When it comes to the opening at Penn State, there is no shortage of names linked to the job. Some of the top coaches around the country have heard their names linked to the job, and the whispers won’t stop until athletic director Pat Kraft hires his next coach.
Pete Nakos of On3 earlier this week dropped his Penn State Hot Board. He had some names linked to the opening, with Nebraska’s Matt Rhule at the top. Toward the end of the list was Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz.
Along with Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea, they were the only two SEC names that Nakos had on the list at the time. Drinkwitz spoke about his name being mentioned with the job and other openings.
Missouri Coach Eli Drinkwitz Addresses Rumors Around Penn State Job
The 16th-ranked Tigers travel to Auburn on Saturday night for a key SEC battle. At 1-1 in the conference, Missouri is looking to rebound from a 27-24 loss at home to Alabama last Saturday. As he prepares for a big road game, Drinkwitz addressed the noise surrounding different programs about openings at other schools on social media.
“I think the No. 1 issue right now amongst college football is the noise that’s associated with people’s programs at all points of the season, whether good, bad, or indifferent,” said Drinkwitz. “There’s no such thing as journalistic integrity on social media. There’s just wild, outlandish reporting and anybody’s name — I’ll bet every sitting head coach has been listed as a candidate for some job so far.”
Welcome to social media. The fact is, this is a job that is a high-profile one that is going to have a lot of names linked to it. After the success Drinkwitz has had recently at Missouri, it’s not surprising he’s been linked to the job. How will he continue to block out the distractions?
“So how do I block it out? I ignore it, and I get mad about it when people ask me about it — no,” Drinkwitz said. “As far as my name (being) associated with everything, that’s awesome for the University of Missouri. It means we’re doing something really good. Means that our administration is committed to excellence. It means all the investment that the people here have made has resulted in our success.”
Success is something that he has built at Missouri as the Tigers are 26-6 over the last three seasons.
Missouri Still Has Big Goals In Front Of Them
Missouri is in a group of teams that has one loss early in conference play, with six weeks left. Three teams, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Ole Miss, remain undefeated. The Tigers are part of seven teams with one loss and a lot of football left.
After a primetime trip to Auburn, Missouri, follows that up with a trip to play a dangerous Vanderbilt. Last year, the Tigers survived a scare from the Commodores to win at home.
Unfortunately for Drinkwitz and other top coaches around the country, there are bound to be more high-profile jobs to open up. There is buzz that Billy Napier might be let go at Florida following this weekend’s game. Whether that happens, Drinkwitz is just beginning to deal with outside noise about openings around the country.
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