Eliah Drinkwitz named to 2024 Dodd Trophy watchlist

Just under two months from opening kickoff, and preseason watchlists continue coming out. This time recognizing Missouri's head-coach, Eliah Drinkwitz, as a potential Dodd Trophy candidate. It is no surprise seeing Drinkwitz on this list after the recent trajectory of Missouri's football program.

Drinkwitz is one of the twenty-one candidates named on the watchlist. This list features all the premier college football coaches, and is definitelty an honor to be recognized amongst the best.

The Dodd trophy recipient is a coach who's program best represents quality on and off the field. Stating that it is "awarded each year to the FBS football coach that best embodies the three pillars of success: scholarship, leadership and integrity." Eliah Drinkwitz definitely does a great job of embodying those pillars on and off the field. He has helped take Missouri to the next level.

The Missouri Tigers will roll into the 2024 season at an all-time high, coming off a 14-to-3 victory in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl over the Ohio State Buckeyes. Missouri finished the 2023 season with 11 wins, reaching double digits for the first time since 2014, when they had hall-of-fame head coach, Gary Pinkel.

Eliah Drinkwitz has completely changed the culture of this program. He has been doing it all, leading this program both on and off the field. Drinkwitz has helped bring in some of the best recruiting class' of all time. He has revamped Missouri's program, and made it an attractive brand for players. They are beginning to reach levels that nobody truly believed were possible.

Obviously, the football season hasn't started yet, but he's remained red hot all off-season. Drinkwitz has won recruiting battles over the likes of Alabama, Georgia, and plenty of other "blue-bloods" in college football. It is undeniable that Drinkwitz deserved to be on the Dodd Trophy watchlist, and it should be fun to watch him back on the field this upcoming season.