Eli Drinkwitz opens up on passing play-calling duties to Kirby Moore

Missouri hired former Fresno State offensive coordinator Kirby Moore as their new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in January, which on paper may sound like typical coaching hire news. But it’s the first time the Tigers have had an offensive coordinator since hiring head coach Eli Drinkwitz in 2020, as he’s served as the team’s offensive play-caller the last three seasons.

Giving up the play-calling duties likely wasn’t easy for Drinkwitz, and at SEC Media Days, he revealed his reasoning behind the decision.

“Yeah, I think you have to step back and you know, I think you got to embrace your role and put the team first,” Drinkwitz said. “You know, my nature was I really loved the offensive side of the ball, I loved calling plays, I think I was really good at it.”

It’s no secret that Drinkwitz’s ability as a play-caller has gotten him to the point he’s at now. As the offensive coordinator at NC State in 2018, he led the Wolfpack to an impressive 33.8 points per game average. Then in the following season and his first year as a head coach, he led Appalachian State to a conference championship as the Sun Belt’s top-scoring offense averaging 38.8 points per game.

His Missouri offenses haven’t quite attained the level of success of his past units, but him stepping away from the team’s play-calling role had more to do with his overall involvement as a head coach versus his team’s offensive success.

“But the reality of it is, I wasn’t putting the team first and I wasn’t embracing my role as the head coach. And I needed to allow somebody else who could really focus on that all the time,” Drinkwitz said.

Similar to Drinkwitz in the past, Moore helped lead one of the most impressive offenses in the country last season at Fresno State, which led the Mountain West with 402.6 yards and 30.6 points per game. Last year was his first and only season as a collegiate offensive coordinator, as the 31-year-old is now one of the youngest and least experienced coordinators in the conference.

But Drinkwitz is confident that with Moore heading up the offense and him focusing on the big picture that things will run smoother than ever for the Tigers heading into the 2023 season.

“And so that’s what Kirby is going to allow me to do. I’ll still be involved, just like I am on special teams and defense, but the day-to-day operations — this allows me to be more focused on the whole team and all the other aspects of college football now,” Drinkwitz concluded.