It’s too early to say Eli Drinkwitz is coaching for his job. But with a hefty $28 million buyout clause million attached to his name and a QB battle that’s in murky waters, Missouri’s HC isn’t exactly sleeping on a bed of roses either. Fall camp’s officially underway in Columbia and the spotlight’s not just on the players. It’s roasting the man pulling the strings. Because if you’re a coach making $9M a year, you better know who your QB is, right?
That’s not Eli Drinkwitz who’s still ambiguous. Penn State transfer Beau Pribula and redshirt junior Sam Horn are splitting the reps. But true freshman Matt Zollers is somehow in the conversation too. “I don’t necessarily think Matt is out of it just yet,” the HC said. “He’s going to have to really come in and come on in fall camp. But that’s not been unheard of.” So, has no one really shown they can take the job?
On That SEC Podcast on July 27, SEC Mike feels this QB debate is futile while Cousin Shane worried aloud on the 50-50 debate. “I have seen the bad side of a quarterback competition going late in fall camp,” he said. “When you have a true 50/50, that means you’ve got to split reps. You’re going to give Beau some reps, you’re going to give Sam some reps. I truly think it’s a two-headed monster here, but at the end of the day, there’s 50% of the reps going to a quarterback that won’t be starting. So, I hope it doesn’t linger long.” Coaches say the team will know. Well, what happens when the team doesn’t know and it’s game week?
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Fall camp has barely begun, but pressure is already mounting for clarity. Beau Pribula’s got the legs (94 rushes at PSU), but not the starts. Sam Horn has only eight passes thrown over two years. And you know what to expect from a true freshman QB. But again, as Shane added, “But at the end of the day too, you want to have competition in that room because if you don’t, if something does happen to Beau, you got to have somebody that can step in and not just hand the football off.” So what’s the HC’s mindset?
Eli Drinkwitz is trying to keep things steady. “When the quarterback’s ready, he’ll show himself to the team. I think we’ll all know who it is,” he said during the fall camp press conference, deferring to the locker room’s sixth sense. “I don’t plan on waiting to announce because of a perceived advantage.” That’s fair. But for a coach who’s had a fall camp QB competition nearly every year, this one feels bigger with higher stakes, less certainty, and more eyeballs. “If it’s undecided, then we’ll let them go into games and play as long as they need to,” he said. That’s the chill the Mizzou HC carries. But he better not forget that there’s millions riding on how this QB carousel spins.
The $28 million weight around Eli Drinkwitz’s neck
Missouri extended Eli Drinkwitz’s contract through 2029 this offseason, with no raise but a buyout clause that’s eye-watering. If fired after this season. That’s elite money for a coach who’s won big but hasn’t won it all. The deal’s worth $46.5 million in total. He’ll pull in $9M this season, with bumps to $9.25M in 2026 and 2027 and $9.5M in the next two years. That keeps him right in the thick of the SEC coaching elite, alongside Lane Kiffin and Josh Heupel, but below the obvious titans like Kirby Smart, Kalen DeBoer, Steve Sarkisian, and Brian Kelly.
Missouri’s putting national championship cash on the table without a clear national championship plan. That’s either gutsy or reckless. And if things fall offside after this season and he gets the boot by the end of 2025, his remaining four-year contract will amount to $37.5M. The school will pay him 75% of his full remaining base salary if they dismiss him before the contract ends. And that would roughly be $28 million.
But don’t get it twisted. Missouri is trending up. Back-to-back 10-win seasons and a shot at a third (which is something the program’s never done) have brought belief back to Columbia. But it also brings expectations. Big ones. And if Eli Drinkwitz fumbles the QB decision, that $28 million might start to look less like security and more like a ticking clock. With Central Arkansas looming on Aug. 28, he has just weeks to prove he’s worth every guaranteed penny.
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