'It's Up to Us': Mizzou Coach Eli Drinkwitz Details 'Unwavering' Belief in Tigers

With a choice in front of them, Drinkwitz wants the Tigers to choose positivity.

Some might call it coach speak. Others might think he's being overly optimistic. 

But Missouri Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz doesn't care about any of the outside noise after Saturday's 40-12 loss to the Kansas State Wildcats. In fact, he's refusing to look at it all together. 

"I've had a lot of messages directed at me, I have no idea I haven't seen them," he said Tuesday. "I refuse to let that stuff affect me right now, because the best that I can be for my team is to believe in my team, believe in myself, and believe in our staff and I'm not gonna let the outside noise affect us." 

Drinkwitz admitted it's difficult to get the entire team to turn a blind eye to all the criticism, especially in the world of social media. 

"The only thing I can do is point it out," Drinkwitz said. "What we do with it is up to us."

According to Drinkwitz, the entire team-wide approach toward the rest of the season comes down to making a straightforward decision. 

"You can either believe in the negativity or believe in the positive that we have moving forward, and that's what I'm gonna choose to believe," he said. 

Drinkwitz had totaled a 12-13 record since he was hired as Mizzou's head coach in 2020. His process toward bringing the Tigers out from the depths of the SEC hasn't exactly been a quick one. In a perfect world, it would be. But Drinkwitz knows the reality.

"We have a direction that we're going," he said. "Would we like to be there faster? Absolutely. Are we there yet? Nope. But we're gonna get there. We're gonna get there. And I have an unwavering belief in that. It doesn't mean that we don't confront the realities of where we're at which is a bad loss. But it happened. Now, all we can control is the response that we have." 

The next chance at responding comes at home on Saturday, as the Tigers host the Abilene Christian Wildcats for an 11 a.m. C.T. kickoff.

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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