Eli Drinkwitz Reflects on Time in Auburn Ahead of Week 8 Matchup

Missouri's head coach will get some familiarity as the Tigers prepare for their 113th homecoming game.

Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz reacts to the replay of the final play of the game as Auburn Tigers take on Missouri Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022. Auburn Tigers defeated Missouri Tigers 17-14. / Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

In the thick of the season and a matchup with Auburn looming, Eli Drinkwitz also got some time to reflect during his midweek press conference.

The Tigers' opponent on Saturday, the Auburn Tigers, share some history with Drinkwitz. It was the first collegiate team that he worked with, serving as a quality control coach from 2010-2011.

It just so happens that Auburn finished with a 13-0 record in the 2010 season — quite the team for Drinkwitz to land on in his first year as a collegiate coach. That's not an average feat for a team to accomplish, nor something a coach or player can get used to enjoying for too long.

"Obviously, when I went there, I thought coaching college football was easy," Drinkwitz said. "You just get the two best players in college football and you put them on your team and you win

Those two players, quarterback Cam Newton and defensive tackle Nick Fairley, were certainly that. Off the backs of their elite level production, those Tigers ran through the competition in the SEC, moving on to defeat Oregon in the BCS National Championship Game.

Talent the likes of Newton and Fairley don't just magically appear in a program often, but for his first glimpse at what program-leading players look like as part of a coaching staff, it couldn't have given Drinkwitz much better guidance for the future of his career.

"I thought Cam Newton was one of the best leaders that I've ever seen in a locker room," Drinkwitz said. "We faced a lot of adversity, he faced a lot of personal adversity ... but he stayed steady."

Newton was a locker room leader in the truest sense of the word. Despite early criticism towards his game, he stayed on a path that made him not only a better player, but a better teammate to be around. He and Drinkwitz may have been in different positions on the team, but that leadership applied to how Drinkwitz could become a great coach.

Now over a decade removed from his time at Auburn, Drinkwitz still applies the foundation that the 2010 team set as a model for his Missouri team. Without that experience, he could be in a much different position today.

"As far as building a team, I thought Coach [Gene] Chizik, Coach [Ted] Roof, Coach [Gus] Malzahn, as coordinators really did a nice job working together. Low ego, high output approach and a lot of the foundational stuff that we do in our program now I learned from Coach Chizik and Coach Malzahn."

Beating Auburn will be on the mind of Drinkwitz Saturday, but on the Tigers' 113th annual Homecoming stage, it'll be a full-circle moment in his coaching career.

Read more Missouri Tigers news:

What Eli Drinkwitz Wanted to See in Mizzou's Win over UMass
Auburn's Hugh Freeze Provides Fuel for Mizzou's 'Lesser Roster'
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