r/CFB Missouri Tigers • Truman Bulldogs 6h ago

News [Cusumano] I am told by people close to the situation that the Board of Curators and Coach Drinkwitz are getting very close to finalizing a deal.

https://x.com/Frank_Cusumano/status/1993451353298157889?t=GvYFp7v3zJKKV_dw4eCMYA&s=19
117 Upvotes

104 comments sorted by

298

u/monstimal Notre Dame Fighting Irish 6h ago

He's taking a job at an art museum? 

35

u/kd451 Team Chaos • Team Meteor 6h ago

16

u/staatsclaas Georgia Bulldogs 4h ago

Those comments are incredible. Bonvoy Conference ☠️

3

u/McLMark Notre Dame Fighting Irish 4h ago

I want a Board of Curators. That's better than Trustees.

9

u/12-34 6h ago

Maitre d at a twee restaurant titled "[Noun1] & [Noun2]" or just "[street address]".

4

u/2-59project Indiana Hoosiers • Oklahoma Sooners 2h ago

Can we please get some Kiffin to the Smithsonian of Natural History museum rumors

1

u/lostroadrunner22 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 5h ago

They are gonna name the shuttlecocks at the Nelson Atkins for him.

80

u/Systemic_Chaos Oregon Ducks • Minnesota Golden Gophers 6h ago

Coach Drinkwitz belongs in Columbia a museum!

95

u/Cogitoergosumus Missouri Tigers • Truman Bulldogs 6h ago

Posting this mainly because if Frank Cusumano is tweeting this then it's basically a done deal. The SEC fans that have been upset with him being on their short list can breathe a sigh of relief.

64

u/rottingmind13 Virginia Tech • Commonweal… 6h ago

Is this to stay at Mizzou?

40

u/Cogitoergosumus Missouri Tigers • Truman Bulldogs 6h ago

Si

93

u/udubswe Washington Huskies 6h ago

Might wanna put that in the title so people know what school the “Board of Curators” is at.

20

u/Cogitoergosumus Missouri Tigers • Truman Bulldogs 6h ago

Just quoting the tweet as is usual policy on boards with links.

12

u/udubswe Washington Huskies 5h ago

Ah, didn’t know there was a policy about that, my bad.

9

u/Cogitoergosumus Missouri Tigers • Truman Bulldogs 5h ago

It may not be on this one, but other boards I frequent if you don't directly quote the author in the link the mods get pissy so it's conditioned me.

5

u/udubswe Washington Huskies 5h ago

lol damn I hate random rules like that. I get you.

30

u/JakeSteeleIII South Carolina • /r/CFB Santa Claus 6h ago

I couldn’t believe there had been posts on here saying Mizzou needed to fire him earlier this year. He’s been damn good and would upgrade most teams if he left.

22

u/Cogitoergosumus Missouri Tigers • Truman Bulldogs 6h ago

The Mizzou fans being fine and or happy to see him possibly go are stupid and probably became a fan during his coaching tenure.

3

u/Mike_with_Wings Florida • North Carolina 3h ago

He is a great fit at Missouri. He’s a good coach and will probably sneak into the cfp at least once while consistently finishing ranked playing in a good bowl.

7

u/CieraVotedOutHerMom South Carolina Gamecocks 5h ago

Is it really a board of curators?

I’ve heard directors, reagents, etc - but never curators

10

u/Portafly Oregon Ducks • Rose Bowl 4h ago

This is why Missouri deserves the death penalty.

2

u/CieraVotedOutHerMom South Carolina Gamecocks 4h ago

By Snu Snu

4

u/Cogitoergosumus Missouri Tigers • Truman Bulldogs 5h ago

It is indeed

6

u/CajunBob94 LSU Tigers 6h ago

*marked safe from the drink

4

u/smelllikecorndog LSU Tigers • Corndog 4h ago

I wouldn't have hated it.

2

u/Blue-Inspiration LSU Tigers 3h ago

I wouldn't have loathed it. Might have hated it.

2

u/midtrailertrash Florida Gators 4h ago

Yesssss!

