The SEC is commonly thought to be the most effective convention in faculty soccer, and understandably so. It is received plenty of premier applications amongst its ranks. Georgia, Alabama, LSU, have all received nationwide titles since 2019. Colleges like Texas A&M, Tennessee, and Ole Miss are placing up robust seasons this yr and have been stable members of the convention for the previous few seasons.
One other college that is shortly turning into a high-quality SEC program is Missouri. The Tigers received 11 video games in 2023 and 10 in 2024. Since head coach Eliah Drinkwitz took over in December 2019, the Tigers have reached a bowl sport in each season. He is additionally one of many winningest coaches in faculty soccer since 2023.
Along with his title within the teaching carousel as a potential alternative for James Franklin at Penn State, Drinkwitz doubled down and caught with Mizzou. The college provided him a six-year contract extension value $64.5 million; the $10.75 million common annual worth makes Drinkwitz among the many top-ten highest-paid coaches in faculty soccer.
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Drinkwitz’s 2026 wage will probably be $10.25 million. Shortly earlier than signing, he shared a submit on X that included an image of him alongside his spouse and 4 kids. The submit expressed gratitude to be in Columbia, and included Drinkwitz’s saying of “Why Cease Now!”
Maybe the most important knock on Drinkwitz has been his lack of ability to constantly win large video games. Missouri’s document towards the AP High 25 since he took over has been 7-18. That features seven straight losses in such video games.
However Missouri hasn’t had a lot of a storied historical past on the gridiron. Drinkwitz is simply the second coach to win not less than 10 video games in back-to-back seasons. If the Tigers knock off the Arkansas Razorbacks in each groups’ common season finale, Missouri can have 30 wins over three seasons. That is solely been performed one different time in program historical past.
Regardless of the struggles, Missouri is aware of it has a proficient coach on its fingers. And the varsity is keen to pay to maintain him round for the long term.
