Bernie On Mizzou Football: Eli’s Coming! Let The Adventure Begin, And Prepare For A Wild Ride.

As a sportswriter and passionate fan of college football, one of my fondest experiences in this business was watching coach Gary Pinkel’s Missouri football team win consecutive SEC East championships in 2013 and 2014.

Though the MU lost in both years, the memories were marked down as big winners in my head and heart. So much fun. Mizzou said hello to the SEC, and it was so much fun. Missouri was 23-5 over the two campaigns and the ‘13 squad finished at No. 5 nationally in the end-of-season rankings.

This wasn’t the only inspirational rising for the MU program under Pinkel. The Hall of Fame coach brought a dormant Mizzou program back to life. And how.

We’ll never forget the 2007 and 2008 teams, led by quarterback Chase Daniel, with an offense that rolled to an average of 41 points per game over the two seasons.

The Tigers went 22-6 over the two years. The ascendant and entertaining 2007 breakout – Tigers on the loose! – was ranked No. 1 in the nation after outlasting Kansas in a scintillating game at Kansas City late in the season. They went on to rout Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl, and finished No. 4 nationally in the final rankings.

In 2007 and 2008 … and again in 2013 and 2014 … I had similar feelings and thoughts and wishes.

This is what Missouri football can be.

See, there is hope.

This Mizzou program still needs work but can be something special.

MU fans – young and old – deserve this. 

Of course, the warm and fuzzies didn’t last for Truman the Tiger and the Missouri faithful. The good times didn’t last. The title aspirations were snuffed out. Back to mediocrity, or being content with winning seasons and a trip to a third-tier bowl game.

Getting so close under Pinkel’s leadership – not once, but twice – made the disappointment colder and harsher when MU returned to reality … returned to its proper place in the college football hierarchy.

Oh well, remember the good times.

Sustained success was still a challenge and a burden and frustratingly elusive … if not next to impossible.

And along came the fast-talking, attention-grabbing, traveling salesman and evangelist. This rambunctious football preacher had an unusual name: Elijah Drinkwitz. He was a character from a backroads tent-revival show in the south.

Coach Drink had a program to pitch, and dreams to sell, and he never stopped pushing or yapping in his relentless mission to get everyone to believe in the high-ceiling potential of his program. We didn’t know if he was selling snake oil, or some bogus miracle elixir. Was this curious soul a proselytizer or propagandist?

A lot of us – including me – didn’t know if this crusader would survive a program that has ended or damaged too many promising careers. Coach Drink was 17-19 after his first three seasons in CoMo, but this much was certain. This campaigner would not go quietly.

One way or another, the make-or-break season of 2023 would be a compelling adventure.

It reminds me of an Abraham Lincoln quote I read in a book of his sayings: “When I hear a man preach, I like to see him act as if he were fighting bees.”

Fighting bees. Taking the stings. Walking and talking to where he wanted to go. Clear the obstacles. He will recruit your players. He would not take no. Nothing would stop him. Fight the bees, earn respect for being so damned determined, wear the skeptics down, make them see the light. And let him have an audience with the recruits he coveted. That’s Mizzou’s coach.

The 2023 season showcased all of the skills that makes Coach Drink the ideal leader in this chaotic, rowdy, ruthless, circus-maximus era of college football. An ambitious program needs an ambitious messenger who can sell, sell, sell.

Get him in front of the politicians in Jefferson City and they will pass a law that gives Mizzou a competitive edge in the NIL bidding for the best available players. If Missouri the institution needs more money, Coach will make some calls to Jeff City and get the financial support the university needs.

Get this coach to the revolving doors of the transfer portal, and watch how he spins his magic and convinces the skeptical, lump-sum recruits that their dreams and his dreams can be a shared dream.

How’s that NIL money coming? What do I need to do to land that recruit in St. Louis? Go, go, go. I’m not sure, but I think it is actually possible for Drinkwitz to be in two places at the same time. And if he may not sleep. Ever.

