the Top 30 for the previous year, according to 247 Sports.

It may be unfair to place the burden of immediate expectations on five-star recruits like Luther Burden III, a wide receiver from East St. Louis who chose the Tigers over reported offers from Oklahoma, Georgia, and Ohio State.

It will still be difficult, however, to treat home fans to another losing season with the amount of incoming talent that has come to Missouri.

Overall, Drinkwitz has an 11-12 record to show for his $5 million annual contract. Other college football coaches have been canned in less time for the same ho-hum results; come on, it’s the 2020s and big-time boosters have less patience than ever.

How much longer will the Tigers accept mediocrity under Drinkwitz?