Eli Drinkwitz jabs Tennessee over NCAA allegations

Eli Drinkwitz has yet to establish himself as a successful coach in the SEC, but he’s certainly become one of the most vocal going into his third season at Missouri. Coach Drink has become a go-to for a soundbyte, and on Wednesday, he set his sights on SEC East rival Tennessee — fresh off of the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations which detailed 18 major violations from the Jeremy Pruitt era.

Drinkwitz couldn’t resist getting a couple shots in.

“I thought you were going to introduce my record,” Drinkwitz told Jim Rome on the CBS Sports Network. “But with the latest allegations against Tennessee, let’s hold up on what my record is because I expect them to vacate some wins, and that’s going to help my record a little bit.”

Tennessee fired Pruitt after conducting their own investigation into his staff’s recruiting. The University ended up firing him for cause, which got them off the hook of a $12 million buyout. Around $60,000 was used to fund hotels, food, rent and car payments for recruits and their families, per the NCAA’s findings last week.

Even Pruitt’s wife, Casey, got involved providing payments. Drinkwitz touched on that too with Rome.

“I mean, me personally, I’ve got to question my wife’s commitment to winning,” Drinkwitz said. “I don’t know how much she’s committed if she’s not engaging in some of these things. I didn’t know that was fair play.”

Drinkwitz is 0-2 against Tennessee, losing to Pruitt in 2020 to the tune of 35-12. Josh Heupel’s year one team smacked Missouri on the road last season, 62-24. Drinkwitz is 11-12 overall heading into his third season with the Tigers.

“It was a little bit surprising to see the in-depth nature of what was going on there,” Drinkwitz continued. “But I am sure glad that Tennessee was taking some ownership of it, and we’ll see what the results are. But it’s pretty interesting, for sure.”