For the second straight season, Missouri soccer’s Eli Drinkwitz is on a preseason watch record for head coach of the 12 months honors.
Drinkwitz, who’s about to start his sixth season accountable for Mizzou, was amongst 26 faculty soccer head coaches who had been included on the 2025 Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch Listing, an award given to the highest coach within the sport every year.
The Mizzou coach discovered himself on the identical preseason record forward of the 2024 marketing campaign. He didn’t make the watch record in 2023, however after the Tigers went 11-2 and beat Ohio State within the Cotton, he was named as a finalist for the award.
Eight of the 16 head coaches within the SEC, together with Drinkwitz, are included on the watch record. Kirby Sensible (Georgia), Steve Sarkisian (Texas), Kalen DeBoer (Alabama), Brian Kelly (LSU), Josh Heupel (Tennessee), Brent Venables (Oklahoma), and Mike Elko (Texas A&M) additionally made the record.
Missouri faces three of these groups in SEC play this season, with Alabama and Texas A&M set to go to Columbia and the Tigers taking a highway journey to play Oklahoma.
5 coaches from every of the Massive Ten and Massive 12 made the record — probably the most outdoors of the SEC. 4 coaches from the ACC, two AAC coaches, one Mountain West coach, and one FBS Impartial coach spherical out the 26 head coaches named to the watch record.
Being on the preseason watch record isn’t a prerequisite to profitable the award. First-year coaches should not eligible. Nominees should additionally coach a workforce with an Educational Progress Charge above the nationwide common of 969.
Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame received in 2024. A Missouri coach has by no means received the award, which is in its fiftieth 12 months this season.
Drinkwitz is 38-24 over 5 seasons as Mizzou’s head coach, together with a 22-20 file in SEC video games. He took the Tigers to double-digit win seasons in 2023 and 2024, marking simply the third time at school historical past that MU received 10 or extra video games in back-to-back seasons.
If Mizzou manages to win 10 or extra video games in 2025, it could be the primary time at school historical past that the Tigers have achieved the feat in three straight campaigns.
