Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz has a strong gab game. He could show you an old Ford Pinto and convince you that it would ride like a Tesla. And you might even buy it: his pitch and the junky car.
Coach Drink stays updated on the cultural zeitgeist, knowing that it will play well on social media. And his social-media game is up there with Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss) among SEC head coaches.
This aint Ted Lasso, Drinkwitz said, explaining his motivational tactics in preparing his squad for the North Texas game.
Well done, Coach.
Drinkwitz understands branding. He can sell himself, and that helps him sell his program. He has the media eating out of his palm like cats after a snack. He has an appealing sense of humor, with just the right amount of self deprecation. Hes a gung-ho and effective recruiter. He has the right political touch with the Missouri administration. His energy abounds. Hes a family man, which plays well in this state. I like him. The complete package is there.
Well, almost.
Gotta win some football games. Always important to remember that part. As the coach said, this aint Ted Lasso.
The challenge of winning football games in the SEC depends on a lot of things, with recruiting at the top of the list. But a head coach must also hire good assistants, and coach up those assistance, and make sure that they do whats necessary to raise the standards and the performance.
Drinkwitz already and unfortunately had made a major screwup by hiring Steve Wilks as defensive coordinator. And Coach Eli compounded the mistake by overpaying Wilks to take the gig. Wilks is an NFL coach, with a sliver of college-football experience (if that) and seems baffled by the mysterious ways of modern college-offense styles, schemes and tactics.
Missouri has a bottom-five FBS defense, ranking near the lowest depths in scoring defense, total defense, rushing defense, and a bunch of other indicators. The Tigers have been plundered for 30 touchdowns in six games. Last Saturday a harmless North Texas squad came into CoMo and put up 35 points and 493 yards. But because we like Coach Drink, multiple game reviews mentioned the improvement and the progress of the Mizzou defensive line. Well, if you say so.
Ive lost some enthusiasm for Coach Drink but havent risked breaking an ankle by hopping off the bandwagon. I want to believe in this glib, relentless, and looney-tunes (in a good way) coach. And as I fan, Ill stick with it. But the disaster of the Wilks hiring has punctured my patience.
Its just that and many of you know this better than I do it aint easy being a Missouri football fan. The Tigers have had their very good seasons here and there but then it all slows down the usual drain after a while. And that cycle makes it difficult to smile, to believe, to keep the hope.
And because of the program and the history that Drinkwitz inherited, his honeymoon may be shorter than normal even if thats unfair. Its just the reality of pledging loyalty to a program that almost always lets you down. I say that with regret, not anger.
In 2013 and 2014, Gary Pinkel coached Mizzou to consecutive SEC East titles. The 2013 team was one half of football away from defeating Auburn and lining up for a spot in the national championship game. Mizzou went down hard in the second half of the SEC Championship poof! but still ended the season as the No. 5 team in the AP rankings. The following season ended with another loss in the SEC Championship game (to Alabama) and the No. 14 ranking nationally.
These were happy times. It didnt mean Pinkel was Nick Saban, or that MU was Alabama. But in the context of the maddening Missouri football experience, the 2013 and 2014 seasons were sweet and satisfying.
Pinkel went 15-4 vs. winning FBS teams over the two years including a 3-4 mark against ranked teams. But this wasnt the start of something big, something lasting. Coach Pinkel retired after 2015, putting his heart and energy into halting the life-threatening cancer that attacked him.
Mizzou soon took its usual place.
Since the start of the 2015 season, Missouri is 6-34 in games vs. winning FBS teams, and 1-16 against ranked teams. It hasnt been much fun. MU has kicked the blood-donor teams around, and done fine (if not perfect) against lightweights and other lesser foes. But you want to see your team hang tough against the better teams not even the super teams, but the winning teams. And Mizzou continues to come up short in these tests.
I think weve overreacted to Drinkwitz at both ends of the spectrum.
His 5-5 season against an All-SEC schedule in 2020 created buzz, and excitement, and enthusiasm for seeing Coach Drink as the coach who would change everything. He would raise the program and keep it there. The worry? Well, we have to make sure that he stays at Mizzou. Cant let him get aways. Call the money people! Give him the contract extension, ASAP! And make him rich, rich, rich! Give him everything he needs!
That was then.
