An alternate way to view Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz's Kansas comments

I get it. The guy isn’t exactly likable or someone you want to give the benefit of the doubt to. 

And, yeah, the easy response to what Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz said this week about Kansas and the KU-MU rivalry would be to yell as loud as you can about what a goober the guy is and how you hate him and hate Mizzou. 

If that’s all the farther you want to take it, far be it from me to stop you. 

Carry on. 

But if you’re willing to look at things from a slightly different point of view, I think you might agree that Drinkwitz’s recent comments — as gooberish as they came off — were actually good for the rivalry and even good for Kansas. 

Why? 

Because, if nothing else, hearing the 7th-year Mizzou football coach talk a little trash on the entire state of Kansas merely adds a little fuel to the fire that went dim for far too long. 

Remember, this was a once-amazing rivalry that went dormant for 14 years and is now finally back. A lot has changed in those 14 years and it might not be quite as easy as you think for fans on either side to just rev things back up. So, take all the extra encouragement you can get to get riled up.

You don't have to high-five Drinkwitz the next time you see him, but maybe a subtle head nod for bringing a little vinegar back to the Border War.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying his barbs were sick burns or anything like that. They were tacky at best and lame at worst. But shots were fired. 

“What’s the best thing that comes out of the state of Kansas,” he asked in an SEC Media Days interview with Sirius Radio. “I-70.” 

“What do you call a good looking girl in Kansas,” he added. “A tourist.” 

Cornball jokes like these are something Drinkwitz has delivered plenty of times since taking over the MU program before the 2020 season. 

Remember when he mispronounced KU coach Lance Leipold’s name when talking on a TV interview about the renewal of the Border War rivalry in football? 

Remember when he climbed into the student section at Mizzou Arena to fire up the Tiger fans around him by holding up a homemade sign that read, “Five Level I Violations” on a day the Jayhawks boat-raced Mizzou 95-67 back in 2022, still three years before Drinkwitz even got the chance to face Kansas? 

Seeing how the Jayhawks and Tigers didn’t actually square off on the football field again until last season, Drinkwitz running his mouth always seemed a little out of place. I get it, as Tigers you’re supposed to hate KU and as Jayhawks you’re supposed to despise Missouri. 

No issue there. 

But for a guy who grew up and coached mostly in the south, devoid of ties to either Kansas or Missouri, it always seemed strange to hear him taking shots at the Jayhawks — however harmless and playful they might have been — when the two weren’t even going to play each other for a few years still. 

I guess pandering to your fan base never runs out of style. And Drinkwitz has shown from Minute 1 at Mizzou that he enjoys fanning the flames of the Border War, perhaps to make it as big as it can possibly be. 

“It’s important that you have rivalries and it’s important that you play those (games). Our guys understand that’s a big-time game for us,” he added during his Sirius interview. 

Earlier in the day, at the podium, he was asked about playing KU and again stated the importance of rivalries such as this one. 

“It’s gonna be an excellent game,” he acknowledged of the Sept. 11 primetime kickoff with Kansas at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. “It will be a great environment and a very difficult game. … If there’s a way to continue the game, I’m for it. I think any time we can play regional rivalries it’s better for us.” 

The timing of Drinkwitz’s latest jabs was much more sound. For one, his team beat the Jayhawks last season in Columbia. For two, the teams will face off again this season in just seven weeks in Lawrence. 

So, good on ya, Drink. Talk your talk. Let your corn flag fly. Dog Kansas as much and as often as you want to. 

It’s this kind of stuff that helps make rivalries what they are. And while none of the students at either school will ever be able to go back in time and live through the Norm Stewart days or Reesing-Daniel at Arrowhead, they need something more than just a single Saturday in the fall to bring the rivalry to life for the current generation. 

And I can’t think of anything better to piss you off — be it from anger or the cheeseball nature of his delivery — than watching Drinkwitz dog your school/state and remembering that when game day rolls around again. 

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