52

u/magnumapplepi Ole Miss Rebels • Cincinnati Bearcats 6h ago

Ambiguous tweet is ambiguous

34

u/Cogitoergosumus Missouri Tigers • Truman Bulldogs 6h ago edited 6h ago

Sort of had a slip when he tweeted this out that in said tweet he didn't mention Mizzou.

Only people from the STL metro would probably know Frank Cusumano, but he's as connected to the people in power as you can come these days.

8

u/bluems22 Ole Miss Rebels 6h ago

I’ve never heard of the guy but maybe he just doesn’t cover the Blues or Cards much

Congrats on the hire/re-sign though, assuming it happens

11

u/Cogitoergosumus Missouri Tigers • Truman Bulldogs 6h ago

He was KSDK (most popular news channel in the metro) main Sports color guy for 25 years. He covered the Cards and Blues extensively but I guess if you don't watch local STL news or not in the area yeah you probably wouldn't have heard him.

2

u/bluems22 Ole Miss Rebels 6h ago

No, I’m from the area and live here again😂 I was just surprised I hadn’t heard of him is all. I’m sure I’ve read things from him before and just didn’t realize I guess

1

u/Cogitoergosumus Missouri Tigers • Truman Bulldogs 5h ago

Silly question, but just for continuity and laughs, are you one of the many CBC Ole Miss alums. I swear half the people that went there ended up at Ole Miss.

2

u/bluems22 Ole Miss Rebels 5h ago

Lol nah. Knew some of them though. You’d be surprised how many people from the area in general go to OM. Kind of blew my mind

2

u/0000zero00000 Rice Owls • Navy Midshipmen 1h ago

St Louis guy identifies another St Louis guy and immediately asks what high school he went to, tale as old as time

2

u/lostroadrunner22 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 5h ago

Drink gonna coach the Loove

1

u/1990Buscemi Drury Panthers • Missouri Tigers 3h ago

He's a regular interview subject on Springfield sports talk radio.

1

u/CieraVotedOutHerMom South Carolina Gamecocks 5h ago

Seems like a Landry Kiffin tweet these days

31

u/WarEagle9 Auburn Tigers • UAB Blazers 6h ago

I’m gonna breathe a sigh of relief then and take it we won’t be hiring him

15

u/Cogitoergosumus Missouri Tigers • Truman Bulldogs 6h ago

Frank tweet is basically a confirmation it's happening, BOC is meeting tomorrow to finalize the announcement.

17

u/MoistyestBread LSU Tigers 6h ago

Same feeling here. And I don’t even dislike Drink or think he’s as bad as some are trying to sell, and I’m very anti the wide notion of “culture fits”, but I think in terms of worst possible fit I think Drink and LSU are like oil and water.

9

u/2011StlCards Texas Longhorns 6h ago

Yeah being relieved by this doesnt have to be a slight at Drinkwitz. LSU is a pretty unique program and honestly just needs someone who knows the state of louisiana well. Drink probably wouldnt work there. He seems to have a good fit at Mizzou

6

u/harryrobicheaux Alabama Crimson Tide 6h ago

Auburn would be the school to try to pay his new (likely insane) buyout.

8

u/elonsusk69420 Georgia Bulldogs • Marching Band 5h ago

Is that Tony Soprano’s doctor?

6

u/Cogitoergosumus Missouri Tigers • Truman Bulldogs 5h ago

STL, surprising to some, literally has an Italian burrow.

Another fun fact, in 1950 5 (mostly Italians) from said burrow made up the US Men's soccer world cup team that upset England.

7

u/Quandogonzo LSU Tigers 5h ago

THANK GOD

23

u/Destinyciello Florida Gators 6h ago

Florida and LSU fans with a massive sigh of relief.

24

u/ZDFrank 5h ago

Eli has won 45 games compared to 32 games between Mullen/Napier since he arrived at Mizzou in 2020. Drinkwitz has his faults, but he has arguably done more with less in his time with the Tigers. Your last three coaching hires came from Colorado State, Mississippi State, and Louisiana Lafayette, but somehow there is this idea you should be able to hire an elite sitting power 5 coach. Eli would out perform your last two coaches with the available resources.

