One person seems not to have compromised when it comes to trusting Eli Drinkwitz and the Missouri Tigers. And guess who has been their biggest believer throughout? Surprisingly, it’s one of the most critical names in college football, Paul Finebaum. While the 2024 season was yet to pull the curtains, the ESPN analyst sounded confident about Drinkwitz and co.’s 2024 run. “They’re extremely high, for many reasons, but mainly the schedule,” said Finebaun in his podcast.

Looks like even after one year, Finebaum is not running out of confidence when it comes to Drinkwitz’s Missouri. “Missouri is being completely overshadowed despite a couple of really good years,” Finebaum said during an interview in June 2025. Well, he had his reasons. After all, Missouri under Drinkwitz finished 11-2 in 2023 and 10-3 in 2024. Back-to-back, 10-plus win seasons. So, the Tigers program also wants to continue riding with the head coach and has gifted him an extension. And with bigger checks comes bigger expectations. And here, the ceiling for Drinkwitz is the GOAT, Nick Saban. 

The last time Drinkwitz got a raise was in November 2022. Back then, he made $6 million per season. Even before that, his contract paid him $4 million per season as his base salary. Looks like the Missouri head coach is keeping on climbing the ladder. As per the reports, Drinkwitz has now signed an extension that will run through the 2029 season. On that note, on July 24, The Next Round Podcast analysts duo Ryan Brown and Lance Taylor sat for a round table discussion. They were in denial of Drinkwitz’s new contract. Taylor went, “He was making 9 million. What’s he making now?” Brown replied, “Drinkwitz was making $9 million? Eli Drinkwitz’s salary, just in a quick Google search, brings me $9 million…Missouri’s paying their football coach $9 million. What kind of world are we living in right now?”

The Missouri head coach is slated to make $9 million in 2025 before his salary rises to $9.25 million in 2026 and $9.5 million in 2028. That makes up to a total of $46.5 million. That’s when Brown was reminded of Saban. He shared, “I mean $90 million, I bet their budget’s a little bigger than that, but holy c- -p. 9 million for the head football coach…We always go back to this, the fact of the amount of hand ringing over Nick Saban making a guaranteed $32 million when he was hired at Alabama. Listen to me now. A guaranteed $32 million, eight-year, $4 million contract. And people were like, ‘This is the end of amateur athletics. How are we paying a coach, guaranteed a coach, who is making $4 million a year?’ Now, the Missouri coach is making 9 million a year.”

However, Alabama had locked in a high ROI. The GOAT led the Crimson Tide to eight SEC Championships and six National Championships. No way, Drinkwitz has reached Saban’s level, and he has yet to go a long way. But there must be something that won Missouri’s trust to secure the extension. He is 38-24 with Missouri and has gone 2-2 in bowl games. Along with this, Drinkwitz’s boys won the Cotton Bowl over an admittedly shorthanded Ohio State team in the 2023 season. Around this extension buzz, do you know that Drinkwitz actually felt threatened by Saban? 

Eli Drinkwitz fired back with humor after the Nick Saban threat 

Things started with Greg McElroy’s comment on Saban returning to college. McElroy’s take went viral as he said in an interview, “A very much in-the-know person that I have a lot of respect for and have spent a lot of time around, and just really, really admire – they seem to think Nick Saban is not done coaching. He’s pretty adamant that he thinks Nick Saban will be coaching again.” Just after a few days from this comment, Drinkwitz was invited on the Jox 94.5 podcast. While McElroy was not physically present on the podcast, Drinkwitz got lucky to have him on a call.

“Is Greg on the air?” asked Drinkwitz. McElroy assured, “I’m here. I’m here.” That’s when Drinkwitz shared how the former Alabama head coach had robbed his goodnight sleep. “I want to thank you [Greg] for putting me on the hot seat. You know, when you started this rumor about Saban coming back, the board started looking into my contract. See if they get rid of me and bring Saban back to the University of Missouri. So, you know, appreciate you doing that,” said the Tigers’ head coach. McElroy played along, rubbing some salt on Drinkwitz’s fresh wounds, “Did he get you an extension at least?” “No. No. Put me on the hot seat. Straight up on it. So, yeah, that’s what everybody wants to hire the GOAT back, man,” came the Missouri head coach’s response.

Jokes apart, now that Eli Drinkwitz has locked in an extension, it actually makes his seat hot. First things first, he got to fill the spots of Brady Cook, Luther Burton. Plus, Drinkwitz got to fix their crumbling offense. Inconsistency reigned in their offense last season, and their running game dropped to 4.1 yards per carry after the loss of running back Cody Schrader. No wonder Cousin Shane’s already calling their 2025 run a “Slippery slope.” Now the pressure’s on Drinkwitz to keep his footing.