But the dispiriting early flops this season with the horrific defense and underwhelming offense has us wondering if Coach Drink is just another hot shot that will fizzle out. Have we misjudged him? Were we fooled by a solid season that likely was distorted by pandemic-related circumstances? Did we fall for his charm offensive?
If we overreacted to the early success, which raised expectations, then we should probably lean on that to avoid overreacting to the early 2021 record that includes a 2-3 mark against FBS teams, including a 0-3 bust against winning FBS opponents.
In his one-plus seasons at Mizzou, Drinkwitz and the Tigers are 0-6 vs. winning FBS teams, 0-4 vs. ranked opponents, and 5-8 against Power 5 sides.
Coach has a lot of work to do, and we knew that when Missouri hired him. The reality is here, and were falling down the steps again. Time to climb back up. Time to stay up. This is what Missouri fans do.
And we can deal with it as long as Coach can handle it, and do something about it, and fix it. And that probably means owning a mistake, and eating a lot of salary, and replacing Wilks as defensive coordinator unless, of course, that area evolves and improves enough to stop an offense and lower anxiety.
If the defensive collapse remains in its present state with overrun MU defenders heaped on the ground after another huge gain by an opponent then the blame will shift away from Wilks. The blame will be dumped entirely on Drinkwitz. And it wont be as much fun as a Gatorade bath.
Coach Drinkwitz has some promising recruiting classes on the way. But thats down the road. We have to wait. On the road right now is Texas A&M, heading to Columbia for Saturdays game after shocking Alabama in the upset of the season.
In other SEC outposts, theyd be calling Paul Finebaum to rile the masses as part of the movement to lead a movement to chase the coach out of town and try the next guy.
Joe Moorhead go two seasons at Mississippi State, enraged Starkville by winning only 14 of 26 games, and was driven to the edge of town and told to leave and never come back.
Ed Orgeron you led LSU to the national championship in 2019, but we dont live in the past, so its time to go! get Dan Mullen youre overrated, and have a 2-7 record vs. ranked teams over the last two-plus seasons. Florida cant win the big one, and we aint putting up with it!
Missouris young head coach isnt in danger of losing his job dont be silly but this is a good time for him and his team to make a stand, and turn the tone of the conversation. And no matter what happens Saturday, well probably overreact to it.
Thats Mizzou football, baby. Remain calm if you can. But it aint easy.
Thanks for reading
Bernie
Bernie invites you to listen to his opinionated sports-talk show on 590-AM The Fan, KFNS. It airs Monday through Thursday from 3-6 p.m. and Friday from 4-6 p.m. You can listen by streaming online or by downloading the Bernie Show podcast at 590thefan.com the 590 app works great and is available in your preferred app store.
The weekly Seeing Red podcast with Bernie and Will Leitch is available at 590thefan.com
Follow Bernie on Twitter @miklasz
Bernie Miklasz
For the last 35 years Bernie Miklasz has entertained, enlightened, and connected with generations of St. Louis sports fans.
While best known for his voice as the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch for 26 years, Bernie has also written for The Athletic, Dallas Morning News and Baltimore News American. Bernie has hosted radio shows in St. Louis, Dallas, Baltimore and Washington D.C.
Bernie, his wife Kirsten and their cats reside in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood of St. Louis.