Since I’m tapping into quotes here – and I am also a fan of Navy football – I pass along these words from the legendary naval officer, John Paul Jones:

“I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast, for I intend to go in harm’s way.”

Drinkwitz has that spirit. Just tell him he can’t do something. Tell him he’s in over his head in the SEC. Tell him he can’t run with the big dogs. Tell him he can’t get the MU administration to be his offensive line, opening holes in the defensive front that has brought down too many Mizzou coaches.

Tell him he can’t get the best recruits from this state, or beat the established coaching elites to transfer-portal talent. Tell him he can’t curate a strong football-and-family culture, and he’ll do it quicker than anybody expected. And it’s real. Heck, the evangelist coach has even managed to unite the MU board of curators. Hey, team! Let’s win! I’m your coach! We’re all one family!

Drinkwitz, you see, intends to go in harm’s way, to places no Mizzou football coaches could reach. When the administration says no, he gets them to say yes. He pushes. If he wins, he won’t get fired. If he loses, then maybe his burning ambition burns him out … and out of a job.

But this coach bets on himself. So it’s all about winning and combining an upgraded roster with an enhanced culture to make it happen.

And for the love of Dan Devine, Drink went out there, into the SEC territories, and got the damn thing done in 2023.

Eleven ‘freaking wins.

Beat the pomposity out of Ohio State.

Had Mizzou ranked No. 8 in the nation as the season was downloaded into history.

Recruits? On the way.

NIL treasury? Check.

Transfer portal? He has VIP status.

Jefferson City? In his huddle.

Mizzou administration? Purring.

And now …

A reading from the Book of Eli.

The movie.

Solara: You know, you say you’ve been walking for thirty years, right?

Eli: Right?

Solara: Have you ever thought that maybe you were lost?

Eli: Nope.

Solara: Well, how do you know that you’re walking in the right direction?

Eli: I walk by faith, not by sight.

Solara: What does that mean?

Eli: It means that you know something even if you don’t know something.

The other Eli — Drinkwitz — knew something.

And he found that special something in 2023.

Mizzou kicks off its 2024 season in a few hours with a home game against Murray State – no relation to “Mitch and Murray” – and college football is back.

Missouri is ambitioning for a place in the 12-team national playoffs. Might make it with nine wins, but 10 wins is much safer. This team has questions, but this applies to just about every squad in the land. But Coach Drink seemingly has his young men poised to achieve the first back-to-back 10-win seasons since 1968-1969. Here the Tigers go again, trying to regenerate the sustained success.

This is such an exciting time for Mizzou’s program and its fan base. But let’s acknowledge this: it’s also an anxious time. The pressure is on the Tigers. Coach and his crew can’t have a follow-up flop to an 11-win season. Missouri can’t go back to the old days, when elevated expectations led to a harrowing fall. Missouri took some opponents by surprise in 2023, but that ain’t happening in 2024.

That gold “M” is circled on the schedule. Every coach on Mizzou’s calendar is hungry to kick Missouri back to the more familiar 7-5 or 6-6 space. They want to hush Mizzou’s yapping coach and blunt MU’s momentum. They want to slow the roll of this uppity but historically underachieving program that thinks one great season puts them in the class of Bama, LSU and Georgia. The nerve of those people!

Of course, this pressure to answer these tougher challenges can bring the best out of Mizzou. That’s quite possible. On the other side, failure under pressure could lead to a loss of confidence, and close wins slip away and become close losses. And that’s when words like “frauds” will be thrown in MU’s direction. That’s high-stakes football.

I happen to believe in Mizzou. The muzzle of bees is out there, but Drinkwitz is ready to go into harm’s way. It’s an exhilarating but dangerous time for the coach, his players, and the fantasies of the Mizzou family.

Thanks for reading …

– Bernie

A 2023 inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Bernie has provided informed opinions and perspective on St. Louis sports through his columns, radio shows and podcasts since 1985.

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Stats used in my baseball columns are sourced from FanGraphs, Baseball Reference, Statcast, StatHead, Baseball Savant, Baseball Prospectus, Brooks Baseball Net, and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise noted.