Eliah Drinkwitz (born April 12, 1983) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach who is the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

. He previously served as the head coach at

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

in 2019 and as an assistant coach at

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding ...

Arkansas State University Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage la ...

and

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

Coaching career

Auburn

After coaching at Springdale High School (Arkansas), where he coached with

Gus Malzahn Arthur Gustavo Malzahn III (; born October 28, 1965) is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach at the University of Central Florida (UCF Knights football, UCF). He was the head football coach at Auburn University from 2013 t ...

in 2004, Drinkwitz moved to Auburn in 2009 to work on football operations as the Quality Control Coach and was on the coaching staff when Auburn won the 2010 National Championship under

Gene Chizik Eugene C. Chizik Jr. (born December 28, 1961) is an American football coach who is currently the Assistant Head Coach for Defense at North Carolina. A veteran of the coaching ranks, Chizik previously was UNC's defensive coordinator for the 2015 ...

Arkansas State

In 2012, after two successful seasons with Auburn, he followed Malzahn to

Arkansas State Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage l ...

, where he spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons as running backs coach, and in 2013 also served as co-offensive coordinator.

Boise State

In 2014, when Arkansas State head coach

Bryan Harsin Bryan Dale Harsin (born November 1, 1976) is an American football coach and former player who was most recently the head coach at Auburn University. Prior to leading the Auburn Tigers, he coached the Boise State University Broncos from the 2014 ...

became head coach at Boise State, Drinkwitz joined his staff as the tight ends coach. In 2015, he was promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

NC State

In 2016, Drinkwitz was named offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

. He served in this position for three seasons, during which he won two bowl games and won 25 games. The Wolfpack also finished at #23 in the AP Poll in 2017.

Appalachian State

On December 13, 2018, Drinkwitz was hired as the head coach at

. In his one season as head coach of the Mountaineers, he finished 12-1, with a victory over

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

in the 2019 Sun Belt championship. Eli did not coach in their bowl game.

Missouri

On December 9, 2019, he was hired as the head coach of the Missouri Tigers, replacing

Barry Odom Barry Stephen Odom (born November 26, 1976) is an American football coach and currently the head coach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Odom spent 15 years with the Missouri Tigers program as a player, recruiter, assistant coach, and head ...

. In his first season with Mizzou, the Tigers compiled a record of 5–5, including a win over defending national champion

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, who also finished 5-5. On December 23, 2022,

Wake Forest Demon Deacons football The Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represents Wake Forest University in the sport of American football. The Demon Deacons compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atla ...

beat Missouri 27-17 in the

Gasparilla Bowl The Gasparilla Bowl is an annual NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game played in the Tampa Bay area. It was first played in 2008 as the St. Petersburg Bowl at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The game was renamed the ...

. The loss made Eli 0-2 in career bowl games. The loss also made Missouri 6-7 on the year, making it the third consecutive year Eli, and the Tigers, have finished without a winning record.

Personal life

Drinkwitz was born in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma C ...

to Jerry and Susie Drinkwitz, but his parents and older siblings moved to the

Alma, Arkansas Alma is a city in Crawford County, Arkansas, United States. It is located within the Arkansas River Valley at the edge of the Ozark Mountains; the city is the sixth largest in the Fort Smith metropolitan area. The population was 5,419 at the 20 ...

area in 1984 when Eli was a year old. Being raised in Alma and playing football for the Alma Airedales is what led him to want to become a football coach, especially hearing the stories of his father playing for Luther College in

Decorah, Iowa Decorah is a city in and the county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,587 at the time of the 2020 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of State Highway 9 and U.S. Route 52, and is the largest commun ...

during the 1960s. During his time at Alma he was an All-Conference and All-State selection and was named FCA Huddle Leader of the Year. He then chose to go to Russellville and received a bachelor's degree in education from

Arkansas Tech University Arkansas Tech University (ATU) is a public university in Russellville, Arkansas. The university offers programs at both baccalaureate and graduate levels in a range of fields. The Arkansas Tech University–Ozark Campus, a two-year satellite ca ...

in 2004. Drinkwitz and his wife Lindsey have four daughters. After being hired by the University of Missouri, he moved to

Head coaching record

* Departed Appalachian State for Missouri before bowl game

Notes

References

External links

Missouri profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drinkwitz, Eliah 1983 births Living people Appalachian State Mountaineers football coaches Arkansas State Red Wolves football coaches Auburn Tigers football coaches Boise State Broncos football coaches Missouri Tigers football coaches NC State Wolfpack football coaches High school football coaches in Arkansas Arkansas Tech University alumni Sportspeople from Norman, Oklahoma