Related
Originally posted here:
- Five years since #MeToo, Tarana Burke is looking beyond the hashtag - Yahoo News - October 15th, 2022
- After Florence Pugh Freed The Nipple, Olivia Wilde Supported The Movement On New Magazine Cover - CinemaBlend - October 15th, 2022
- Barbara Kay: The Movement to Normalize Pedophilia Hits a Roadblock, but We Mustn't Let Our Guard Down - The Epoch Times - October 15th, 2022
- Is it Time to Decolonize Global Health Data? - Research Blog - Duke University - October 15th, 2022
- Claire Foy Doesnt Think Women Talking Could Have Been Made Before #MeToo - Yahoo Entertainment - October 15th, 2022
- Can the Congress rewrite its chronicle of a death foretold? - Scroll.in - October 15th, 2022
- We need a strong nationalist as a president - Daily Sun - October 15th, 2022
- The 19th Century Movement to Canonize Columbus - Catholic Exchange - October 13th, 2022
- Audemars Piguet toasts 50 years of Royal Oak with new watches, book - New York Post - October 13th, 2022
- Claire Foy Doesn't Think 'Women Talking' Could Have Been Made Before #MeToo - Yahoo! Voices - October 13th, 2022
- Best Bets: 6 nights of live music at Wussow's and more - Duluth News Tribune - October 13th, 2022
- Five Burning Questions: Bad Bunny Spends a 13th Week at No. 1 With Un Verano Sin Ti - Billboard - October 13th, 2022
- San Diego artist uses creativity to uplift Black culture and 'determine how we are seen' - The San Diego Union-Tribune - October 13th, 2022
- The Premier League at thirty - what should it sound like next? - Broadcast - October 13th, 2022
- Steve Braunias on Peter Ellis case: 'Moral panic, contaminated evidence and an innocent ghost' - New Zealand Herald - October 13th, 2022
- Constituency Statutes: The Overlooked Predecessor to the ESG Movement - JD Supra - October 2nd, 2022
- 10 books to add to your reading list in October 2022 - Los Angeles Times - October 2nd, 2022
- The Multiple Religions Coexisting Within the Catholic Church - Crisis Magazine - October 2nd, 2022
- 2023 Oscar Predictions The Rules of the Game - Awards Daily - October 2nd, 2022
- Kathy Sheridan: Brace yourselves for where Giorgia Meloni and Italy end up - The Irish Times - October 2nd, 2022
- The rise and fall of Sir Philip Green, the retail king who fell from grace - Evening Standard - October 2nd, 2022
- The lying flat movement standing in the way of China ... - Brookings - September 29th, 2022
- Namwali Serpell Distills the Disorienting Experience of Grief in 'The Furrows' - Shondaland.com - September 29th, 2022
- Dance & House Music Ruled the Summer. What Now? - Complex - September 29th, 2022
- It is time to back a new party in the elections - Morning Star Online - September 29th, 2022
- The empty feminism of Dont Worry Darling - The Guardian - September 27th, 2022
- Sunburn The morning read of what's hot in Florida politics 9.26.22 - Florida Politics - September 27th, 2022
- GOP candidate Trevor Lee ran a secret Twitter account that attacked LGBTQ people and Utah Gov. Cox. Now he's been rebuked by Republican leadership. -... - September 27th, 2022
- Peeling Back the Slasher-Inspired Look of HBO Maxs Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin with Cinematographer Anka Malatynska - Dread Central - September 27th, 2022
- If theres a settlement, XRP will pump: Finder founder and other experts speculate on ... - Stockhead - September 27th, 2022
- Natural Born Killers: the soundtrack that changed the 90s - Louder - September 27th, 2022
- Uttara (2000): Capturing the Zeitgeist of a Contemporary Turbulent Period and Decoupage - High on Films - September 3rd, 2022
- From Sri Lanka to Salinas: Will California Learn Anything from Sri Lankas Green Apocalypse? - California Globe - September 3rd, 2022
- Northeastern Creatives Bringing Their Art & Identities Into The Cultural Zeitgeist - Homegrown - September 3rd, 2022
- "I Think It's Limitless": MORTEN On the Volcanic Potential of the Future Rave Movement - EDM.com - September 3rd, 2022
- Chipotle workers in Lansing fear closure after union vote: Delta Twp. location first in the nation to be unionized - City Pulse - September 3rd, 2022
- @Jamwanda2 on Saturday: Triple C: Rendezvous of problems! - The Herald - September 3rd, 2022
- L.A. fashion trend analysis: It's time to reconsider Uggs - Los Angeles Times - September 3rd, 2022
- How Eliza Rose made the song of the summer - Dazed - September 3rd, 2022
