Eli Drinkwitz on Florida State opening: 'I'm not a candidate at Florida State'

In the aftermath of Mike Norvell‘s firing at Florida State, multiple high-profile coaches have been linked to the opening in Tallahassee. One of these coaches has been Missouri‘s Eli Drinkwitz, who is in his seventh season with the program. Drinkwitz is certainly no stranger to being linked to job openings, as it seems his name pops up on almost every Hot Board when an upper-level P4 job becomes available. Just last offseason, he was linked to openings at Auburn, Penn State, Florida, and Michigan, but ultimately remained at Missouri. $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage On Tuesday, Drinkwitz shut down these rumors linking him to the FSU opening. “I’m not a candidate at Florida State. Let’s clear that up,” the head coach said. “Let’s focus on the main thing, which is Texas, and let’s eliminate all the distractions and clutter from that standpoint.” Drinkwitz has Missouri at 6-2 on the season, ranked No. 19 in this week’s AP Poll. Under his guidance, the Tigers have posted three consecutive eight-win seasons. Last November, the head coach went on a mini-rant about constantly being linked to job openings. He called Hot Boards ‘a distraction’, and re-affirmed Missouri fans about the future of the program. “All of this stuff is just a distraction,” he said, via Power Mizzou. “I would like to remind everybody, including our fans, we absolutely love Mizzou. We love what we’re building. My focus is going to remain on our team and our current situation and I am not going to get into all of that.” Florida State parted ways with Mike Norvell mid-way through seventh season Florida State parted ways with Mike Norvell eight games into the 2026 season, following the Seminoles’ 3-5 start to the year. Since Norvell led the program to a 13-1 record in 2023, FSU went just 10-22 over the past three seasons. That includes a 4-17 mark against ACC opponents, which was the worst in the conference over that span. Florida State president Richard McCullough said in a letter this past week that the institution is “methodically working on a plan” to position the school for sustained success. Norvell was not mentioned in the letter. “Florida State should compete for championships, develop exceptional student-athletes, attract outstanding coaches and personnel, and operate with the resources, leadership, and commitment necessary to succeed at the highest level of college athletics,” McCullough said in the letter. “That standard is not negotiable.” The program is desperately seeking a return to consistent success, which it hasn’t experienced since Jimbo Fisher departed for the Texas A&M opening in 2018. Since then, the Seminoles are 52-53 over their past 105 games.