It's official. The Missouri Board of Curators met Tuesday morning and unanimously approved the hire of Eliah Drinkwitz, making him the 33rd head coach in program history. Drinkwitz's hire was formally announced at a press conference shortly thereafter.
Under his contract with Missouri, Drinkwitz will make a guaranteed salary of $4 million per year. The deal is set for six years, but if Missouri wins eight or more games or wins a bowl game during Drinkwitz's first two seasons at the school, his contract would automatically extend by one season and his salary will increase by $100,000 the following year. Drinkwitz's $4 million compensation is nearly a million more than Barry Odom made in his 2019 and would have tied him for 28th among Division I head coaches in 2019. Nine SEC coaches earned at least $4 million last season.
If Drinkwitz were to hit all of his Incentives, which range from academic benchmarks to winning 10 or more games to postseason accomplishments, he could make an additional $850,000 per season.
Should Missouri opt to fire Drinkwitz without cause, it would cost the school 70 percent of his remaining salary. So, if Drinkwitz was fired following the 2020 season, Missouri would owe him $14 million. Half of that amount would have to be paid immediately. Meanwhile, if Drinkwitz were to leave the school prior to January 15, 2021, he would owe the school $6 million. That figure falls to $4 million prior to Jan. 15, 2022, $3 million the following year, then $2 million in 2024 and $1 million prior to Jan 15, 2025. Missouri had to pay $1.7 million to buy Drinkwitz out of his contract at Appalachian State.
Missouri has allocated $5.2 million per year for Drinkwitz to hire 10 full-time assistant coaches. He will have another $1.2 million for additional administrative staff. Odom's assistant pool in 2019 totaled about $4.8 million.
"He's a special guy who has a magnetic personality that people will appreciate and enjoy," athletics director Jim Sterk said in a release. "I'm thrilled to have him here at Mizzou leading our program, he's got passion, a plan and a vision that will take this program to great heights. We went on a search looking for the right coach at a crucial time, and we found him."
"I'm excited for the opportunity of a lifetime to be the head football coach at Missouri," said Drinkwitz. "This is a special place with special people. I know this is the Show-Me State, and I'm fired up to show this state what our football program is going to be all about. My wife, Lindsey, and our four girls are excited to join the Columbia community and be a part of Mizzou."
Stay tuned to PowerMizzou for continued coverage throughout the day.
