Drinkwitz agrees to new 6-year deal with Missouri

Missouri has agreed to a new six-year contract with coach Eliah Drinkwitz with an average annual compensation of $10.75 million, the school announced Thursday.

Drinkwitz indicated the deal was imminent on social media on Thursday morning, thanking the school president, Mun Choi, board of curators, athletic director Laird Veatch, the boosters and fans. "Why stop now!!" he tweeted.

"My family and I believe deeply in the vision and leadership from our administration and are incredibly happy to continue calling Columbia our home," Drinkwitz said in a statement. "I'm grateful for the unwavering support of President Mun Choi, the Board of Curators, led by Chair Todd Graves and incoming Vice Chair Bob Blitz, along with our athletics director Laird Veatch. We're also incredibly thankful for the support of our generous donors and NIL partners. I'm committed to continuing our work to build Mizzou into a championship program."

The move is an aggressive one by Missouri to keep Drinkwitz near the top of the country's highest-paid coaches, as his base salary will increase to $10.25 million in 2026, which is up from $9 million in 2025.

Drinkwitz received interest from several of the top jobs on the carousel, and the move by the school to agree to a new deal with him is reflective of the trend seen at places like Indiana, SMU and Nebraska in an effort to keep their coaches.

Drinkwitz led Missouri to back-to-back double-digit win seasons in 2023 and 2024 and has qualified for the program's sixth-straight bowl game. The Tigers rose to as high as No. 8 in the Associated Press poll in 2023 and No. 6 in 2024. This year, Missouri climbed to No. 14.

During his tenure, Missouri has wins over Ohio State, Iowa, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Florida and LSU. He's 45-28 in six seasons, and Missouri's consistent success led to interest from various suitors from high-end jobs in this cycle.

Missouri is 7-4 this season, with all four losses coming to teams ranked in the Top 10 at the time.