He's turned them around.
Joel Klatt Names Under the Radar SEC Coach That's Done an 'Excellent Job' originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Last season marked the inaugural year of the 12-team College Football Playoff. This expansion allowed more teams to participate, resulting in six teams making the playoffs for the first time in their program histories.
This season, we could see additional teams qualifying for the playoffs for the first time. Fox Sports' Joel Klatt ranked ten teams that he believes have the best chance to make the playoffs for the first time on his show, "The Joel Klatt Show."
One team he ranked in his top ten at No. 6 is the Missouri Tigers. Under head coach Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri has been close to qualifying for the playoffs in the past. Before the 2023 season, Drinkwitz experienced three consecutive losing seasons, which created significant pressure for him in 2023. However, since then, Missouri has achieved an impressive 11-2 record, followed by a 10-3 record.
This progress is a key reason why Klatt believes the Tigers could become a playoff team by 2025.
"They have questions on offense," Klatt said. "They have to replace Brady Cook. They have to replace Luther Burden. But they did add a top 10 portal class. So, I like what they did there... Eli Drinkwitz has done an excellent job with that program."
Klatt believes that Drinkwitz has executed strong recruiting efforts and taken advantage of a favorable schedule. He feels that this schedule presents Missouri with the easiest path to the College Football Playoff within the SEC.
According to Kyle Wood from Athlon Sports, the Tigers have the simplest schedule in the SEC. Wood noted that the schedule is made more manageable because the toughest games will be played at home.
He also highlighted that Missouri’s first six games take place at Memorial Stadium, which includes exciting non-conference matchups against Kansas and Louisiana. Additionally, the Tigers will start their conference play with home games against South Carolina and Alabama.
Later in the season, Texas A&M will visit, and there are two phases of back-to-back road games. Furthermore, Missouri will face three of the four SEC teams that finished with overall losing records in 2024.
As a result, this could be a remarkable season for Missouri in 2025 and may lead to its first appearance in the College Football Playoff.
Related: Paul Finebaum Names SEC Team That's Being 'Completely Overshadowed'
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: General Sports