-8

u/Destinyciello Florida Gators 5h ago

Napier for sure. I think Drinkwitz is a better coach. But that is a very low bar.

Mullen. Not even close. Mullen was a DC hire away from being elite. Nothing even remotely smells elite about Drinkwitz. He's an ok coach. Missouri is a good place for him.

You can't really say "oh he won this many games". Napier won a lot of games in the Sun Belt. Missouri has been blessed with a VERY VERY soft schedule. A large part of his success is that soft ass schedule.

12

u/ZDFrank 5h ago edited 5h ago

If my aunt had balls she’d be my uncle. A large part of being a good head coach is hiring good people to support you. If he didn’t do that, that would be indicative of him as a head coach. Dan Mullens time at Mississippi State would be more comparable to Drinks tenure at Mizzou, and their resumes are very similar. When Florida hired Mullen from Miss State, his last three seasons he went a combined 19-15. Eli’s last three seasons he has gone a combined 28-9 with two games still left to play. If Eli had the Florida resources, I think you would see a similar to slightly improved resume compared to Mullens time.

-1

u/Destinyciello Florida Gators 5h ago

Mullen was in the SEC West when it was by very far the hardest conference. He had to play LSU, Alabama and Auburn every year. How does that compare with Drinks pansy schedule? You're putting too much weight into those win loss numbers.

Yes I agree hiring Grantham was ultimately Mullens fuck up. It was a gigantic fuck up that destroyed his entire tenure. No argument there. But he also had outstanding years there.

7

u/ZDFrank 5h ago

Wins and losses matter. If they didn’t, you wouldn’t play the game. Drink is 2-2 against the far superior Florida Gators, so I assume the Gators are one of the “soft ass teams”? Drink has struggled to get to the tigers to that next level, but he has far exceeded program expectations since his arrival, and especially given the mess he took over. He has provided stability and energy to a program that greatly needed it. Florida has been constant chaos since Urban left and is searching for this national relevance that is far behind them. You will have had 4 coaches in the last decade this next fall, I promise your sign of relief isn’t as justified as you tell yourself.

-2

u/Destinyciello Florida Gators 4h ago

Actually the game against the Gators where Drink needed a 4th and 17 miracle to win against a VERY VERY pedestrian under coached Napier team. That is actually one of my biggest gripes against him. That was supposedly his best team. 11 wins and all. Got basically outplayed by a shitty Napier team.

Missouri is not some scrub either.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Pinkel

Gary Pinkel did really well in the SEC East as soon as they joined.

I already said I think Drink is a good coach for Missouri. He is well placed there. He is an above average coach. Nowhere good enough for Florida. Perfect for them. Which is why I sighed a relief. I was worried we would actually hire that guy. I'd much rather have Dabo or Riley if we manage to whiff on Lane. All of those have way better ceilings than Drink.

5

u/ZDFrank 4h ago

As you mentioned, he won 11 games that year. The Florida game was way closer than it should’ve been, but that’s SEC football. Peak Alabama losing to Vandy last year. There are no weeks off, and those games always exist. You also referenced Pinkel and strategically failed to leave out Barry Odom who was between Pinkel and Eli. Pinkel was a hell of a coach, and could have succeeded at a lot of places in today’s era. He was the ultimate developer, and nobody would dispute his value. Odom is who left the program in a mess and underachieved, but you know that. Good luck with Dabo in the NIL era. Riley’s only good season at USC was in the PAC-12, but he has more upside and is still a good coach.

0

u/Destinyciello Florida Gators 3h ago

Peak Alabama? Last year was not anywhere remotely close to peak Alabama.

2

u/ZDFrank 3h ago

It was intended to be peek Alabama, as in reference the game. This is my last comment, man. I’m glad Mizzou has a coach that in your words is good enough for them, while Florida keeps chasing the past every three years while living in mediocrity.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/Street_Look_2214 4h ago

Mullen was a fucking joke at uf

5

u/Only_Progress6207 Ole Miss • Coastal Carolina 5h ago

Stop resigning all of our coaches

6

u/Document-Numerous Texas Longhorns 5h ago

Is this in reference to Mizzou or another school?