- Friday essay: Joanna Bourke, the NSW arts minister, and the unruly contradictions of cancel culture - The Conversation - September 3rd, 2022
- Human Rights in the Crosshairs - Just Security - August 25th, 2022
- Around the Circle This Week: August 25, 2022 - lakesuperior.com - August 25th, 2022
- Australias Lockdown and Vaccine Narrative Has Fallen Apart - Brownstone Institute - August 25th, 2022
- Why Dont Millennials Have Hobbies? - The Walrus - August 25th, 2022
- Cheap, green vehicles are taking off overseas. Why are they banned here? - The Spinoff - August 25th, 2022
- The clock is ticking on the Rohingya crisis - The Business Standard - August 15th, 2022
- Augustus Owsley Stanley III: The sound engineer who kickstarted the counterculture movement - Far Out Magazine - August 15th, 2022
- Shailene Woodley Used to Get Offended When People Called Her a Hippy - Showbiz Cheat Sheet - August 15th, 2022
- Never Have I Ever Co-Stars Visit Phoenix, Talk About Their Netflix Hit Teenage Dramedy - Phoenix New Times - August 15th, 2022
- The real world is terrifying: Anne-Marie Duff on sisterhood, survival and Shameless - The Guardian - August 15th, 2022
- 'He wanted to break one of your ribs and eat it': Women describe Armie Hammer's sick requests in new docu - MEAWW - August 15th, 2022
- Never Have I Ever Season 3 review: Still one of the best teen comedies out there - Entertainment News , Firstpost - Firstpost - August 15th, 2022
- Black Panther: How Sound and Vision Made the 2017 Trailer a Zeitgeist Moment - Muse by Clio - August 2nd, 2022
- The five best albums produced by Butch Vig - Far Out Magazine - August 2nd, 2022
- Jennifer Lopez's 1990s-style summer hair: how to achieve the half-up, half-down look - The National - August 2nd, 2022
- 'The establishment didn't know what to do with me': Sanjeev Bhaskar on marriage, success and stereotypes - The Guardian - August 2nd, 2022
- Tasty ways to satisfy that craving for the iconic Choco Taco - FoodSided - August 2nd, 2022
- Publishing will never be fair - UnHerd - August 2nd, 2022
- Lena Dunham's "Sharp Stick" Is Sneakily Traditionalist Just Like the Rest of Her Work - InsideHook - August 2nd, 2022
- Attacking TV presenters, ruining Glastonbury and being banned by the BBC: how Carter USM became Britain's unlikeliest chart-toppers - Louder - August 2nd, 2022
- Gugu Mbatha-Raw on Apple TV+ show Surface, her dream role and why she likes to dig into the darkness at work - Evening Standard - August 2nd, 2022
- The Great Resignation: How Beyonc became the anti-work movement queen we didn't know we needed - New Zealand Herald - July 13th, 2022
- Dobbs is a win for the American experiment - Washington Examiner - July 13th, 2022
- 'Thor: Love and Thunder' Review: A Sequel Heavy on Humor That Almost Feels Like a Superhero Parody - Nerdcore Movement - July 13th, 2022
- Social Justice Ideology and the Decline of American Medicine: A Conversation with Stanley Goldfarb - Public Discourse - July 13th, 2022
- This political ad from Jerone Davison is pretty unhinged, even for the MAGA crowd - Mic - July 13th, 2022
- Riding the wave of the Crocs - Chicago Reader - July 13th, 2022
- Whats New on DVD Blu-ray in July: 'Everything Everywhere,' 'Drive My Car,' 'The Beatles: Get Back' and More - TheWrap - July 13th, 2022
- Where The Crawdads Sing director Olivia Newman on mysteries and myth-making - The A.V. Club - July 13th, 2022
- Local artist/writer duo document 2021 and beyond - The San Diego Union-Tribune - July 13th, 2022
- The best games of 2022 so far - NME - July 13th, 2022
- Children of the Counter-Revolution - Quillette - July 13th, 2022
- Boris Johnson Could Have Been Another Thatcher - Novara Media - July 13th, 2022
- How Google is Amplifying Alternative Youth Culture - THISDAY Newspapers - July 7th, 2022
- The revolution will be televised: why we are witnessing a big-boss backlash - The Guardian - July 7th, 2022
- The Origin of Vibes - The Atlantic - July 7th, 2022
- 4 Powerful Photography Exhibitions Will Debut at the National Portrait Gallery This Year - AFAR Media - July 7th, 2022
- Battleground Director Cynthia Lowen On Roe V. Wade And Pro-Life Views - Exclusive Interview - The List - July 7th, 2022
- Club culture in the 1990s: How Dublin danced to a new beat - Irish Examiner - July 7th, 2022
- Agency of the Year and MARKies Malaysia 2022 shortlists unveiled - Marketing Interactive - July 7th, 2022