This upcoming college football season is set to have, like any other, a bedazzled list of coaches who are in make-or-break mode, needing to send a strong message if they wish to keep their jobs.
Some names that weigh the heaviest on the 2026 chopping block include Mike Norvell, Luke Fickell, and one could even throw in a guy like Kalen DeBoer. A candidate most would likely avoid, however, is Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz—but I’m here to call bull on that.
I understand why those words would hit the eyes a bit funny, because c’mon, he’s had Mizzou doing decent for a few years now, am I right?! But if you ask me, that’s precisely the problem: decent.
What’s the narrative been over the course of Drinkwitz’s recent success in Columbia? That the SEC has lost its grip when it comes to producing teams that are insurmountable, the best of the best. Heck, especially with how last season went, the Southeastern Conference has felt dang near down-n-out lately.
So, what have Eli’s Tigers done to take advantage of these shifts? Oh…as the SEC’s gotten worse, so have they, and the league’s lowest point saw them somehow finish with five losses and zero quality wins. I believe the cool kids call that “missing your window.”
That begs the question of whether Missouri football has what it takes to bounce back as the rest of the SEC attempts to do similar. Once you incorporate practical thinking and realize it almost certainly doesn't, don’t you have to wonder if Mizzou should cut the cord while it’s ahead and try to recapture the lightning under someone new? If you’re part of a self-proclaimed conference of titans that wishes to hold your own at the highest level—something Drinkwitz hasn’t done even once—you gotta at least flirt with that idea, no?
Especially with the big jobs that are virtually guaranteed to open up later this year, maybe you won’t want to do it so soon, but sooner than one would have initially thought? For sure.