Missouri football head coach Eli Drinkwitz showed his vocal side one month ago. Drinkwitz called out the rival conference to the SEC, the Big Ten, over the belief his conference is more superior. But did drop an ’embarrassing’ take on the NCAA one month after his Big Ten rant.
Drinkwitz got asked his true thoughts on the institution that oversees every Division I to III university. But focusing mainly on the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) side of things.
“It’s embarrassing, man,” Drinkwitz said to reporters Saturday. “I’ve been saying this for three years that college football and college athletics are not in a great place.”
Watch sports LIVE withfuboTV (free trial)
He’s not zeroing in only on undrafted NFL players attempting to return to college either. Which the SEC prohibited ahead of Week 0. Or even the College Football Transfer Portal in general.
“I said this several years ago when we had the announcement of conference changes,” Drinkwitz added, referring to conference realignment. “This stuff is not good for any student athlete. And it’s a direct reflection of our inability as leaders to come up with a plan. Now you see the results.
Mizzou jammed from the Big 12 during the first realignment cycle of the early 2010s. The Tigers linked up with Texas A&M to bolt from the conference and land in the SEC. So Mizzou handed the SEC its first-ever St. Louis television market in the process.
But realignment continued with Texas and Oklahoma defecting the Big 12 for the SEC in 2023.
“For us to complete operating like this is a complete clown show,” Drinkwitz added.
He claims complaints and suggestions have been ignored. And now it must come down to administrators and court room to figure out how to fix this growing problem.