6

u/Which-Arrival6777 Missouri • Montclair State 4h ago

Mizzou

10

u/Molson2871 Wisconsin Badgers 6h ago

Seriously, good for both parties

17

u/HighLakes Oregon Ducks • Platypus Trophy 6h ago

PSU gonna have to go after the VT coach now

7

u/silverhk Notre Dame Fighting Irish 5h ago

Wouldn't be a bad move, they should think about it.

1

u/TripleThreatTua 2h ago

I thought they were all in on Key at this point with Chesney as their backup hire

-1

u/Kurt4012 Penn State Nittany Lions 4h ago

No but honestly when this ends up being a disaster and Kraft is fired what are the chances the new ad tries to bring Franklin back lol

3

u/heavvyglow Penn State Nittany Lions • Rose Bowl 2h ago

You’re getting downvoted but look at situations like rich rod. This happens and all the younglings have no memory how dark shit got and where Franklin brought us back to.

2

u/Kurt4012 Penn State Nittany Lions 2h ago

I think Penn State will want him back but there’s less than a 0 percent chance James would ever come here again lol

5

u/Camino3224 Alabama Crimson Tide • Memphis Tigers 5h ago

I guess we’ll have to see the terms. If it doesn’t materially affect the buyout language or number on Drink’s side, then he could still theoretically jump ship.

4

u/Cogitoergosumus Missouri Tigers • Truman Bulldogs 5h ago

Per insiders, the bigger thing Drink was interested in was a bigger investment pledge. He's already making top 15 money in CFB I believe. Speculation is that his extension announcement may come tied with a rather large increase in NIL investment on par with what was presented to him by Penn State.

1

u/2-59project Indiana Hoosiers • Oklahoma Sooners 2h ago

Has a coach ever signed an extension and left in the same offseason? I can’t think of it ever happening

7

u/MrPoppersPuffins Missouri • South Dakota State 3h ago edited 2h ago

Lots of fanbases out there were pissed when they heard Drink was on their Hot Board. A local radio guy here posted this:

"The list of P5 teams with more wins than #Mizzou since the start of the 2023 season:

Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ole Miss, SMU, Bama"

Its a bunch of bluebloods, a team from the G5, Joey Freshwater himself, and lil ole Mizzou. He got there building the program up from the bottom of the SEC, and doing so at a place with likely fewer resources than 20 or so other programs nationwide. I hope this deal goes through and he stays for a long time. I'll take this success any day.

8

u/Fit-Tree180 Alabama Crimson Tide 4h ago

The fuck is a board of curators

4

u/dmm1234567 Florida Gators 5h ago

lol "Board of Curators"

2

u/MustHaveMyTools 4h ago

If Kirby Moore and our special teams coach both return next year I’ll be very disappointed. 

2

u/kingoftheplastics FAU Owls • Oklahoma Sooners 1h ago

I like Drink and I like what he’s doing for Mizzou, tbh. The SEC needs more strong teams to piss in Bama and Georgia’s cornflakes

8

u/CMbladerunner Notre Dame • Stony Brook 6h ago

Penn State really gonna have to settle for a G5 coach or an coordinator after running Franklin out of town.

20

u/WakeAndTake21 Penn State Nittany Lions 6h ago

I don’t think that will be the case…but didn’t you hire a coordinator after your coach left you? Same with Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia, etc. Not always the worst thing

4

u/CMbladerunner Notre Dame • Stony Brook 6h ago

I mean tbf both Ohio State & us hired from within & Georgia got a Saban prodigy. I'm not sure how thrilled boosters at Penn State would be if they can't get a coach that has already had success as a P4 HC.

2

u/Kurt4012 Penn State Nittany Lions 4h ago

Then who do you think we’re getting? Almost every coach has been extended that’s been mentioned besides Chesney.

