How much does Missouri head football coach make? Where HC Eli Drinkwitz went to college, pay for assistant coaches, and more
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz was hired in 2020 from Appalachian State primarily to streamline the underperforming offense.
He was given a six-year contract with a salary worth $4 million a year. That contract was extended in 2022 by two years up to 2027 with bonuses and incentives added.
Under his previous deal, Drinkwitz pay will rise to $6 million at the start of the next season. His salary will continue to increase by certain percentages throughout the duration of his contract, peaking at $7 million if he makes it to the end of the contract.
Drinkwitz's base salary remained at $450,000 but the nonsalary aspects of his compensation rose significantly.
Under his previous contract, this compensation stood at $887,500 and will rise to: $1,387,500 (2023), $1,450,000 (2024), $1,512,500 (2025), $1,575,000 (2026) and $1,637,500 (2027).
His staff salary pool also saw a bump from $5.2 million to $6.3 million. The football support staff also had a huge scaling up of their pool from $1.2 million to $3.5 million.
Blake Baker, the defensive coordinator, also got a three-year contract extension with a yearly salary of $1.4 million.
The increased salary pool allowed Drinkwitz to hire Kirby Moore as offensive coordinator from Fresno State.
As fun as the play has been, my highlight of the Border War so far is #Mizzou HFC Eli Drinkwitz holding a sign that says Five Level One Violations. twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/G2pWjSg0nY
Eli Drinkwitz's contract extension contains a clause that entails him to 75% compensation ($20 million) if he were to be fired before the end of next season.
If he were to win the national championship with Missouri, Drinkwitz would get a bonus payment of $750,000. He also has a maximum value of $1,275,000 on his incentives payment up from $850,000.
Eli Drinkwitz's background and Missouri record
Eli Drinkwitz is an alumnus of Arkansas Tech, where he was an all-conference selection. He has held assistant coaching positions at, Auburn, Boise State, Arkansas State and North Carolina State before getting his first head coach position at Appalachian State.
Eli Drinkwitz has amassed a 17-19 coaching record at Missouri since his arrival from Appalachian State, where he had a 12-1 record.
The Tiger's defense under Drinkwitz rebounded after a shaky 2021 season when they allowed 435 yards versus last season when that statistic was kept under 340 yards.
The Tigers' offense under Eli Drinkwitz averaged 24.8 points per game, the fifth-fewest in the SEC (Southeastern Conference).
Drinkwitz received extensive criticism for his controversial comments on NIL.
"We’re giving guys 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 years old life-changing money,” Drinkwitz said. “People are making more money in NIL than my brother-in-law, who’s a pediatrician, who saves lives, and we kind of do it cavalier, and we think that there’s not going to be any side effects or there’s not going to be issues.”
Eli Drinkwitz's Missouri team starts the season against South Dakota on Aug. 31.