Eli Drinkwitz talks about giving Kirby Moore control of offense, changing role

Eliah Drinkwitz‘s offensive play calling prowess was one of the reasons why Missouri hired him to become their head coach in December of 2019. But this year the Tigers are having their best season to date under Drinkwitz without him calling the plays for the first time during his tenure in Columbia.

Drinkwitz hired young up-and-coming offensive coordinator Kirby Moore to call the Tigers’ offense this season, which has been a massive success. And in an interview with On3’s Andy Staples, Drinkwtiz pulled back the curtain on why he chose to make the decision this offseason.

“It’s been good, it allows me to do things like this,” Drinkwitz said. “The offensive staff’s meeting, I’m normally in there, but when I have other duties that I need to attend to I will step out and then I’ll get caught up later. It allows me the freedom to meet with our players, to take time for myself and think about okay, what do we need to do to motivate our guys this week? What is the consistent messaging to our team? And I think so much when you’re so consumed with calling the offense, or third downs, or fourth downs, you forget about the overall sense of your team and what you need to get done.”

The decision has paid off for Drinkwitz, as their 7-1 start to the season represents their best since the program started the 2013 season 7-1 and appeared in the SEC Championship game. The Tigers’ record speaks for itself, but Drinkwitz having more balance in his schedule and responsibilities as a head coach is priceless.

“And I’m sure there’s other people that can do it, I wasn’t good enough to do that whole thing with all the other responsibilities that I have at the University of Missouri,” Drinkwitz said. “At App State I was able to do it and do it at a really high level I thought. But different levels, different things are pulling at you all the time.”

Drinkwitz’s offense at App State was elite with him calling the plays and calling the shots off the field as well as a head coach, ranking first in the Sun Belt Conference and ninth in the nation in scoring averaging 38.8 points per game. But things changed when he arrived in Columbia in 2020.

“I think in ’20 when we had COVID it gave me a false sense that I could do it because you didn’t have outside recruiting, you couldn’t go out and see people on Friday night, you didn’t have interactions with boosters,” Drinkwitz explained. “And then all of a sudden that next year it started accumulating and I just wasn’t doing what was best for our football team.”

Mizzou’s offense has improved tremendously this season, and off the field, Drinkwitz has been dominant as well in areas like recruiting, with their newfound formula for success seeming to pay major dividends for the Tigers.