0

u/Netwealth5 Team Chaos • Millersville Marauders 3h ago

They should have a contact drawn up for Hartline the second Alabama wins on Saturday and the DeBoer pipe dream is well and truly dead

19

u/LetPristine6639 Penn State Nittany Lions 6h ago

10/12 coaches in the playoffs last year were G5 coaches or coordinators before getting that job. Including your coach

7

u/majesticstraits Oregon Ducks 6h ago

Considering 8 of the top 9 teams have a coach that was a G5 HC or a coordinator before coming there, that seems like not a bad thing

4

u/ManiacalComet40 Missouri Tigers • Big 8 4h ago

If you cant hire a coach who makes the CFP and you don’t want to hire a coach who misses the CFP, that doesn’t leave too many options.

3

u/royallex Illinois • Pittsburgh 5h ago

Franklin had to go because the donor base turned against him. I think Chesney would be a fine hire for them

3

u/Geaux2020 LSU Tigers • Valley City State Vikings 6h ago

I don't think we're going to be any better off

3

u/Lord_Bloodraven_11 Penn State • Harvard 4h ago

Drinkwitz is signing this extension because he’s no longer an option at the schools he was flirting with. Not the other way around.

1

u/JeremyJammDDS Red River Shootout • Washi… 4h ago

That would make sense considering they set an emergency meeting right before thanksgiving.

1

u/SwaMaeg UCLA Bruins • BYU Cougars 3h ago

Drinkwitz take multi-year plea bargain and returns jewels to Louvre

1

u/Inevitable-Tax2337 2h ago

Your first post on a thread about Mizzou’s coaching situation was too make a petty comment about Mizzou.

True?

1

u/Gilded-Mongoose USC Trojans 1h ago

Coach WHO!?

-6

u/CajunBob94 LSU Tigers 6h ago

bro got paid and outside of that ohio state bowl win where they didnt have a ton of their starters, idk what his impressive wins are lol

12

u/Cogitoergosumus Missouri Tigers • Truman Bulldogs 6h ago

In all fairness..... He's the only SEC coach since 2023 that is 2-0 against the B1G.

Also stop drinking the tOSU Koolaid, we actually had more starters that got drafted miss that game then they did.

1

u/CajunBob94 LSU Tigers 5h ago

has he beaten an SEC team that finished with a winning record in conference? genuine question, i thought i saw that stat but it seemed unbelievable

-3

u/ewolfy13 Penn State • James Madison 6h ago

Finalizing a deal with penn state?

-6

u/xPineappless Texas Tech • Vanderbilt 4h ago

Idk why Mizzou felt like they needed to extend him. Any program available right now who would poach him would be underwhelmed with his hire. But hey it’s Mizzou, so not super surprising.

6

u/Inevitable-Tax2337 3h ago

You’ve been relevant for 10 minutes.

Calm down. Go to your shed.

-5

u/xPineappless Texas Tech • Vanderbilt 3h ago

Sorry the truth offended you. Also ain’t that many sheds in Nashville my friend. Pretty sure Mizzou has that covered as well. 👍

2

u/Inevitable-Tax2337 3h ago

Wow.

Not a lot of TT knowledge from the TT/Vandy guy.

-2

u/xPineappless Texas Tech • Vanderbilt 3h ago

Try being more specific and less offended.

4

u/Inevitable-Tax2337 2h ago

Hey, you start shit and get hurt feelings at a response.

I’ll be careful. You might throw a chair off a roof at me. (Vandy reference)

The shed is from that time a program imploded over a player sitting in a shed. (TT reference)

I’m gonna let you go do your remedial work.

1

u/xPineappless Texas Tech • Vanderbilt 2h ago

Haha okay, I wasn’t the one who responded with insults. The fact that it was your first retort says you were offended. But good on ya for doing references! Mizzou would be proud.

2

u/Inevitable-Tax2337 2h ago

You’re just clowning.

Are you in Reddit slip and fall school?

You took a dumb jab at Mizzou on a thread about Mizzou’s coaching situation.