By Marie Reader
WACO, Texas – University of Missouri football head coach Eliah Drinkwitz was named Region 2 Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association.
Drinkwitz was honored by the AFCA for the first time. He is one of 12 finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award and was named the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year by the Associated Press earlier this week.
The Tigers put together a spectacular regular season, going 10-2, the school’s first double-digit win season since 2014. MU went 6-2 in SEC games and won both the Mayor’s Cup over South Carolina and Battle Line Rivalry over Arkansas. MU qualified for its first New Year’s Six bowl and will play Ohio State in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl.
It is only the sixth time the Tigers have achieved 10 wins during the regular season. Seven of Missouri’s wins have been by double-digit margins. The Tigers had their best scoring output since 2020 in their most recent game, a 48-14 blasting of Arkansas two weeks ago. Missouri, runner-up to Georgia in the SEC East, has yet to trail at the half this season.
The AFCA recognizes five regional Coach of the Year winners in each of the Association’s five divisions: Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III, and NAIA. The winners are selected by Active members of the Association who vote for coaches in their respective regions and divisions.
The Regional winners in each division are finalists for National Coach of the Year. Coaches will be honored on Tuesday, January 9, during the 2024 AFCA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.
FOOTBALL BOWL SUBDIVISION
Region 1: Mike Norvell, Florida State University
Region 2: Eliah Drinkwitz, University of Missouri
Region 3: David Braun, Northwestern University
Region 4: Jerry Kill, New Mexico State University
Region 5: Kalen DeBoer, University of Washington
The AFCA will announce the 2023 National Coaches of the Year winners in FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA on Tuesday, January 9th.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest information on Mizzou Athletics, please visit MUTigers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow Missouri football (@MizzouFootball) and Coach Drinkwitz (@CoachDrinkwitz) on X. You can also find the Tigers on Instagram and Facebook.
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