Florida State’s coaching search is already moving fast, and one of the names that surfaced quickly got a public answer from Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz.
Drinkwitz opened his Tuesday press conference by shutting down speculation that he could be a fit in Tallahassee. With Florida State fresh off firing Mike Norvell on Sunday, the Seminoles are sorting through a wide-ranging search, but Drinkwitz made it plain he wasn’t entertaining the opening.
"I’m not a candidate at Florida State. I want to clear that up," Drinkwitz said. "Let’s focus on the main thing, which is Texas, and let’s eliminate all of the distractions and clear the clutter from that standpoint for my team and for everybody out there."
The Seminoles are expected to look across the board as they try to reset the program, with current P4 head coaches, rising G6 names, and coordinators all being floated as possibilities. Florida State’s timing could work in its favor after a year that brought a record number of job openings, and the school is projected to be one of the more attractive options on the market.
Drinkwitz has become a familiar name whenever major jobs open up. He has turned Missouri into a steady SEC program, guiding the Tigers to six straight bowl games and already making them eligible for a seventh in 2026. His record at Missouri stands at 52-31, with an 11-2 season in 2023 and a 10-3 finish in 2024.
But landing him would not come cheap. Drinkwitz signed a six-year extension with Missouri last year and is set to make $10.75 million this season. If Florida State wanted to pry him away before December 1, the buyout would be $5 million.
There’s also the reality that public denials don’t always tell the whole story. Coaches have said they’re staying before eventually taking another job, sometimes in short order.
Missouri also increased its assistant coach salary pool to $16 million, giving Drinkwitz more room to build out his staff. That would be part of the equation for Florida State as it weighs whether to chase another coach in the $10 million range while still dealing with Norvell’s buyout for the next five years.
The Seminoles have plenty to sort through, and quickly. But Drinkwitz’s statement, on its own, doesn’t necessarily take him off the board.
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Florida State Fans Can Cross One More Name Off The Search List
The Florida State coaching search picked up another layer of clarity this week when Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz addressed the speculation head-on before his teams matchup with Texas. Rather than letting the rumor mill keep spinning, Drinkwitz said publicly that he is not a candidate for the Seminoles opening, while shifting the focus back to Missouris preparation and the challenge of slowing down Texas quarterback Arch Manning.
Drinkwitz has been at Missouri since 2020 and recently signed a six-year contract extension, two details that already made the fit look complicated for Florida State. Even so, his name had lingered in the conversation as the Seminoles sorted through possibilities, and his comments now remove one more prominent option from the list as the search continues to unfold. [Read more 🡒]
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Mike Norvells FSU Legacy Came Down To One Brutal QB Reality
Mike Norvells time at Florida State was always going to be judged through the lens of quarterback play, and in the end, that became the defining issue of his seven-year run. The Seminoles moved on after a loss to Clemson, closing the book on a tenure that included plenty of promise when Jordan Travis was healthy and in the lineup, but much less stability everywhere else.
The split was stark: Florida State went 29-10 with Travis as the starter, but just 12-29 without him. That gap said plenty about how much the program leaned on one quarterback, and it also underscored the broader frustration around transfer additions and recruiting at the position during Norvells tenure. [Read more 🡒]